The first thing you should do with an actor is not sign a contract with him. Take him to dinner. And take him for a walk afterwards.

I owe Bankhead a gift; she made a director out of me.

I joined the Communist Party late in the summer of 1934. I got out a year and a half later.

I hate the Communists and have for many years and don't feel right about giving up my career to defend them. I will give up my film career if it is in the interests of defending something I believe in, but not this.

I was both very successful and very left; the living demonstration of how you could be on the left and still be in the gossip columns and be envied for the money you made.

I gave my life to the Group Theatre, because in it I'm building something for myself. What I build, I am.

I've come to believe that everything worth achieving is beyond one's capacity - or seems so at first. The thing is to persist, not back off, fight your fight, pay your dues, and carry on. Effort is all; continue and you may get there despite everything.