I've never laid a cane on the back of a lord before, but if you force me to I shall speedily become used to the practice.

Sanitised violence in movies has been accepted for years. What seems to upset everybody now is the showing of the consequences of violence.

If Gary Cooper and Henry Fonda had a baby, it would be Matthew Modine.

Gee, I wish we had one of them doomsday machines things.

The director's job is to know what emotional statement he wants a character to convey in his scene or his line, and to exercise taste and judgment in helping the actor give his best possible performance.

The reality of the final moment, just before shooting [the scene], is so powerful that all previous analysis must yield before the impressions you receive under these circumstances, and unless you use this feedback to your positive advantage, unless you adjust to it, adapt to it and accept the sometimes terrifying weaknesses it can expose, you can never realize the most out of your film.

Have you ever had a single moment's thought about my responsibilities?