American film director & screenwriter (1925-2006)
I was scared that no one would hire me. At that time, there was still a stigma attached to it. A big stigma. Actually, I think I was healthier after the operation than some people who have bypass surgery because I was completely cured. But when you mentioned "heart transplant," you got a very negative reaction. It triggered people's imaginations, and not in a good way.
ROBERT ALTMAN
Star Tribune, Jun. 4, 2006
Filmmaking is a chance to live many lifetimes.
ROBERT ALTMAN
attributed, The Screenwriter's Sourcebook
I like audiences to crane their necks.
ROBERT ALTMAN
"Still up to Mischief", The Guardian, Apr. 30, 2004
If something works for you, you continue to do it. I did a bunch of pictures for 20th Century Fox when Alan Ladd was over there, but I set the budgets so low that they'd approve and I'd deliver the film. They would have no say in it, which is the kind of arrangement I liked.
ROBERT ALTMAN
Stop Smiling, issue #23
I don't know what "Altmanesque" means, though I suppose I'm flattered by it.
ROBERT ALTMAN
interview, Total Film: The Modern Guide to Movies, Mar. 15, 2004
Why should I keep doing things that I've done before?
ROBERT ALTMAN
interview, Stumped Magazine
I love fishing. You put that line in the water and you don't know what's on the other end. Your imagination is under there.
ROBERT ALTMAN
Esquire, Mar. 2004
I insist that they do what they became actors to do. I want them to create something and not just hit marks and say words. So they all love that because they're playing. It's called playacting. Their contributions are not only welcomed, but are accepted and used.
ROBERT ALTMAN
Star Tribune, Jun. 4, 2006
The minute you have more than one voice, you have more possibilities opening up. You have all the molecules in all of those bodies and their make up interacting.
ROBERT ALTMAN
"Still up to Mischief", The Guardian, Apr. 30, 2004
They'll never give me an Oscar. And I sincerely, honestly don't care. I always turn up when I'm nominated and it would be nice to get one, but to win one would be bad luck. It comes with too much expectation. It would be the end.
ROBERT ALTMAN
interview, Total Film: The Modern Guide to Movies, Mar. 15, 2004
People have asked me throughout the years which directors have influenced me. I don't know their names, because I was mostly influenced when I'd see a film and think, "Man, I want to be sure to never do anything like that." So I never learned their names. It wasn't a matter of copying or emulating somebody I admired. It was getting rid of a lot of stuff.
ROBERT ALTMAN
Stop Smiling, issue #23
We make too much of the good and too much of the bad.
ROBERT ALTMAN
Esquire, Mar. 2004