The ultimate trick is to convince, persuade. Every single person out there is an idiot, but collectively they're a genius.

I'd worship the ground you walked on if only you walked in a better neighborhood.

Well, nobody's perfect.

It was a hot afternoon and I can still remember the smell of honeysuckle all along the street. How can I have known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?

Hollywood didn't kill Marilyn Monroe, it's the Marilyn Monroes who are killing Hollywood.

One's too many and a hundred's not enough.

I just made pictures I would've liked to see.

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.

On Ernst Lubitsch: He could do more with a closed door than other directors could do with an open fly.

My Aunt Minnie would always be punctual and never hold up production, but who would pay to see my Aunt Minnie?

An actor entering through the door, you've got nothing. But if he enters through the window, you've got a situation.

If something smells bad, why put your nose in it?

Shoot a few scenes out of focus. I want to win the foreign film award.

Develop a clean line of action for your leading character

Don't be too clever for an audience. Make it obvious. Make the subtleties obvious also.

Money makes even bastards legitimate.

We are on the track of something absolutely mediocre.

God save me from myself.

I just always think, 'Do I like it?' And if I like it, maybe other people will come and like it too.