I allow an area for improvisation because the chemical things actors bring to stories make it not work.

That's what I think musicals will come to. No backstage stories, nothing of that sort.

It's the story that counts.

The Pirate is surrealism and so, in a curious way, is Father of the Bride.

I learn new things all the time.

Color can do anything that black-and-white can.

I had given up the theater and everything propelled me into entertainment. And I didn't resist it.

Cedric Gibbons was the grand cardinal of the art department.

I made three films with Douglas, two with Charles Boyer.

Fortunately, John Houseman is a marvelous writer and he sat in on so many story conferences. He worked with Welles, you know, and he's a marvelous man.

It's always the story that interests me.

If anybody reads a story in a magazine or book, different pictures compete in their minds.

But I think musicals are going to have to deal with important subjects.

But surrealism is present in most of my pictures.

Nowadays the audience has changed. No one can anticipate the audience.

In the Thirties, when I was in New York, I did the first surrealistic ballet in a show of mine.

Designing Woman was written for the screen.

No, I only like whether I like the story or not, essentially see something in it that isn't completely there.

I seem to be drawn to things that actually happen.

I use colors to bring fine points of story and character.

American films are terribly popular all over the world and American movie stars are terribly important. I don't know why.

We shot that in all the real places where Van Gogh worked.

I started out to be a painter and was born into the theater.

West Side Story was terribly important because of the style of the dancing and the gangs of New York.

I see wonderful films by Bertolucci, Visconti, and Fellini.

I've worked with an awful lot of people. Katy Hepburn, Spencer Tracy.

Dali was the great painter then and surrealism was a way of life.

I always have coffee without sugar, you know. Just cream.

I always liked the Van Gogh story because I was terribly involved in that.

I allow an area for improvisation because the chemical things actors bring to stories make it not work.

But I went down to Venezuela and spend a few weeks going through jungles. It's fantastic looking.

Actors love mental disorders, dialects, and corsets. Give them one of the three and they're happy.

What's fascinating is that when you write a script, it's almost a stream of consciousness. You have an idea that it means something, but you're not always sure what. Then when you get on the set, the actors teach you.

Young actors often don't think of the consequences of doing nudity or sex scenes. They want the role so badly that they agree to be exploited, and then end up embarrassing family, friends, and even strangers.

I've seen many actors go awry by making the wrong choices early on.

Actors are able to trick themselves into treating anything as if it's fantastic. It's a kind of madness really.

David Cronenberg knows what we actors do as artists.

I like doing them and they're ridiculous and the actors can improvise a lot, and they don't have to be really realistic characters that hit a very specific tone as in a feature film. They're really fun, I want to make more of them definitely.

I'm not in the business of becoming famous. And that's the advice I give to younger aspiring actors. Work onstage and do the little roles. In the end it's not important to be seen. It's important to do. There's a lot of disappointment in this business, but my family keeps me grounded.

Actors get pigeonholed very quickly, particularly movie actors. In the theater, one is more used to casting people against type and trusting that their talent and skill will get them through.

Comedians are not usually actors, but imitations of actors.

I was very pleased you know, and I was afraid that I might stick out, but I didn't. My happiest thing about that picture is that I proved that American actors can speak as well and also fit in with an ensemble like that.

I've worked with a lot of really fine actors, both on stage and on screen. The level of their game lifts me up and brings the level of my game up to theirs. Always. It's like a constant upgrade.

I feel like I'm the most well-adjusted character on the show, even though I'm sure the other actors would tell you the same thing about their characters.

There's a constant flow of child actors. It's kind of funny to watch the new crew come through. I think, You poor little things. You're going to have to struggle for a long time.

I'll miss the relationships I have built with these actors. I'll miss the devotion we have to this work. Over this length of time, the tendency is to think it will never end.

After the war, there was no industry. We lost the war. We had our whole city destroyed. No money. No studio. No film. No camera. No equipment. We would shoot in the street. We had no actors. Nothing. But we wanted to do movies. And we did the best movies in the world.

An actors' tribute to me is in his work.

A few nights ago I went to a Hollywood screening of a small independent film made by Sally Kirkland, an old friend of mine who also did terrific job acting in it. There were other actors in it and they were all terrific.