Courtroom Drama

So you worked with James Dean on "Giant?"
I got to know Jimmy Dean pretty well. He was difficult. But he was mercurial, and gifted. He was really quite an unusual fellow, and he would have had a great career had he lived.

You also worked with Elizabeth Taylor, who starred with Montgomery Clift in "A Place in the Sun."
Elizabeth is a great deal of fun and a good friend. I think with most of these famous actors you see enough of them that I think any of us gets a sense of what they're like.

You also directed Alfred Hitchcock's television series, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."
He had that wonderful, obscure sense of humor and that haughty attitude that he played that was very appealing.

You've said that the influence of World War II on your father and other directors of his generation gave them a second act. What do you mean?
I think that war experience made directors of that generation more interesting people. That would apply to my father, John Huston, Willie Wilder and others. Dad was 35 years old and one of the five biggest directors in Hollywood when he went out one day and joined the army. He was away for the better part of four years. And as he said, he saw men at their best and at their worst. He came back, and I think it informed the rest of his life and the rest of his work. "A Place in the Sun," "Shane," "Giant" and "The Diary of Ann Frank" were of a different nature than his prewar comedies. Except for Oliver Stone, who served in Vietnam, I don't think most American directors have a war experience today. It's not a criticism of directors today. We deal with whatever experiences come our way.

© 2008