When I was young, I wanted to be a dramatic writer, a writer of tragedy. Nothing would’ve pleased me more than if I could have written like Eugene O’Neil or Tennessee Williams.
See, I will always have this penchant for what I call kamikaze women. I call them kamikazes because they, you know they crash their plane, they’re self-destructive. But they crash into you, and you die along with them.
My gift was in comedy. I found out I could make jokes. I could tell jokes. I could write them. So over the years, that’s what I’ve done.
I like writing. It keeps my mind off grim subjects. It’s therapeutic in the same way a patient in an institution is given fingerpaints.
I spend a lot of time idly. I go to sporting events, play my clarinet. I practise. But if you work every day, a certain amount on a steady basis, the work accumulates.
The heart is a very, very resilient little muscle. It really is.
Music has always helped my films. In ‘The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion,’ you can hear ‘Sunrise’ by Glenn Miller, an idol of my childhood, in the surprise ending. I like mixing comedy with suspense and action.
A tree never hits an automobile except in self defense.
Last year I had difficulty with my income tax. I tried to take my analyst off as a business deduction. The Government said it was entertainment. We compromised finally and made it a religious contribution.
Jazz is a big thing with me. It’s a very big passion of mine, to play it. I’m an amateur musician and I love everything about it. I was obsessed with jazz when I was 15 years old and I know a lot about it because I’ve loved it so much.
I can levitate birds. No one cares.
I can’t enjoy anything unless everybody is. If one guy is starving someplace, that puts a crimp in my evening.
When I’m writing something, if there’s a part that’s good for me, then I’ll play it. Otherwise, I don’t. And I notice that there are less and less parts for me in my own writing.
Every success is built on the ability to do better than good enough. As you climb the ladder of success, be sure it’s leaning against the right building. Eighty percent of success is showing up.
I don’t get depressed; I grow a tumor instead.
My heart says one thing. My head says another. Very hard to get your heart and head together in life.
Some people want to achieve immortality through their works or their descendants. I prefer to achieve immortality by not dying.
I don’t inhale because it gives you cancer, but I look so incredibly handsome with a cigarette that I can’t not hold one.
You’re so good looking I can barely keep my eyes on the meter.
The content dictates the style all the time. That’s the way it is. If the content of the film is highly jagged, neurotic, fast-paced, it just called for that kind of shooting, editing and performance.