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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

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More quotes by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

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

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

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.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Joseph L. Mankiewicz (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.