Quotes

My first picture contained 53 scenes, and it was freely predicted that I would be fired for wasting so much time and film. Around the studio I was generally designated as "one of those New York guys that know all about the picture business". My salutatory was a comedy. I believe it was three days in the making.

Primarily the director must know life, but he must know too how to project life, not in narrative form, but by selected dramatic moments, each of which builds toward a definite crisis or climax that will bring a burst of emotional response from the audience . . . He is the personification of every character in his drama as he directs each scene, carrying the story development so closely in his consciousness that he is a dozen persons at once . . . But, above all else, a director must excel in coaxing, cajoling and spurring his actors to heights of artistry.

When the film was cut and assembled, I would turn my attention to stories and would work until midnight writing scenarios for the following day. With my wife's help, I managed to keep my production up to par . . . Life was fraught with many discouragements and anxieties for those who were engaged in the early motion picture industry. There were many disheartening problems and setbacks. Each step of the way had to be tries, mistakes in judgment and execution, the results of experimentation, had to be corrected, and new ideas tried out.

Personally, I count the years I spent on stage before I became a director and then a producer as the greatest single factor contributing toward whatever measure of success I have achieved.