Though he never actually worked in Hollywood, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who died in 1982 at the age of 36, was influenced greatly by Amercian studio films of the 1950s and the convention of melodrama (the link most often mentioned is Douglas Sirk).

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Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Wim Wenders

Hanna Schygulla

Michael Ballhaus

Ulli Lommel