Frank Capra was a prop man, I think. John Ford was a prop man. It was a little bit of a father and son thing, and you kind of worked your way up.

I was never sloppy with other people's money. Only my own. Because I figure, well, you can be.

I wrote the script of Patton. I had this very bizarre opening where he stands up in front of an American flag and gives this speech. Ultimately, I was fired. When the script was done, they hired another writer and that script was forgotten.

It takes no imagination to live within your means.

I always knew what I thought the theme was, the core, in one word. In 'The Godfather' it was succession. In 'The Conversation' it was privacy. In 'Apocalypse' it was morality.

If you're a person who says yes most of the time, you'll find yourself in the hotel business and the restaurant business.

I remember growing up with television, from the time it was just a test pattern, with maybe a little bit of programming once in a while.