I knew in a flash Gary had something I should never have. It is something pure and he doesn't know it's there. In truth, that boy hasn't the least idea how well he acts.
OnGary Cooper, during the production ofDevil and the Deep (1932). Attributed in Lary Swindell,The Last Hero: A Biography of Gary Cooper (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1980) p. 144
They can't censor the gleam in my eye.
On the revised script ofThe Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934). Attributed in Bob Thomas,Thalberg: Life and Legend (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1969) p. 260
Hollywood is a goofy place. But I like it. It's the perfect mummers' home. If one weren't a little mad one wouldn't be there.
Interview inThe New York Times (February 1935). Reported in Kurt Singer,The Laughton Story (Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co, 1954) pp. 60–61
[I have a face that would] stop a sundial and frighten small children into fits.
Attributed in J. P. McEvoy, "The Almost Incredible Laughton",The Atlanta Constitution, vol. 75, no. 119 (11 October 1942) pp. 14, 16
I have a face like the behind of an elephant.
Attributed in Kurt Singer,The Laughton Story (1954) p. 53
Method actors give you a photograph. Real actors give you an oil painting.
Attributed by Jack Gleason inPlayboy (1962). Reported in Tony Crawley (ed.)Chambers Film Quotes (1991) p. 178
It's got so that every time I walk into a restaurant, I get not only soup but an impersonation of Captain Bligh.
On the influence ofMutiny on the Bounty (1935). Attributed in Leslie Halliwell (ed.)The Filmgoer's Book of Quotes (New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1973) p. 112
All his tough talk is a blind, you know. He's a literate, gracious, kind man, with wonderful manners, and he speaks beautifully — when he wants to.
OnRobert Mitchum, inThe Night of the Hunter (1955). Attributed in James Robert Parish,The Tough Guys (New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1976) p. 305, note
