A biography for John Hustonhasn’t been written yet.
“Hollywood has always been a cage... a cage to catch our dreams.”
“There's never any telling what you'll say or do next, except that it's bound to be something astonishing. By God, sir, you are a character.”
“I prefer to think that God is not dead, just drunk.”
“What to do when inspiration doesn't come; be careful not to spook, get the wind up, force things into position. You must wait around until the idea comes.”
“After all, crime is only a left-handed form of human endeavor.”
“I don't try to guess what a million people will like. It's hard enough to know what I like.”
“The directing of a picture involves coming out of your individual loneliness and taking a controlling part in putting together a small world. A picture is made. You put a frame around it and move on. And one day you die. That is all there is to it.”
“You walk through a series of arches, so to speak, and then, presently, at the end of a corridor, a door opens and you see backward through time, and you feel the flow of time, and realize you are only part of a great nameless procession.”
“It's not color, it's like pouring 40 tablespoons of sugar water over a roast.”