[January 1962] There has to be something for me beyond western roles, which rarely give you a full f...
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[January 1962] There has to be something for me beyond western roles, which rarely give you a full feeling of acting accomplishment. Have you ever heard of a western star being called an actor's actor? I'll bet not!
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For years I bummed around trying to get an acting job. They told me my voice was too soft, my teeth ...
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For years I bummed around trying to get an acting job. They told me my voice was too soft, my teeth needed capping, I squinted -- all that tearing down of my ego. If I walked into a casting office now, a stranger, I'd get the same old crap. But now I'm Clint Eastwood.
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My appeal is in the characters I play. A superhuman type character who has all the answers, is doubl...
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My appeal is in the characters I play. A superhuman type character who has all the answers, is double cool, exists on his own without society or the help of society's police forces. A guy sits in the audience. He's twenty-five years old and he's scared stiff about what he's going to do with his life. He wants to have that self-sufficient thing he sees up on the screen.
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[on Million Dollar Baby (2004)] It's a tragedy that could have been written by the Greeks or Shakesp...
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[on Million Dollar Baby (2004)] It's a tragedy that could have been written by the Greeks or Shakespeare.
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[on Ambush at Cimarron Pass (1958)] Probably the lousiest western ever made.
[on Ambush at Cimarron Pass (1958)] Probably the lousiest western ever made.
At the studios, everybody's into sequels or remakes or adaptations of old TV shows. I don't know if ...
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At the studios, everybody's into sequels or remakes or adaptations of old TV shows. I don't know if it's because of the corporate environment or they're just out of ideas. Pretty soon, they're going to be wanting to do one of Rawhide (1959).
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[on Barack Obama] He doesn't go to work. He doesn't go down to Congress and make a deal. What the he...
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[on Barack Obama] He doesn't go to work. He doesn't go down to Congress and make a deal. What the hell's he doing sitting in the White House? If I were in that job, I'd get down there and make a deal. Sure, Congress are lazy bastards, but so what? You're the top guy. You're the president of the company. It's your responsibility to make sure everybody does well. It's the same with every company in this country, whether it's a two-man company or a two-hundred-man company...
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[on taking nootropics] You can actually feel a difference and see a difference in yourself. I'm not ...
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[on taking nootropics] You can actually feel a difference and see a difference in yourself. I'm not necessarily interested in extending life. To me, what seems most intriguing is just keeping the quality of your life up as long as fate decrees that you'll be here on the planet.
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I never considered myself a cowboy, because I wasn't. But I guess when I got into cowboy gear I look...
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I never considered myself a cowboy, because I wasn't. But I guess when I got into cowboy gear I looked enough like one to convince people that I was.
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[on director Arthur Lubin] We spent a lot of time together, traveled together. He liked me a lot; go...
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[on director Arthur Lubin] We spent a lot of time together, traveled together. He liked me a lot; got me into the talent program at Universal, gave me a lot of breaks. Bought me some nice clothes, too. That's when people started wondering about us!
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[about Patrick McGilligan's unauthorized biography of him, 2002] I don't know if this is the same bo...
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[about Patrick McGilligan's unauthorized biography of him, 2002] I don't know if this is the same book that came out in England, but if it is, it's just very factually inaccurate. He has me involved with women I've never met and attending schools I've never gone to - and there was a photograph supposedly of me that wasn't me. The stories about my father weren't true. There were incidents described that never took place; I've never broken a window with a ball peen hammer in my life. If you can't even get the little stuff right, then how are you going to get the big stuff right? But I don't want to talk about it too much, because I hate even giving it credence. It's a very mean-spirited book. I don't care if you write something bad about me, as long as it's true. I'm not Mr. Evangelical Pure-as-the-snow. I just want the true (stories) out. They're fair game. But when they're made up, they're not fair game.
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The less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice.
The less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice.
[on former President Ronald Reagan] Yes, I liked him very much. When he was a former president of th...
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[on former President Ronald Reagan] Yes, I liked him very much. When he was a former president of the Screen Actors Guild, I don't think he had the vast support that a lot of other presidents have had. So I don't know why that is, it's just the nature of things.
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There are certain things you have to be realistic about. Dirty Harry would not be on a police depart...
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There are certain things you have to be realistic about. Dirty Harry would not be on a police department at my age so we'll move on from that.
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[on Paint Your Wagon (1969)] It wasn't like Singin' in the Rain (1952), where it had a cohesive plot...
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[on Paint Your Wagon (1969)] It wasn't like Singin' in the Rain (1952), where it had a cohesive plot line. They started out with a real dramatic story and then made it fluffy. When they changed it around, I tried to bail out. It wasn't my favorite. I wasn't particularly nervous about singing on film. My dad was a singer and we'd have sing-arounds. But certainly [Frank Sinatra] wasn't worried.
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[asked for the secret to a lasting marriage, 1971] We don't believe in 'togetherness'. We've stayed ...
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[asked for the secret to a lasting marriage, 1971] We don't believe in 'togetherness'. We've stayed together by staying apart.
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If you believe in reincarnation you're putting too much on the other side. I believe you have just o...
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If you believe in reincarnation you're putting too much on the other side. I believe you have just one shot at life, and you should do the best you can with that shot. And I suppose you should be thankful that you've been given the ability to do certain things in life, and not be greedy enough to want to stay around forever.
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[on John Wayne] I gave him a piece of material that I thought had potential for us to do as a younge...
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[on John Wayne] I gave him a piece of material that I thought had potential for us to do as a younger guy and an older guy. He wrote me back critical of it. He had seen High Plains Drifter (1973), and he didn't think that represented Americana like She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and other John Ford westerns. I never answered him.
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The stronger the participation of the female characters, the better the movie. They knew that in the...
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The stronger the participation of the female characters, the better the movie. They knew that in the old days, when women stars were equally as important as men.
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[on a possible return to acting after saying he was giving it up with Gran Torino (2008)] I'm like J...
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[on a possible return to acting after saying he was giving it up with Gran Torino (2008)] I'm like Jaws 2 (1978): "Just when you think it's safe to go back in the water..."
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I've been through my womanizer part of my life. There was a point when it was an illness, just compu...
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I've been through my womanizer part of my life. There was a point when it was an illness, just compulsive, but that's behind me now. I've never considered myself addicted to anything, but if I was, that was it.
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Everybody has certain things they wish they hadn't done in life. They wish they hadn't kicked their ...
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Everybody has certain things they wish they hadn't done in life. They wish they hadn't kicked their dog when they were ten or something.
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People have lost their sense of humor. In former times we constantly made jokes about different race...
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People have lost their sense of humor. In former times we constantly made jokes about different races. You can only tell them today with one hand over your mouth or you will be insulted as a racist. I find that ridiculous. In those earlier days every friendly clique had a 'Sam the Jew' or 'Jose the Mexican' - but we didn't think anything of it or have a racist thought. It was just normal that we made jokes based on our nationality or ethnicity. That was never a problem. I don't want to be politically correct. We're all spending too much time and energy trying to be politically correct about everything.
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Guys appreciate a man's ingenuity to make a buck and have a certain cool. The girls like it too . . ...
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Guys appreciate a man's ingenuity to make a buck and have a certain cool. The girls like it too . . . A guy who knows exactly what he wants and goes out and gets it, is reassuring to people.
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I was always respectful of people who were deeply religious because I always felt that if they gave ...
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I was always respectful of people who were deeply religious because I always felt that if they gave themselves to it, then it had to be important to them. But if you can go through life without it, that's OK, too. It's whatever suits you.
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[in GQ magazine, October 2011] I don't give a fuck about who wants to get married to anybody else! W...
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[in GQ magazine, October 2011] I don't give a fuck about who wants to get married to anybody else! Why not?! We're making a big deal out of things we shouldn't be making a deal out of ... Just give everybody the chance to have the life they want
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I think people jumped to conclusions about Dirty Harry (1971) without giving the character much thou...
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I think people jumped to conclusions about Dirty Harry (1971) without giving the character much thought, trying to attach right-wing connotations to the film that were never really intended. Both the director [Don Siegel] and I thought it was a basic kind of drama - what do you do when you believe so much in law and order and coming to the rescue of people and you just have five hours to solve a case? That kind of impossible effort was fun to portray, but I think it was interpreted as a pro-police point of view, as a kind of rightist heroism, at a time in American history when police officers were looked down on as "pigs", as very oppressive people - I'm sure there are some who are, and a lot who aren't. I've met both kinds.
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In the past I have been with women who wanted more from me than I was ever willing to give. I was pr...
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In the past I have been with women who wanted more from me than I was ever willing to give. I was probably not as attentive as I could have been. I can be selfish and some of the women didn't have a good idea of their self. They wanted me to mould them and I just can't do that.
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[on the Rocky (1976) movies] I loved the first one. I always admired Sylvester Stallone's tenacity t...
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[on the Rocky (1976) movies] I loved the first one. I always admired Sylvester Stallone's tenacity to go ahead and get that made.
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I think I'm reasonably intelligent.
I think I'm reasonably intelligent.
[on how he decided to do Per un pugno di dollari (1964)] I'd done Rawhide (1959) for about five year...
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[on how he decided to do Per un pugno di dollari (1964)] I'd done Rawhide (1959) for about five years. The agency called and asked if I was interested in doing a western in Italy and Spain. I said, "Not particularly." They said, "Why don't you give the script a quick look?" Well, I was kind of curious, so I read it, and I recognized it right away as Yôjinbô (1961), a Kurosawa [Akira Kurosawa] film I had liked a lot. Over I went, taking the poncho with me - yeah the cape was my idea.
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I've waited all my life for a woman like Dina. She is bright, funny, independent. It's fate that I m...
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I've waited all my life for a woman like Dina. She is bright, funny, independent. It's fate that I met her when I was in my sixties. I'd love to have been with her 20, 30 years ago and I would have settled down much sooner. I spent my twenties and thirties being angry, then my forties and fifties being disappointed. It's only in the last part of my life that I've learned to be happy.
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The reason I became a Republican is because [Dwight D. Eisenhower] was running. A hero from World Wa...
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The reason I became a Republican is because [Dwight D. Eisenhower] was running. A hero from World War II, a charismatic individual, a military man, a non-attorney - even then I liked that! I was a very young person voting for the first time. A lot of people joke that a conservative is a liberal who's made his first $100,000 and then decides,"Wait a second, I want to save this, why are they taxing it away?". Today the country's in kind of a turmoil over taxing. Being raised in the thirties, watching my parents work hard to make ends meet, with jobs scarce, and then the war years - it tends to make a person a little more fiscally conscious than if you've been born into a wealthier family. You know, if you go to most people who are self-made and ask them what their political philosophy is, usually they're a little more conservative than people who had a better start.
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[on his planned remake of A Star Is Born (1937)] I talked about that for a while with Warner Brother...
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[on his planned remake of A Star Is Born (1937)] I talked about that for a while with Warner Brothers' people and we're still playing with that idea. But the problem at the beginning was they were more infatuated with just the idea of the casting. They were talking about having Beyoncé Knowles in it, and she was very popular, but she also is very active and it's hard to get a time scheduled, so we never could get that worked out. But I'm still playing with the idea.
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[asked by British interviewer Ginny Dougary why so many women had his babies] Well, sometimes -- ugh...
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[asked by British interviewer Ginny Dougary why so many women had his babies] Well, sometimes -- ughh . . . arghh . . . I . . . I don't . . . ahh . . . know why it is that I'm any more of a sire than anyone else. Um . . . er . . . something to do with the genes, I guess.
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[what he says after a take, instead of "Cut!"] That's enough of that shit.
[what he says after a take, instead of "Cut!"] That's enough of that shit.
I feel very close to the western. There are not too many American art forms that are original. Most ...
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I feel very close to the western. There are not too many American art forms that are original. Most are derived from European art forms. Other than the western and jazz or blues, that's all that's really original.
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I like working with actors who don't have anything to prove.
I like working with actors who don't have anything to prove.
I don't like the wimp syndrome. No matter how ardent a feminist may be, if she is a heterosexual fem...
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I don't like the wimp syndrome. No matter how ardent a feminist may be, if she is a heterosexual female, she wants the strength of a male companion as well as the sensitivity. The most gentle people in the world are macho males, people who are confident in their masculinity and have a feeling of well-being in themselves. They don't have to kick in doors, mistreat women, or make fun of gays.
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When I was doing The Bridges of Madison County (1995), I said to myself, "This romantic stuff is rea...
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When I was doing The Bridges of Madison County (1995), I said to myself, "This romantic stuff is really tough. I can't wait to get back to shooting and killing."
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I can get into the nostalgia thing sometimes, but to me the good old days are right now.
I can get into the nostalgia thing sometimes, but to me the good old days are right now.
[on home pornography] The ultimate turn-on.
[on home pornography] The ultimate turn-on.
As soon as I read that line in the script, "Go ahead make my day", I knew audiences would love it.
As soon as I read that line in the script, "Go ahead make my day", I knew audiences would love it.
I guess I'm just a bum and a drifter by nature. I don't think of myself as a "star." I don't have an...
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I guess I'm just a bum and a drifter by nature. I don't think of myself as a "star." I don't have any image of myself.
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[on Gran Torino (2008)] That will probably do it for me as far as acting is concerned. You always wa...
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[on Gran Torino (2008)] That will probably do it for me as far as acting is concerned. You always want to quit while you are ahead. You don't want to be like a fighter who stays too long in the ring until you're not performing at your best.
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There's really no way to teach you how to act, but there is a way to teach you how to teach yourself...
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There's really no way to teach you how to act, but there is a way to teach you how to teach yourself to act. That's kind of what it is; once you learn the little tricks that work for you, pretty soon you find yourself doing that.
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The Americans who went to Iwo Jima knew it would be a tough fight, but they always believed they'd w...
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The Americans who went to Iwo Jima knew it would be a tough fight, but they always believed they'd win. The Japanese were told they wouldn't come home - they were being sent to die for the Emperor. People have made a lot out of that very different cultural approach. But as I got into the storytelling for the two movies [Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)], I realised that the 19-year-olds from both sides had the same fears. They all wrote poignant letters home saying: "I don't want to die." They were all going through the same thing, despite the cultural differences.
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100 years from now and more, people will look back on this generation of films, and the guy who will...
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100 years from now and more, people will look back on this generation of films, and the guy who will standout more than anyone else will be Tom Cruise.
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[April 2010] I planned on not working at this time in my life, but I am enjoying working more now th...
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[April 2010] I planned on not working at this time in my life, but I am enjoying working more now than I ever have. I have been lucky enough to work in a profession I really like and I figure I will continue until somebody hits me over the head.
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I am concerned about violence in films. In 1992, when I did Unforgiven (1992), which is a film that ...
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I am concerned about violence in films. In 1992, when I did Unforgiven (1992), which is a film that is very anti-violence and very anti-gun, I remember that Gene Hackman was concerned about it too. And we both discussed how much violence in films has escalated since Dirty Harry (1971) and other movies I made.
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Whatever success I've had is due to a lot of instinct and a little luck.
Whatever success I've had is due to a lot of instinct and a little luck.
Nowadays you'd have many battles before you blow it up, but eventually you'd take it down. And that'...
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Nowadays you'd have many battles before you blow it up, but eventually you'd take it down. And that's okay, I don't heavily quarrel with that, but for me personally, having made films for years and directed for 33 years, it just seems to me that I long for people who want to see a story and see character development. Maybe we've dug it out and there's not really an audience for that, but that's not for me to really worry about.
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[on Angelina Jolie] She's wonderful. To me, she's like a throwback to the women in film of the Forti...
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[on Angelina Jolie] She's wonderful. To me, she's like a throwback to the women in film of the Forties. Not to say women today aren't great, but back then there was more individuality. They didn't have the same Botox look. Angelina has that great individuality, her own look and her own style. I think she would have been just as big a name in that era, the same as Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis and Ingrid Bergman.
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I always cry when I watch myself on screen.
I always cry when I watch myself on screen.
Crimes against children are the most heinous crime. That, for me, would be a reason for capital puni...
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Crimes against children are the most heinous crime. That, for me, would be a reason for capital punishment because children are innocent and need the guidance of an adult society.
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Sometimes I think I disappoint people by not being more like the characters I play in the movies. Bu...
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Sometimes I think I disappoint people by not being more like the characters I play in the movies. But who wants to be those guys? The best kind of fan is the one who tells you he loved your film and then, boom, is off.
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I like Italian movies. I was frequently there in the '60s, in Rome and the vicinity. It was a great ...
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I like Italian movies. I was frequently there in the '60s, in Rome and the vicinity. It was a great period in life. I was very influenced by their stuff.
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[on trying to get Million Dollar Baby (2004) made at Warner Bros.] They might have been a little mor...
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[on trying to get Million Dollar Baby (2004) made at Warner Bros.] They might have been a little more interested if I said I wanted to do "Dirty Harry 9" or something.
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[to Sondra Locke, 1975] I never knew I could love somebody so much, and feel so peaceful about it at...
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[to Sondra Locke, 1975] I never knew I could love somebody so much, and feel so peaceful about it at the same time.
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I don't quite understand this obsession about doing remakes and making television series into featur...
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I don't quite understand this obsession about doing remakes and making television series into feature films. I would rather see them encourage writers with new ideas in all different genres like they used to in the heyday of movies.
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When I was a kid, I thought movies just came from air. I thought they just appeared.
When I was a kid, I thought movies just came from air. I thought they just appeared.
I don't believe in pessimism. If something doesn't come up the way you want, forge ahead.
I don't believe in pessimism. If something doesn't come up the way you want, forge ahead.
With Every Which Way But Loose (1978), they gave me the script and I thought, "This is something. Th...
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With Every Which Way But Loose (1978), they gave me the script and I thought, "This is something. This is kinda crazy. But there's something kind of hip about it. This guy's out drifting along and his best friend is an orangutan". I mean, the scenes of talking to an orangutan about your troubles, I'd never seen anything quite like it. He has a romance that falls through, he doesn't get the girl, and then he goes off with the orangutan. I thought, What could be better? I wouldn't put it in the time capsule of films you did that you thought were great, but everything's a challenge.
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Secretly everybody's getting tired of political correctness, kissing up. That's the kiss-ass generat...
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Secretly everybody's getting tired of political correctness, kissing up. That's the kiss-ass generation we're in right now. We're really in a pussy generation. Everybody's walking on eggshells. We see people accusing people of being racist and all kinds of stuff. When I grew up, those things weren't called racist. And then when I did Gran Torino (2008), even my associate said, "This is a really good script, but it's politically incorrect." And I said, "Good. Let me read it tonight." The next morning, I came in and I threw it on his desk and I said, "We're starting this immediately."
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I like the image of the piano player: the piano player sits down, plays, tells his story, and then g...
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I like the image of the piano player: the piano player sits down, plays, tells his story, and then gets up and leaves - letting the music speak for itself.
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I think women like to see other women put down when they're out of line. They have a dream of the gu...
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I think women like to see other women put down when they're out of line. They have a dream of the guy who won't let them get away with anything. And the man in the audience is thinking, 'That's how I'd like to handle it--cool and assured, knowing all the answers.' He wants to be a superhero.
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[to Eli Wallach prior to starting work on Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966)] Never trust anyone...
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[to Eli Wallach prior to starting work on Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966)] Never trust anyone on an Italian movie. I know about these things. Stay away from special effects and explosives.
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I keep finding interesting stories, or they come to me, so I'll keep making movies.
I keep finding interesting stories, or they come to me, so I'll keep making movies.
I think I'm on a track of doing pictures nobody wants to do, that they're all afraid of. I guess it'...
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I think I'm on a track of doing pictures nobody wants to do, that they're all afraid of. I guess it's the era we live in, where they're doing remakes of The Dukes of Hazzard (1979) and other old television shows. I must say, I'm not a negative person, but sometimes I wonder what kind of movies people are going to be making 10 years from now if they follow this trajectory. When I grew up there was such a variety of movies being made. You could go see Sergeant York (1941) or Sitting Pretty (1948) or Sullivan's Travels (1941), dozens of pictures, not to mention all the great B movies. Now, they're looking for whatever the last hit was. If it's The Incredibles (2004), they want 'The Double Incredibles.' My theory is they ought to corral writers into writers' buildings like they used to and start out with fresh material.
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I would never have been able to pass the Bill Clinton-Gary Hart test. No one short of Mother Teresa ...
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I would never have been able to pass the Bill Clinton-Gary Hart test. No one short of Mother Teresa could pass.
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Films can go overboard on violence but the Dirty Harry films don't. We don't use slow motion violenc...
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Films can go overboard on violence but the Dirty Harry films don't. We don't use slow motion violence for instance, or lingering blood squirts. Also, Harry Callahan is an honorable man and a hero to middle America. I'd question films like Taxi Driver (1976) where the hero is mentally ill.
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When I was growing up in the '30s and '40s, kids were a lot more active than they are today. We didn...
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When I was growing up in the '30s and '40s, kids were a lot more active than they are today. We didn't have television, we certainly didn't have computers, so you came home from school and then went out to play with the other kids in your neighborhood. You didn't have to be a varsity athlete to get into a game of pickup basketball or football or to take a bat, ball and glove out to an empty lot for a game of flies-and-grounders.
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Plagiarism is always the biggest thing in Hollywood.
Plagiarism is always the biggest thing in Hollywood.
I was a bit of a screw-up, a loner.
I was a bit of a screw-up, a loner.
I think kids are natural actors. You watch most kids; if they don't have a toy they'll pick up a sti...
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I think kids are natural actors. You watch most kids; if they don't have a toy they'll pick up a stick and make a toy out of it. Kids will daydream all the time.
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I also wonder how I got this far in life. Growing up, I never knew what I wanted to do. I was not a ...
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I also wonder how I got this far in life. Growing up, I never knew what I wanted to do. I was not a terribly good student or a very vivacious, outgoing person. I was just kind of a backward kid. I grew up in various little towns and ended up in Oakland, California, going to a trade school. I didn't want to be an actor, because I thought an actor had to be an extrovert - somebody who loved to tell jokes and talk and be a raconteur. And I was something of an introvert. My mother used to say: "You have a little angel on your shoulder." I guess she was surprised I grew up at all, never mind that I got to where I am. The best I can do is quote a line from Unforgiven (1992): "Deserve's got nothing to do with it."
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[on misrepresentation of his early work] My parts ranged from one-liners to four-liners, but to look...
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[on misrepresentation of his early work] My parts ranged from one-liners to four-liners, but to look at some of the billings in TV Guide these days, you'd think I co-starred in those films.
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I'm not a person who pre-plans life.
I'm not a person who pre-plans life.
Right now, the state of the movies in America, there's an awful lot of people hanging on wires and f...
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Right now, the state of the movies in America, there's an awful lot of people hanging on wires and floating across things and comic book characters and what have you. There seems to be a lot of big business in that, a nice return on some of those.
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Marriage is not just about 'love.' It's about 'like' as well.
Marriage is not just about 'love.' It's about 'like' as well.
The main thing is not how long you're on the planet, but the quality you have while you're here.
The main thing is not how long you're on the planet, but the quality you have while you're here.
One of the first films I went to - I went with my dad because my mother didn't want to go see a war ...
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One of the first films I went to - I went with my dad because my mother didn't want to go see a war movie - was Sergeant York (1941). My dad was a big admirer of Sergeant York stories from [World War I]. It was directed by Howard Hawks. That was when I first became aware of movies, who made them, who was involved.
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[when asked if he is still registered as a Republican] Yes, I am. I started - I enrolled as a Republ...
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[when asked if he is still registered as a Republican] Yes, I am. I started - I enrolled as a Republican in 1951 when Dwight D. Eisenhower was running. And I was in the military. I was a fan of his. And that's how I got started off. I was never - my parents were mixed, I think one Republican, one Democrat, so I didn't have any grand-pappies to influence me.
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If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster.
If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster.
I don't have any great pickup lines. I was never an extrovert, so I always had to have someone meet ...
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I don't have any great pickup lines. I was never an extrovert, so I always had to have someone meet me halfway. If she was interested, we'd come together, and if not ... When I became a movie actor and became well-known, it took care of itself. Maybe that's why I became an actor.
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[on marriage] I haven't exactly been successful at it, but I made a couple of attempts. I've had mom...
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[on marriage] I haven't exactly been successful at it, but I made a couple of attempts. I've had moments of success interrupted by moments of satyr. Shelley Berman used to say that. I admire people who can accomplish and do it, but it's very difficult in today's society, because there are so many things pulling at people. People gain different interests as time goes by, so they decide that they want to try something else. You have to keep trying! You don't want to give up and be so cynical that, you say, 'Never!' But, maybe, at my stage in life, there's a silver act. Never say never.
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[December 2014] I just went through a period where my DNA was in demand for a while. I think that's ...
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[December 2014] I just went through a period where my DNA was in demand for a while. I think that's all ended-but, you never know!
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[on his dissatisfaction with his diminishing role in the "Dollars" trilogy] In the first, I was just...
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[on his dissatisfaction with his diminishing role in the "Dollars" trilogy] In the first, I was just about alone. Then there were two of us. And now are three of us. If it goes on like this I'm going to end up in a detachment of cavalry.
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[when asked if he has disappointed his conservative fans by directing Million Dollar Baby (2004)] We...
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[when asked if he has disappointed his conservative fans by directing Million Dollar Baby (2004)] Well, I got a big laugh out of that. These people are always bitching about "Hollyweird", and then they start bitching about this film. Are they all so mad because The Passion of the Christ (2004) is only up for the makeup award and a couple of other minor things? Extremism is so easy. You've got your position, and that's it. It doesn't take much thought. And when you go far enough to the right you meet the same idiots coming around from the left.
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Extremism is so easy. You've got your position and that's it. It doesn't take much thought. And when...
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Extremism is so easy. You've got your position and that's it. It doesn't take much thought. And when you go far enough to the right,you meet the same idiots coming around from the left.
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Gene Hackman was interesting because I gave the Unforgiven (1992) script to his agent and he said no...
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Gene Hackman was interesting because I gave the Unforgiven (1992) script to his agent and he said no, he didn't want to do anything violent. But I went back to him and said, "I know where you're coming from. You get to a certain age and I'm there too, where you don't want to tell a lot of violent stories, but this is a chance to make a great statement".
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As for me, I like being behind the camera instead of in front of it. I can wear what I want. Will I ...
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As for me, I like being behind the camera instead of in front of it. I can wear what I want. Will I act again? I never say never. I like doing things where I can stretch and go in different directions. I'm not looking to take it easy. Like the Marines on Iwo Jima, I understand that if you really want something, you have to be ready to fight.
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There's a rebel lying deep in my soul. Anytime anybody tells me the trend is such and such, I go the...
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There's a rebel lying deep in my soul. Anytime anybody tells me the trend is such and such, I go the opposite direction. I hate the idea of trends. I hate imitation; I have a reverence for individuality. I got where I am by coming off the wall. I've always considered myself too individualistic to be either right-wing or left-wing.
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At this particular time in my life, I'm not doing anything as a moneymaker. It's like I'm pushing th...
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At this particular time in my life, I'm not doing anything as a moneymaker. It's like I'm pushing the envelope the other way to see how far we can go to be noncommercial. But I'm definitely not going for the demographics of 13- to 15-year-olds. I didn't know if Mystic River (2003) would go over at all. I had a hard time getting it financed, to tell you the truth. But I just told Warners the same thing I did with Million Dollar Baby (2004): "I don't know if this is going to make any money. But, I think I can make a picture that you'd be proud to have in your library.
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[to Steve Kroft, why he refuses to say how many children he has] Well, 'cause I - you - they're - th...
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[to Steve Kroft, why he refuses to say how many children he has] Well, 'cause I - you - they're - there are other people that are involved there and they're vulnerable people. I can protect myself, but they can't.
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[2005 Academy Awards acceptance speech for Best Director for Million Dollar Baby (2004)] Thank you. ...
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[2005 Academy Awards acceptance speech for Best Director for Million Dollar Baby (2004)] Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. I'd like to thank my wife, who is my best pal down here. And my mother, who was here with me in 1993. She was only 84 then. But she's here with me again tonight. And she just -- so, at 96, I'm thanking her for her genes.It was a wonderful adventure. It takes a -- to make a picture in 37 days, it takes a well-oiled machine. And that well-oiled machine is the crew -- the cast, of course, you've met a lot of them. But there's still Margo and Anthony and Michael and Mike and Jay and everybody else who was so fabulous in this cast. And the crew, Campanelli. Billy Coe and, of course, Tom Stern, who is fantastic. And Henry Bumstead, the great Henry Bumstead who is the head of our crack geriatrics team. And Henry and Jack Taylor, and Dick Goddard [Richard C. Goddard], all those guys. Walt and everybody. I can't think of everybody right now.I'm drawing a blank right now. But, Warren, you were right. And thank you, for your confidence earlier in the evening. I'm just lucky to be here. Lucky to be still working. And I watched Sidney Lumet, who is 80, and I figure, "I'm just a kid. I'll just -- I've got a lot of stuff to do yet." So thank you all very much. Appreciate it.
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I've always had the ability to say to the audience, watch this if you like, and if you don't, take a...
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I've always had the ability to say to the audience, watch this if you like, and if you don't, take a hike.
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[in 2002, on Michael Cimino] George Lucas made Howard the Duck (1986), and the guy who made Waterwor...
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[in 2002, on Michael Cimino] George Lucas made Howard the Duck (1986), and the guy who made Waterworld (1995) - those films didn't destroy them. Critics were set up to hate Heaven's Gate (1980) . . . the picture didn't work with the public. If it had, it would have been the same as Titanic (1997). "Titanic" worked, so all is forgiven. Certain things may have been his fault. The accolades for The Deer Hunter (1978) probably made him think, "I am a genius, king of the world". But if you say you're king of the world then people will root for you to fall . . . I've always said that if you're prepared to accept reviews saying you're brilliant, you better be prepared to accept reviews saying you're a burn. The guy calling you a bum may be wrong, but the guy calling you brilliant may be wrong, too. Michael needs to make an intimate, smaller picture, do a film for five or six weeks, with no special effects, flying by the seats of his pants, to not be afraid and pull the trigger.
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Maybe I'm getting to the age when I'm starting to be senile or nostalgic or both, but people are so ...
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Maybe I'm getting to the age when I'm starting to be senile or nostalgic or both, but people are so angry now. You used to be able to disagree with people and still be friends. Now you hear these talk shows, and everyone who believes differently from you is a moron and an idiot - both on the Right and the Left.
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My involvement goes deeper than acting or directing. I love every aspect of the creation of motion p...
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My involvement goes deeper than acting or directing. I love every aspect of the creation of motion pictures and I guess I'm committed to it for life.
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The important thing to remember about women is that they're a lot smarter than men and they don't pl...
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The important thing to remember about women is that they're a lot smarter than men and they don't play fair.
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[on directing Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover] He could make a lot of money making mechanical g...
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[on directing Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover] He could make a lot of money making mechanical genre pictures but he wants to be challenged. And it's much more of a challenge to play someone who doesn't have the slightest thing in common with you.
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I kind of make a film for myself to sort of express myself.
I kind of make a film for myself to sort of express myself.
You know when you think of a particular director, you think you would have liked to be with them on ...
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You know when you think of a particular director, you think you would have liked to be with them on one particular film and not necessarily on some other one.
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I've thought about retiring for years now. When I did Play Misty for Me (1971) in 1970, I thought th...
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I've thought about retiring for years now. When I did Play Misty for Me (1971) in 1970, I thought that if I could pull this off maybe I could step behind the camera, and it would be time to see the end of me. Every year I have threatened to do that - and here I am. So it may come sooner than you think.
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[on Sergio Leone] I spun off Sergio and he spun off me. I think we worked well together. I like his ...
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[on Sergio Leone] I spun off Sergio and he spun off me. I think we worked well together. I like his compositions. He has a very good eye. I liked him, I liked his sense of humor, but I feel it was mutual. He liked dealing with the kind of character I was putting together.
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I don't believe in pessimism. If something doesn't come out the way you want, forge ahead. If you th...
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I don't believe in pessimism. If something doesn't come out the way you want, forge ahead. If you think it's going to rain, it will.
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[on Roxanne Tunis and Kimber Eastwood, as quoted in "The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly"] I give t...
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[on Roxanne Tunis and Kimber Eastwood, as quoted in "The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly"] I give them a few thousand here and there, but I always give it in cash so they can't prove anything. Besides, Kimber is listed as a dependent on her stepfather's tax returns; she's not a dependent of mine. Legally, I'm not responsible.
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Too many directors don't know what the hell they're doing. They'll do multiple takes on scenes and t...
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Too many directors don't know what the hell they're doing. They'll do multiple takes on scenes and try out different angles and lighting. I don't like that. If you can't see it yourself straight away, you shouldn't be a director.
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[on directing] Most people like the magic of having it take a long time and be difficult . . . but I...
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[on directing] Most people like the magic of having it take a long time and be difficult . . . but I like to move along, I like to keep the actors feeling like they're going somewhere, I like the feeling of coming home after every day and feeling like you've done something and you've progressed somewhere. And to go in and do one shot after lunch and another one maybe at six o'clock and then go home is not my idea of something to do.
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I am very well mannered, and that, believe it or not, stands me in very good stead.
I am very well mannered, and that, believe it or not, stands me in very good stead.
There's a bar I used to go to on Sunset Boulevard that was a straight bar that's now a gay bar. I th...
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There's a bar I used to go to on Sunset Boulevard that was a straight bar that's now a gay bar. I think I went into it once some years later, and I looked around and said, 'Oh, yeah, it's a gay bar.' I still finished my beer.
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Every movie I make teaches me something, and that's why I keep making them. I'm at that stage of lif...
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Every movie I make teaches me something, and that's why I keep making them. I'm at that stage of life when I could probably stop and just hit golf balls. But in filming these two movies about Iwo Jima, I learnt about war and about character. I also learnt a lot about myself.
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I like the libertarian view, which is to leave everyone alone. Even as a kid, I was annoyed by peopl...
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I like the libertarian view, which is to leave everyone alone. Even as a kid, I was annoyed by people who wanted to tell everyone how to live.
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...in America, instead of making the audience come to the film, the idea seems to be for you to go t...
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...in America, instead of making the audience come to the film, the idea seems to be for you to go to the audience. They come up with the demographics for the film and then the film is made and sold strictly to that audience. Not to say that it's all bad, but it leaves a lot of the rest of us out of it. To me cinema can be a much more friendly world if there's a lot of things to choose from.
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I guess if you see both of the movies [Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)]...
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I guess if you see both of the movies [Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)] together, they sum up as an antiwar film. Whether it's about territory or religion, war is horrifyingly and depressingly archaic. But I didn't set out to make a war movie. I cared about those three fellows - Bradley, Hayes and Gagnon [John H. Bradley, Ira H. Hayes, 'René A. Gagnon'] - the headliners on that war-bond circus. The young men were taken off the front lines, wined and dined, introduced to movie stars. But it felt wrong to them.
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I've done a lot of violent movies, especially in the early days. My recent efforts, like The Bridges...
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I've done a lot of violent movies, especially in the early days. My recent efforts, like The Bridges of Madison County (1995), weren't too violent. In recent years I've done less, and, yes, I am concerned about violence in film. In '92, when I did Unforgiven (1992), which is a film that had a very anti- violence and anti-gun play - anti-romanticizing of gun play theme, I remember that Gene Hackman was concerned about it, and we both discussed the issue of too much violence in films. It's escalated ninety times since Dirty Harry (1971) and those films were made.
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Having a good person as a foil certainly helps, because acting is an ensemble art form. Clark Gable ...
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Having a good person as a foil certainly helps, because acting is an ensemble art form. Clark Gable is only as good as Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night (1934).
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I love stories about women.
I love stories about women.
[on Bruce Surtees] He was fearless. He wasn't afraid to give you sketchy lighting if you asked for i...
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[on Bruce Surtees] He was fearless. He wasn't afraid to give you sketchy lighting if you asked for it. He didn't believe in flat light or just bright, 'Rexall drugstore' lighting, which a lot of times you can get if you get somebody that isn't very imaginative. He was perfect for me, because we didn't have very big budgets in those days. He'd made dollies by towing a blanket across the floor with the cameraman sitting on it.
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[on the retirement of friend and fellow actor Gene Hackman]: It is a sad thing. I know his agent and...
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[on the retirement of friend and fellow actor Gene Hackman]: It is a sad thing. I know his agent and I saw him recently, and he said, 'Can't you talk Gene into coming back?' I said, 'I'd love to see him come back, but I think it's not very nice to ride him.' He's too good an actor not to be performing but, by the same token, he probably thinks that's enough.
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Life is a constant class, and once you think you know it all, you're due to decay. You're due to sli...
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Life is a constant class, and once you think you know it all, you're due to decay. You're due to slide. I have to keep challenging myself and try something I haven't done before. The studios aren't always happy with that. When I wanted to make Mystic River (2003), the studio said, "Uh-oh, it's so dark." And I said, "Well, it's important. And it's a nice story." Then the next movie, Million Dollar Baby (2004), they said, "Who wants to see a picture about a girl boxing?" And I said, "It's really a father-daughter love story. Boxing just happens to be what's going on." They didn't have much faith. So there are always obstacles and people afraid to take risks. That's why you end up with remakes of old TV shows as movies. But playing it safe is what's risky, because nothing new comes out of it.
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I love every aspect of the creation of motion pictures and I guess I am committed to it for life.
I love every aspect of the creation of motion pictures and I guess I am committed to it for life.
This film cost $31 million. With that kind of money I could have invaded some country.
This film cost $31 million. With that kind of money I could have invaded some country.
My grandfather lived to be late 90s on one side and on the other side, 70s or something. And my fath...
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My grandfather lived to be late 90s on one side and on the other side, 70s or something. And my father died young, at 63. But he didn't take very good care of himself.
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I've always supported a certain amount of gun control. I think California has always had a mandatory...
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I've always supported a certain amount of gun control. I think California has always had a mandatory waiting period, so we were never concerned about it like the rest of the country. Some states didn't have any at all. So I've always supported that. I think it's very important that guns don't get in the wrong hands, and, yes, I would support most of that. I don't know too much about trigger locks. I've never really discussed that with anyone. But I do feel that guns - it's very important to keep them out of the hands of felons or anyone who might be crazy with it.
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What's one great thing about a theater is it's got an exit.
What's one great thing about a theater is it's got an exit.
I'm in the entertainment business, NOT in the business of trying to shape social opinions.
I'm in the entertainment business, NOT in the business of trying to shape social opinions.
My dad was always talking about retiring and sitting next to a stream with a couple of beers in his ...
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My dad was always talking about retiring and sitting next to a stream with a couple of beers in his hand. Sounds like a commercial - but it's not for me!
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You're as young as you feel. As young as you want to be. There's an old saying I heard from a friend...
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You're as young as you feel. As young as you want to be. There's an old saying I heard from a friend of mine. People ask him, "Why do you look so good at your age?" He'll say, "Because I never let the old man in." And there's truth to that. It's in your mind, how far you let him come in.
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None of the pictures I take a risk in cost a lot, so it doesn't take much for them to turn a profit....
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None of the pictures I take a risk in cost a lot, so it doesn't take much for them to turn a profit. We don't deal in big budgets. We know what we want and we shoot it and we don't waste anything. I never understand these films that cost twenty, thirty million dollars when they could be made for half that. Maybe it's because no one cares. We care.
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"Macho" was a fashionable word in the 1980s. Everybody was kind of into it, what's macho and what is...
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"Macho" was a fashionable word in the 1980s. Everybody was kind of into it, what's macho and what isn't macho. I really don't know what macho is. I never have understood. Does it mean somebody who swaggers around exuding testosterone? And kicks the gate open and runs sprints up and down the street? Or does handsprings or whatever? Or is macho a quiet thing based on your security. I remember shaking hands with Rocky Marciano. He was gentle, he didn't squeeze your hand. And he had a high voice. But he could knock people around, it was a given. That's macho. Muhammad Ali is the same. If you talked with him in his younger years, he spoke gently. He wasn't kicking over chairs. I think some of the most macho people are the gentlest.
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Why am I a star? It can't be because of looks.
Why am I a star? It can't be because of looks.
[on death] I don't think older people think about it that much, my mother was 97. She passed away a ...
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[on death] I don't think older people think about it that much, my mother was 97. She passed away a few years back. The only thing she ever said to me, toward the last, she said, 'I want out of here, I am tired.' And I said 'No, no, three more years. We get the century mark.' I figured I could coax her into more after that, but when she finally did pass away, she couldn't talk because she had had a stroke. They said do you want to be resuscitated for while, and she said 'no.' So, I had to grant her that wish. She had no fear and I think as you get older -- you probably have more fear as a younger person than you do as an older person. Because as an older person you have stacked up a lot of background and time-in-grade, so to speak, so you are probably thinking what the hell 'I have had a good time.
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[asked on the red carpet at The Bridges of Madison County (1995) premiere if he thinks men become se...
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[asked on the red carpet at The Bridges of Madison County (1995) premiere if he thinks men become sexier with age] That's in the eyes of the beholder. I know nothing about how men become sexy because men aren't sexy to me, so I really don't know.
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[on the Iraq war] My druthers would have been, "Get a more benevolent dictator and stick him in. You...
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[on the Iraq war] My druthers would have been, "Get a more benevolent dictator and stick him in. You know, try somebody a little less mean." You don't go in there and fire the army. The army's got to do something. When you fire 'em, you leave them all unemployed. Worst thing in the world. Just get somebody else who they respect and bring him on your side. That's one way of doing it.
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[speaking in 2007 about troubled actress June Fairchild] My heart sank when I heard of what had beco...
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[speaking in 2007 about troubled actress June Fairchild] My heart sank when I heard of what had become of June. There are organizations that can help her but I'm sure she could also use a friendly face right now. I'd really like to meet her.
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[answering David Letterman's declarative question, "You have seven children?"] Uh, at least.
[answering David Letterman's declarative question, "You have seven children?"] Uh, at least.
I grew up with J. Edgar Hoover. He was the G-man, a hero to everybody, and the Federal Bureau of Inv...
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I grew up with J. Edgar Hoover. He was the G-man, a hero to everybody, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation was the big, feared organization. He was ahead of his time as far as building up forensic evidence and fingerprinting. But he took down a lot of innocent people, too.
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I've done war movies because they're always loaded with drama and conflict. But as far as actual par...
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I've done war movies because they're always loaded with drama and conflict. But as far as actual participation ... it's one of those things that should be done with a lot of thought, if it needs to be done. Self-protection is a very important thing for nations, but I just don't like to see it.
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[1985] My old drama coach used to say, "Don't just do something, stand there." Gary Cooper wasn't af...
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[1985] My old drama coach used to say, "Don't just do something, stand there." Gary Cooper wasn't afraid to do nothing.
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I don't know what I am. I'm a little of everything.
I don't know what I am. I'm a little of everything.
You have to trust your instincts. There's a moment when an actor has it, and he knows it. Behind the...
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You have to trust your instincts. There's a moment when an actor has it, and he knows it. Behind the camera you can feel the moment even more clearly. And once you've got it, once you feel it, you can't second-guess yourself. You can find a million reasons why something didn't work. But if it feels right, and it looks right, it works. Without sounding like a pseudointellectual dipshit, it's my responsibility to be true to myself. If it works for me, it's right.
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One of the most important things in life is feeling good about yourself. And when you're in decent s...
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One of the most important things in life is feeling good about yourself. And when you're in decent shape, when you like the way your body looks and feels and your energy levels are at their highest, it's a lot easier to feel good about yourself.
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I was tired of playing the nice, clean-cut cowboy in Rawhide (1959), I wanted something earthier. So...
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I was tired of playing the nice, clean-cut cowboy in Rawhide (1959), I wanted something earthier. Something different from the old-fashioned Western. You know: Hero rides in, very stalwart, with white hat, man's beating a horse, hero jumps off, punches man, schoolmarm walks down the street, sees this situation going on, slight conflict with schoolmarm, but not too much. You know schoolmarm and hero will be together in exactly 10 more reels, if you care to sit around and wait, and you know the man beast horse with eventually get comeuppance from hero this guy bushwhacks him in reel nine. But [Per un pugno di dollari (1964)] was different; it definitely had satiric overtones. The hero was an enigmatic figure, and that worked within the context of this picture. In some films, he would be ludicrous. You can't have a cartoon in the middle of a Renoir.
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I was a teenager when the battle of Iwo Jima took place. I remember hearing about the bond drive and...
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I was a teenager when the battle of Iwo Jima took place. I remember hearing about the bond drive and the need to maintain the war effort. Back then, people had just come through 10 years of a Depression, and they were used to working for everything. I still have an image of someone coming to our house when I was about six years old, offering to cut and stack the wood in our back yard if my mother would make him a sandwich.
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I liked the Million Dollar Baby (2004)' script a lot. Warner Bros. said the project had been submitt...
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I liked the Million Dollar Baby (2004)' script a lot. Warner Bros. said the project had been submitted to them and they'd passed on it. I said, "But I like it." They said, "Well, it's a boxing movie." And I said, "It's not a boxing movie in my opinion. It's a father-daughter love story, and it's a lot of other things besides a boxing movie." They hemmed and hawed and finally said that if I wanted to take it, maybe they'd pay for the domestic rights only. After that, I'd be on my own. We took it to a couple of other studios, and they turned it down, much like Mystic River (2003) was turned down, the exact same pattern. People who kept calling and saying, "Come on, work with us on stuff." I'd give it to them, and they'd go, "Uh, we were thinking more in terms of Dirty Harry coming out of retirement." And who knows? Maybe when it comes out they'll be proven right.
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[in the early '70s] I'm number one at the box office, but Hollywood considers me a bore.
[in the early '70s] I'm number one at the box office, but Hollywood considers me a bore.
Alfred Hitchcock once told me, when I was analyzing a lot of things about his pictures, 'Clint, you ...
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Alfred Hitchcock once told me, when I was analyzing a lot of things about his pictures, 'Clint, you must remember, it's only a movie.'
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I'm just doing a job, I'm just in the entertainment business doing the kinds of films that appeal to...
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I'm just doing a job, I'm just in the entertainment business doing the kinds of films that appeal to me. You've got to keep that in perspective. Fame is fleeting.
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Guys I thought of as heroes were like Joe Louis and, maybe during the war, there was General [George...
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Guys I thought of as heroes were like Joe Louis and, maybe during the war, there was General [George S. Patton], of course, and maybe [Dwight D. Eisenhower], who was the head of the Allied forces. And Gary Cooper. There were just a handful of men and a handful of women. Now, people become stars who are just heiresses or something.
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[on John Ford] I remember seeing Stagecoach (1939) as a kid when it first came out. Ford had an infl...
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[on John Ford] I remember seeing Stagecoach (1939) as a kid when it first came out. Ford had an influence on me subconsciously, and I watched it in a dark theatre with my knees up. Sometimes twice in a row. There's something about the way he approached the subject that broke down clichés of the era. I think he was always trying to make social statements in his movies, and with Stagecoach he used the western to do it efficiently.
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I like to play the line and not wander too far to either side. If a guy has just had a bad day in th...
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I like to play the line and not wander too far to either side. If a guy has just had a bad day in the mines and wants to see a good shoot 'em up, that's great.
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[on President George W. Bush] You've got to admire somebody who stands up for what they believe rega...
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[on President George W. Bush] You've got to admire somebody who stands up for what they believe regardless of how the polls go. A lot of presidents do everything by the polls. They do a focus group then all of a sudden they say, "OK, that's what I'm going to be for because that's where focus group is leading me.
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Again, after you've gone through all the various processes and the film comes out and is very succes...
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Again, after you've gone through all the various processes and the film comes out and is very successful, you're almost afraid to revisit it. You want to save it for a rainy day.
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Most people who'll remember me, if at all, will remember me as an action guy, which is OK. There's n...
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Most people who'll remember me, if at all, will remember me as an action guy, which is OK. There's nothing wrong with that. But there will be a certain group which will remember me for the other films, the ones where I took a few chances. At least, I like to think so.
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And I like to direct the same way that I like to be directed.
And I like to direct the same way that I like to be directed.
It's much more fun to play something you're nothing like than what you are... It's much easier to hi...
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It's much more fun to play something you're nothing like than what you are... It's much easier to hide yourself in a character.
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Follow what you think. You want to do something? Just do it the best you can. Not everyone makes som...
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Follow what you think. You want to do something? Just do it the best you can. Not everyone makes something phenomenal, but at least you can fail on your own terms.
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[on World War II] I feel terrible for both sides in that war and in all wars. A lot of innocent peop...
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[on World War II] I feel terrible for both sides in that war and in all wars. A lot of innocent people get sacrificed. It's not about winning or losing, but mostly about the interrupted lives of young people.
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I tried being reasonable, I didn't like it.
I tried being reasonable, I didn't like it.
I'm not good in big crowds. I prefer smaller, one-to-one nights out, which is why I've never been si...
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I'm not good in big crowds. I prefer smaller, one-to-one nights out, which is why I've never been single. I like the company of women, but I do go for longer-term relationships than flings. The best things to come of all those relationships are my children.
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I'll never win a Best Actor Oscar. First of all, I'm not Jewish, and second, I'm too successful for ...
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I'll never win a Best Actor Oscar. First of all, I'm not Jewish, and second, I'm too successful for all those old farts at the Academy.
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My father used to say to me, 'Show 'em what you can do, and don't worry about what you're gonna get....
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My father used to say to me, 'Show 'em what you can do, and don't worry about what you're gonna get. Say you'll work for free and make yourself invaluable'.
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[on John Huston] It's another aspect of the character that pleased me: he was interested in other th...
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[on John Huston] It's another aspect of the character that pleased me: he was interested in other things besides his art. He liked women, gambling, living the high life. He could have a life parallel to his work. I could identify with this type of behavior. But, because of this very fact, he became attracted more and more by other things, so that what interested him in life moved him away from his art to the point that he nearly lived a tragedy. And the tragedy brings him back to reality. If you study Huston's life, you realize that at the age of nineteen he thought he didn't have long to live because of a heart defect a doctor has notified him of as a result of a misdiagnosis. It drove him to elaborate a personal philosophy according to which he would profit from life to the maximum. He didn't take care of himself - he was a confirmed smoker, a heavy drinker - and yet he lived to be more than eighty. Paul Newman spoke to me about him when we were acting at the same time, each in a different movie, in Tucson, Arizona. He was starring in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) and I was doing Joe Kidd (1972) with John Sturges. Huston drank martinis and smoked cigars all night long, slept from one o'clock to four o'clock in the morning because he was an insomniac, did everything he shouldn't do to live to be old, and yet he died at a very great age! It was the same thing with John Wayne, who was first of all the opposite of a health fanatic.
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[on Sondra Locke] She plays the victim very well. Unfortunately she had cancer and so she plays that...
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[on Sondra Locke] She plays the victim very well. Unfortunately she had cancer and so she plays that card.
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In some ways I know I didn't live up to my parents' hopes. It was a long time before I wanted to go ...
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In some ways I know I didn't live up to my parents' hopes. It was a long time before I wanted to go to college--but in some ways I surpassed my parents' hopes.
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In The Bridges of Madison County (1995) Kincaid's a peculiar guy. Really, he's kind of a lonely indi...
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In The Bridges of Madison County (1995) Kincaid's a peculiar guy. Really, he's kind of a lonely individual. He's sort of a lost soul in mid-America. I've been that guy.
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There's a rebel lying deep in my soul. Anytime anybody tells me the trend is such and such, I go the...
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There's a rebel lying deep in my soul. Anytime anybody tells me the trend is such and such, I go the opposite direction.
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In those days, they'd make interview tests, not acting tests. They'd sit you in front of the camera ...
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In those days, they'd make interview tests, not acting tests. They'd sit you in front of the camera and talk--just as we're talking now. I thought I was an absolute clod. It looked pretty good; it was photographed well, but I thought, "If that's acting, I'm in trouble". But they signed me up as a contract player--which was a little lower than working in the mailroom.
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[on the Iraq war] I wasn't for going in there. Only because democracy isn't something that you get o...
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[on the Iraq war] I wasn't for going in there. Only because democracy isn't something that you get overnight. I don't think America got democracy overnight. It's something we had to fight for and believe in.
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[press statement in response to claims made by ex-significant other Sondra Locke, 4/27/89] I adamant...
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[press statement in response to claims made by ex-significant other Sondra Locke, 4/27/89] I adamantly deny and deeply resent the accusation that either one of those abortions or the tubal ligation were done at my demand, request or even suggestion. As to the abortions, I told Locke that whether to have children or terminate her pregnancies was a decision entirely hers. Particularly with regard to the tubal ligation, I encouraged Locke to make her own decision after she had consulted with a physician about the appropriateness of and the necessity for that surgical procedure.
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I've actually had people come up to me and ask me to autograph their guns.
I've actually had people come up to me and ask me to autograph their guns.
Sergio Leone loved long stories and long pictures. To me, I don't mind a long picture if you've got ...
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Sergio Leone loved long stories and long pictures. To me, I don't mind a long picture if you've got a lot of story. But if you're just making a long movie to just show off more production value, I think you can edit some of that stuff down. That's where he and I would differ.
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They say marriages are made in Heaven. But so is thunder and lightning.
They say marriages are made in Heaven. But so is thunder and lightning.
[on the possibility of a Dirty Harry (1971) sequel] I'm 78 years old, and you're pretty well drummed...
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[on the possibility of a Dirty Harry (1971) sequel] I'm 78 years old, and you're pretty well drummed out of the police force by that age. There could be a scenario. I suppose if some mythical writer came out of nowhere and it was the greatest thing on the planet, I'd certainly have to think about it. But it's not like I've ever courted it. I feel like that was an era of my life, and I've gone on to other things. I'm not sure about being Dirty Harry again--but who knows?
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Plastic surgery used to be a thing where older people would try to go into this dream world of being...
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Plastic surgery used to be a thing where older people would try to go into this dream world of being 28 years old again. But now, in Hollywood, even people at 28 are having work done. Society has made us believe you should look like an 18-year-old model all your life. But I figure I might as well just be what I am.
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The plan was, when I first started directing in the 1970s, to get more involved in production and di...
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The plan was, when I first started directing in the 1970s, to get more involved in production and directing so at some point in my life, when I decided I didn't want to act anymore, I didn't have to suit up.
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When I used to be a contract player in 1954 at Universal, I wasn't getting good roles. I was getting...
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When I used to be a contract player in 1954 at Universal, I wasn't getting good roles. I was getting one-liners, and then I'd be gone. But I'd hang around; I'd watch guys. And when I had days off, which was most days, I'd go down and watch other sets while they were shooting. Watch Joan Crawford or whomever. Just watch how they worked and how the director handled them. I didn't know anything about making movies, and there's a lot to learn.
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I am a junior, and all my younger life I was called Sonny or Junior, and I think a kid deserves his ...
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I am a junior, and all my younger life I was called Sonny or Junior, and I think a kid deserves his own name.
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I always thought of myself as a character actor. I never thought of myself as a leading man.
I always thought of myself as a character actor. I never thought of myself as a leading man.
[if he could give advice to his younger self] He was never a smart kid. I was a slow learner, so I'd...
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[if he could give advice to his younger self] He was never a smart kid. I was a slow learner, so I'd say speed up the process a bit-and maybe practice a little more!
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[on surviving a plane crash in the early 1950s] They had one plane, a Douglas AD, sort of a torpedo ...
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[on surviving a plane crash in the early 1950s] They had one plane, a Douglas AD, sort of a torpedo bomber of the World War II vintage, and I thought I'd hitch on that. Everything went wrong. Radios went out. Oxygen ran out. And finally we ran out of fuel up around Point Reyes, California, and went in the ocean. So we went swimming. It was late October, November. Very cold water. I found out many years later that it was a white shark breeding ground, but I'm glad I didn't know that at the time or I'd have just died.
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[after the Carmel city council refused his architectural plans for a downtown construction] They don...
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[after the Carmel city council refused his architectural plans for a downtown construction] They don't know who they're fuckin' with. I'll build that damn building the way I want it if I have to run the fucking city council to do it.
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[on the contemporary superhero craze in Hollywood] Thank God that I didn't have to do that. [...] I ...
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[on the contemporary superhero craze in Hollywood] Thank God that I didn't have to do that. [...] I always liked characters that were more grounded in reality. Maybe they do super things or more-than-human things - like Dirty Harry, he has a knack for doing crazy things, or the western guys - but, still, they're not caped crusaders.
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[characterizing his relationship with Roxanne Tunis] It didn't mean anything; it was just an affair....
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[characterizing his relationship with Roxanne Tunis] It didn't mean anything; it was just an affair. I was young and . . . anyway she was a stand-in and extra on the show, and she was really crazy about me, and always hanging out in my dressing room.
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