All the animals come out at night.

Film noir is not a genre. It is not defined, as are the western and gangster genres, by conventions of setting and conflict, but rather by the more subtle qualities of tone and mood. It is a film 'noir', as opposed to the possible variants of film gray or film off-white.

Now I see it clearly. My whole life has pointed in one direction. I see that now. There never has been any choice for me.

There's no escape. I'm God's only man.

The secret of the creative life is to feel at ease with your own embarrassment.

You know, when you're in your twenties you use a great deal of symbolism. You somehow think that a character standing beneath a cross is more interesting than a character standing underneath a billboard, but when you get a little older you realize that there's not much difference.

That's just my disposition - to create a situation where you have to come up with something.