Bogdanovich, Peter
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich, in the wised-up but morally clueless view of the international showbiz media, is generally seen as a figure from the California branch of modern Greek tragedy, where early hubris is punished first by nemesis and then by oblivion, in the form of the lecture circuit and guest appearances on daytime talk shows. The facts would be to the contrary even if Bogdanovich, in later life, had not made several films which at least match the standard of those in his early winning streak from The Last Picture Show onwards.
Ernst Lubitsch
by Peter Bogdanovich
I was speaking with Jack Benny the other day and he toldme about working with Ernst Lubitsch. The director had called Benny in 1939 and asked if he'd be available to do a film. "I said, 'I'll do it!' And he said, 'But you haven't read the script?' And I said, 'I don't have to read the script. If you want me for a picture, I want to be in it!' I'd have been an idiot to say anything else. It was always impossible for comedians like me or Hope to get a good director for a movie – that's why we made lousy movies – and here was Ernst Lubitsch, for God's sake, calling to ask if I'd do a picture with him. Who cares what the script is!"