Quotes

It's impossible to direct yourself in a movie.

I'm a dedicated Socialist first of all, I suppose, because ... I saw the things that happened to ... my family, and to the people around me. That sort of existence must stay in your mind.

I made up my mind years ago, that the best parts in films always went to the villain. I was determined to corner the bad man's market.

If it hadn't been for one man, just one man who luckily took me up, I would have always hated school and I would probably have ended up as one of the criminals I've played too many times on the screen.

I was a complete dud at school. I hated school. I got into awful trouble. Before I met Welsh school teacher Glyn Morse every teacher thought of me as a good-for-nothing.

I personally like big acting, like that of Anthony Quinn. He is the quintessence, if you'll pardon the pun, of the actor who is able to control big emotion for the screen. A lot of lightweight performances on the screen don't work for me because I can't see anything behind them. With Quinn, it's difficult not to see everything behind it.

[on Elia Kazan] He chose the actors that he wanted, made the film he wanted to make, and he made it the way he wanted to make it with absolutely no contribution or interference from the major distributors at that time. That was a major step forward at that time in the film industry. He was a pioneer and he made it possible for other people.

Mine is a hell of a face, but it keeps me in work because there aren't many like it.

[Of Sybil Williams] We came from the same village. We were close friends. When I heard that Rich [Richard Burton] and Sybil had got together, I thought, "The lucky bastard". She was the best thing that ever happened to him.

I thought, "Yes, Rich [Richard Burton] has gone a little further than usual, but he's going to be his old self again before long. Oh, what a fool he made of us. Well, not really us. Only himself . . . I loved Rich very much, and thank God we became friends again, but I didn't like what he did to Sybil. He lost himself when he met Elizabeth Taylor.

[on working with Jeanne Moreau in Eve (1962)] She was fine, but I don't subscribe to the opinion held in certain circles that she's infallible and the greatest actress to appear on the screen.

I did enjoy working with Ursula Andress. People like Honor Blackman are professional actresses with whom there is no bother.

It's obvious what Accident meant. It meant what was shown on the screen. One of Joe's problems is that he tends to wrap things up too much for himself. I think that 75% of the audience didn't realise that Accident was a flashback.