John Huston Quotes
The directing of a picture involves coming out of your individual loneliness and taking a controlling part in putting together a small world.
I don't try to guess what a million people will like. It's hard enough to know what I like.
A picture is made. You put a frame around it and move on. And one day you die. That is all there is to it.
Most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and the right place they're capable of anything.
What to do when inspiration doesn't come; be careful not to spook, get the wind up, force things into position. You must wait around until the idea comes.
Once you have found the right shot to introduce the scene-written your first declarative sentence-then the rest flows. You've found the key to the whole scene.
Critics have never been able to discover a unifying theme in my films. For thatmatter, neither have I.
What you try to become is a bringer of magic, for magic and the truth are closely allied and movies are sheer magic ... when they work, it's, well, it's glorious.
I don't approve of censorship. I like the French theatre idea. Put on the play, and if the audience doesn't care for it, or feels offended by it, they rip up the seats.
Marilyn was one step from oblivion when I directed her in The Asphalt Jungle. I remember she impressed me more off the screen than on…there was something touching and appealing about her.
For sheer strength of character, I wouldn't have dared to cross swords with Callas. I would rather have gone six rounds with Jack Dempsey.
Whenever something is convenient or was modified after 1970, you probably shouldn't use it as root.
There's never any telling what you'll say or do next, except that it's bound to be something astonishing. By God, sir, you are a character.