Film Director Quotes

“Everybody is idealistic when you're a kid.”

“It takes tremendous discipline to control the influence, the power you have over other people's lives.”

“There's a lot of great movies that have won the Academy Award, and a lot of great movies that haven't. You just do the best you can.”

“I like a drama.”

“If the director's a communist, whatever, he's a communist. All I care is that he directs. For the actor, the same thing. All you really care is that he comes in and performs.”

“I'm so glad for the dozens of times I haven't listened along the way.”

“The innocence of childhood is like the innocence of a lot of animals.”

“I think there is a lot made out of age, and what age you feel.”

“When I used to be a contract player in 1954 at Universal, I wasn't getting good roles. I was getting one-liners, and then I'd be gone. But I'd hang around; I'd watch guys. And when I had days off, which was most days, I'd go down and watch other sets while they were shooting. Watch Joan Crawford or whomever. Just watch how they worked and how the director handled them. I didn't know anything about making movies, and there's a lot to learn.”

“I think great movies have to have some great moments in them to bring them up to that level.”

“I don't write. I usually look for material by other people. Sometimes I change things or adapt things but I don't write from scratch. I wish I had that ability.”

“I couldn't tell you exactly what I like about golf. Just when you think you've got it mastered it lets you know you haven't. I'm just crazy enough to do it.”

“I love every aspect of the creation of motion pictures and I guess I am committed to it for life.”

“Instead of calling everybody names, start being more understanding.”

“When I was a kid, I thought movies just came from air. I thought they just appeared.”

“I'm a day-to-day-type person.”

“I don't know how everybody else feels, but I just long for reality rather than these made-up things.”

“I'm not a regrets-type person.”

“If somebody's dumb enough to ask me to go to a political convention and say something, they're going to have to take what they get.”

“Everything that you do is a challenge. And acting is just building up your concentration and being able to listen and to do the ridiculous.”

“We don't even know who's in the Academy.”

“I like working. That's when I'm feeling my best. And the people around me know that. My wife knows that.”

“If a person is constantly evolving, constantly reading new material and being exposed to new material and growing in life, then you're becoming, hopefully, a more intelligent and well-rounded individual. If you're not then something's wrong and you're sliding back in the other direction.”

“If you've done what you intended and if nobody tampered with it, then it's yours. And if people don't like it, then they just don't agree with you on that subject matter, and that's life.”

“You should just evaluate the work and make your judgments accordingly. That's the way you do it in life and every other subject.”