Film is like a colony and there are very few colonists.

I want to give the audience a hint of a scene. No more than that. Give them too much and they won't contribute anything themselves. Give them just a suggestion and you get them working with you. That's what gives the theater meaning: when it becomes a social act.

I passionately hate the idea of being with it; I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time.

The most personal thing I've put in [Touch of Evil] is my hatred of the abuse of police power. It's better to see a murderer go free than for a policeman to abuse his power.

The ideal American type is perfectly expressed by the Protestant, individualist, anti-conformist, and this is the type that is in the process of disappearing. In reality there are few left.

Only very intelligent people don't wish they were in politics, and I'm dumb enough to want to be in there.

There are three intolerable things in life - cold coffee, lukewarm champagne, and overexcited women.