Joseph L. Mankiewicz

I am never quite sure whether I am one of the cinema's elder statesmen or just the oldest whore on the beat.

— Joseph L. Mankiewicz

I have a lot to be sad about. Not bitter in any way. But I think it can be fairly said that I've been in on the beginning, the rise, peak, collapse and end of the talking picture.

— Joseph L. Mankiewicz

I got a job at Metro and went in to see Louis Mayer, who told me he wanted me to be a producer. I said I wanted to write and direct. He said, "No, you have to produce first, you have to crawl before you can walk." Which is as good a definition of producing as I ever heard.

— Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Every screenwriter worthy of the name has already directed his film when he has written his script.

— Joseph L. Mankiewicz

The difference between life and the movies is that a script has to make sense, and life doesn't.

— Joseph L. Mankiewicz