Great pictures can't be entirely fictitious.
Look at 'Marienbad' honestly. What is it? It is just another talking radio show with pictures. Nobody acts. People stand around while the author talks about the woodwork.
It looked like 'The Sound of Music' would even surpass 'Ben Hur,' and I thought it would be unfair for me to have done both. I thought I'd leave something for somebody else. That's a quip.
I'm delighted that 'The Sound of Music' is doing so well. Of course, it's an infallible piece of material. Even when second- and third-rate road companies were doing the play, they did enormous business.
There's only one prima donna in my pictures, and that's me!
A director must push his actors to the utmost limit to get everything possible out of each scene - without being corny or sentimental or going overboard.