Question: Who began directing films earlier, Edmund Goulding or Marc Webb?
Context: George Nicholls, Jr. (May 5, 1897 – November 13, 1939), also known as George Nichols, Jr., was an American director and editor during the 1930s.  Born to show business parents, he entered the film industry at the tail end of the silent film era, working as an editor for the Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation.  After moving to RKO Pictures in 1933, Nicholls shortly began directing films by the end of the year.  His career was cut short when he died in a car accident while driving to the location of his final film. The Razor's Edge is the first film version of W. Somerset Maugham's 1944 novel of the same name.  It was released in 1946 and stars Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, John Payne, Anne Baxter, Clifton Webb, Herbert Marshall, with a supporting cast including Lucile Watson, Frank Latimore and Elsa Lanchester.  Marshall plays Somerset Maugham.  The film was directed by Edmund Goulding. Ignazio Ferronetti (born 1908) was an Italian film editor and director.  Ferronetti worked as an editor on over thirty films, including a number with Alessandro Blasetti such as the 1934 historical epic "1860".  From 1943 he also began directing films, including several documentaries. Marc Preston Webb (born August 31, 1974) is an American music video, short film, and film director.  He made his feature film directorial debut with the 2009 romantic comedy-drama "(500) Days of Summer", and went on to direct the 2012 "Spider-Man" reboot "The Amazing Spider-Man", its 2014 sequel, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", and the 2017 comedy-drama films "Gifted" and "The Only Living Boy in New York". Mister 880 is a 1950 American comedy film about an amateurish counterfeiter who only counterfeits one dollar bills, and manages to elude the Secret Service for 10 years.  It was directed by Edmund Goulding, and stars Burt Lancaster, Dorothy McGuire, Edmund Gwenn, and Millard Mitchell, The film is based on the true story of Emerich Juettner, known under the alias Edward Mueller, an elderly man who counterfeited just enough money to survive, and was careful in where and when he spent his fake dollar bills, and was therefore able to elude authorities for ten years, despite the poor quality of his fakes, and despite growing interest in his case. That Certain Woman is a 1937 American drama film written and directed by Edmund Goulding.  It is a remake of Goulding's 1929 film "The Trespasser", Gloria Swanson's first sound film. Nejat Saydam (15 September 1929 – 25 October 2000) was a Turkish film director, screenwriter, and actor from Istanbul.  He began as a theatre actor in 1946, then four years later he became an assistant in movies.  In 1957, he began directing films.  Saydam starred in two Turkish films, and wrote 85 film scripts. Arthur Rooke was a British actor and film director of the silent era.  Rooke had worked in the theatre for many years before he went into films.  He initially co-directed several films with A.E. Coleby, but later began directing films by himself.  By the early 1920s he was one of the more successful British film directors. Edmund Goulding (20 March 1891 – 24 December 1959) was a British film writer and director.  As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 British made Paramount silent "Three Live Ghosts" alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwick.  Also in the early 1920s he wrote several screenplays for star Mae Murray for films directed by her then husband Robert Z. Leonard.  Goulding is best remembered for directing cultured dramas such as "Love" (1927), "Grand Hotel" (1932) with Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford, "Dark Victory" (1939) with Bette Davis, and "The Razor's Edge" (1946) with Gene Tierney and Tyrone Power.  He also directed the classic film noir "Nightmare Alley" (1947) with Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell, and the action drama "The Dawn Patrol".  He was also a successful songwriter, composer, and producer. Arthur Hiller, OC (November 22, 1923 – August 17, 2016) was a Canadian-American television and film director, having directed over 33 films during his 50-year career.  He began his career directing television in Canada and later in the U.S. By the late 1950s he began directing films, most often comedies.  He also directed dramas and romantic subjects, such as "Love Story" (1970), which was nominated for seven Oscars.
Answer: Edmund Goulding