Biographie

11 novembre 1899 · Milwaukee, Wisconsin, États-Unis

15 octobre 1983 · Santa Monica, Californie, États-Unis (infarctus)

William Joseph Patrick O'Brien

1,80 m

[on Knute Rockne] He was not only a great coach but also an extraordinary human being, and I felt privileged, humble, trying to convey the glory and the humanness that was "Rock". And there were frightening moments when I briefly felt as if I were Knute Rockne.

[in 1982] I despise the Method, as do Helen Hayes, Laurence Olivier and as [John Barrymore] surely would have. I think the Method has ruined an awful lot of potentially fine actors. Look, the theatre is nothing but a mystique. It's nebulous. You get the part, you study your lines, you see what you can do with it and, finally, you evolve yourself into the part. But the Method--be a window, be a door . . . what's that got to do with anything?

Womens pictures (so-called) are talky pictures. Their use of the cigarette and the telephone break the talk, talk, talk of soap-opera storytelling.

I am not a loner, not a solitary. I liked people, crowds, activities, so I didn't stay in dark corners. I made friends

John Ford, the old master, is the orderly type. Working for him is like being part of a ballet. He hardly ever moves the camera, but composes his shots like a master painter, a [van Rijn, Rembrandt] or [Edgar Degas]. The actor becomes part of the scene. Ford lets the action swirl past his lens. But the reality of his seamen, miners, dust-bowlers, horse soldiers or Wesrern heroes, when he is at his best, is a literature that the screen rarely gets. Working for him one feels a special pride. Lewis Milestone is a bouncing camera mover. For him the seeing eye is all. He stands the camera on its head, rolls it, rushes it, brings it in on the run. The actors are part of the scenery, and they must fight to survive, come alive while he catches them on the run. Neither men are static directors. They don't care for too much talk in their script, or stage business over meaningless chatter.