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.

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

I think the great artists (..) have always thought with the heart.

You have to think with the heart.

There is a wonderful expression: seeing through a glass darkly. Everything, even life, is inevitably removed from you. You can't reach, or touch, the real. You just see reflections

And in movies you must be a gambler. To produce films is to gamble.

I worked for UFA as a set designer, you know.