Quotes

[regarding the film Thunder Bay (1953)] I did the film because I was under contract to Universal and they told me to do it. Jim [James Stewart] did the film because he was developing an interest in oil exploration and was -- or became -- a partner with a Texas oilman. So he wanted to deliver a message that oil exploration and production did not affect the environment. [Anthony Mann] did the film just because Jim wanted him to do it, but Mann always complained that there just was no story worth telling in the script we had. And I had to agree with him, but I was stuck with it as much as he was.

[on The Glenn Miller Story (1954)] Tony Mann [director Anthony Mann] wasn't at his best with that picture. He thought it too sentimental -- and it was. But for good reason. I thought Glenn Miller was a much loved band leader -- a music star -- who died when his plane was brought down during World War Two. Tony said to me, "The studio wants me to make the audience brim over with emotion when Miller dies. Well, by God, I will." And he did.