Michael Winner

"He can be a generous host and a most entertaining companion but he can also be rude and a bully, as if it amuses him to confront the world in the guise of a self-made shit. Its hard to understand why this should be so. It cant be financial disappointment because God knows he has made enough money. Perhaps what gripes him is that he wanted to be a great director and never became one. Not enough for him, I suspect, that as a producer he has few peers among his contemporaries in the British film industry."

"A team effort is a lot of people, doing what I say."

"I think with less accomplished actors you often have to play tricks [...] You may actually want to upset them to make them look upset on the screen so they carry that forward."

"[From the section entitled "Winner Talking" in a personal booklet] Lunacy is a very important quality for a successful director. Most top directors are quite a bit batty. Thats what makes them great. They can conceive fantasies beyond the normal mind. Another quality is just keeping alive. It is quite remarkable that no director has been murdered in cold blood on the set."

"Money has no value unless it is spent. (undated)"

"So when Im directing now, you see, Im thinking of myself, Im projecting myself in five weeks time, sitting in a little room with two assistants, saying, "I now need a piece of film when Mr. Caine does this, or Mr. Moore does that." And if I havent got it, I say, "Damn it, I should have gotten that." So all the time Im imagining myself in that little X-time hence which is why I can shoot a very complicated pattern without any pre-planning. Because Im two people. Im Arnold Crust, the editor, and Im Michael Winner, the director."

"[On his mother, Helen] Nice, little, white-haired lady. She was a killer. If she decided she wasnt happy about something, she was acid."

"[Marlon] Brando was my best friend, [Robert] Mitchum, Burt Lancaster, even though he tried to kill me three times."

"[To extras dressed as London policemen] Youre just standing there! DOING NOTHING! Why should I pay you for doing nothing? I want you to run. You understand run! [...] R-U-N? RUN?"

"But when you look at the rubbish who are getting these awards and the absolute non-service they have given to the nation other than financing or working for political parties, you say, "What company am I in?" At least if you go straight to the House of Lords you can wear fancy dress and have a giggle."

"An OBE is what you get if you clean the toilets well at Kings Cross station."

"I really dont care if I get anything or not. [...] Im very glad that they recognise my considerable skills as a toilet cleaner."