I considered that the homes that people live in exactly describe their lives.

I was making films about American society, and it is true that I never felt at home there, except perhaps when my wife and I lived on a farm in the San Fernando Valley. But I always wanted my characters to be more than cyphers for the failings of their world. And I never had to look too hard to find a part of myself in them

I never regarded my pictures as very much to be proud of, except in this, the craft, the style.

Yes, I was hired by Universal because they needed a comedy director. They had seen Scandal and liked it. I saw an opportunity even in those comedies to begin my project of American films.

My idea at this time, which was slowly developing, was to create a comedie humaine with little people, average people - samples from every period in American life.

If I couldn't read, I couldn't live.

Your camera is the best critic there is. Critics never see as much as the camera does. It is more perceptive than the human eye.