Quotes
I heard Sinclair Lewis say to his son, "Don't write what you know-you'll run out of material!" It always fascinated me.
I had to go back in the Fifties. After the first year of his illness, the cost of hospitalization and bills ate up everything we had-and he was sick for five years. I really had to go back to work.
I don't think Stroheim fell in love with me. He always had a love for me, that's true. But, it wasn't deep-it was just lovely. I adored him. I was the aggressor, the silent aggressor-I'll admit that, because I just thought he was so wonderful.
I don't think I will ever understand that behavior. Or ever understand intolerance. Ever!
I don't know why Sinclair Lewis fell in love with me. He didn't get even the slightest response from me. But his letters were lovely. And the poems he wrote me were lovely. I used some of them in my book.
I don't know how to hold a gun. I'd have no idea what to do with one if it came near me. It seems like everyone in films has to have a gun! And explosions! Explosions! Kerosene blowing up all the time! If I ever was going to invest in anything it would be kerosene!
I didn't really know Bruce Cabot at all! He was not a personality you could even exchange with or talk to; he was just there when he was needed, then he was off. Sometimes they had to go looking for him!
I did four films with Gary Cooper and he did WINGS, which my husband had written. Cooper stayed out late one night and came on the set very sleepy. He never did become totally awake for the scene. That's how he got a reputation as a sleepy actor!
I did a series where Natalie Wood was my daughter. Paul Hartman had the lead. He was a real bumpkin and I was a pretty elegant wife for him, it seemed to me.
I always admired good writing and read everything that came out. When I was married to John Monk Saunders, he read everything, too.
He was just trying to tease me-I knew that later-but he said he'd have to leave because it wasn't fair to have anyone in the room who was going to make fun of what he had to say. He had a good sense of humor, really.
He knew just how to position his head to get the right angles! He was very conscious of his contour. And that was the most significant thing about Lionel Atwill, I thought. I don't mean to put him down, but it seemed to be what he had and what he used!
He escaped with a lady who subsequently went with him to Persia-it used to be Persia-and they did a beautiful film called GRASS.
Gary Cooper was always tired and worn out! I remember once, he woke up and I was sitting beside him. He made the obligatory pass at me and I just made no response at all. That was my style.
For the purposes of the play, it was perfect to be able to use that and the stresses and strains that there were. At the end of the play, the mother realizes the terrible things she had done.
Even at that time, I didn't want to hear that there was a formula. Instinctively, I knew it was a mistake and he was going to be in some trouble from that. Then I thought, " I will do it. I will write a play."
Eric von Stroheim, with whom I worked, was a very brilliant director. Ernst Lubitch was brilliant. Years later, he told me he had always wanted to work with me and I wish we had. He had the kind of talent that would have been wonderful to share.
Debbie Reynolds was adorable, but she never could stop talking! She always had this lovely enthusiasm and desire to express herself that just went and went and went! The director stood behind her once and made the gesture, "How can you stop her? How can you stop her?"
Curtiz was offended because people ate when lunch was called-even on location! "Why do people have to eat," he said. "I don't eat." He was not a warm personality in any way. No, I didn't feel comfortable with Michael Curtiz at all!
Crawford washed her hands a lot. She washed her arms all the way up past her elbows. She just couldn't get enough done in that direction. She was compulsive about being clean, clean, clean!