Universal gave him all their prestige movies, big melodramas like Magnificent Obsession and Written on the Wind I tried to get a meeting but failed. But, in the end, the part was played by one of the house actors, Jeff Chandler, I think.It was a good period, but Douglas Sirk was the only important director. I played a small part in Away All Boats, and Gable was offered the lead I was in the studio commissary when he came in It caused a sensation No one at Universal had seen such a great star. They had a stable of contract actors: Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Jeff Chandler, Rory Calhoun .. But they couldn’t afford stars like Cooper or Gable.

My agent couldn’t get me an audition so I didn’t get to meet him Small agencies had no power Walsh was a fantastic character And he’d been an actor as well It’s always good to work with directors who’ve been actors They’re much more receptive. When I gave Don Siegel a part in my first film, Misty, I told him that way he’d learn to be more tolerant towards his actors while I’d learn what it’s like to be a director. Often an actor only worries about his performance and his character. He doesn’t realise a director can only spend 5 per cent of his energy on him, the other 95 per cent being devoted to the crew, the other actors and all the rest.In my time, Universal mainly made B movies. All the young guys, especially the gangly ones, were chasing the part I met him once .. just for a handshake, not even an audition.

His films had marked my youth: Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, and so many others I don’t understand why he stopped working so soon. I don’t know the circumstances, but I find it amazing that a man of his talent hasn’t been more productive in the last 20 years.I desperately wanted to be in Raoul Walsh’s The Naked and the Dead. As often happens in Hollywood, the press was full of stories about him looking for an unknown to play Lindbergh. I would have liked to have worked with him, but the opportunity never came up.On the other hand, I did get to meet Billy Wilder when he was casting The Spirit of St Louis. The trouble was he did his casting in New York and other places I never managed to make a movie with him The same applied to Stanley Kubrick I saw The Killing when it came out.

Ever since On the Waterfront, he was the director everyone wanted to work with. I only met him much later, in France.At the time, Mann, Ray and Fuller were looking for new sources of inspiration and went to make movies in Europe The top man was Elia Kazan. He was preparing a film at RKO, The Run of the Arrow, and I tried unsuccessfully to get a meeting. Anthony Mann? Yes, I’d like to have worked with him at his peak. I liked his movies a lot, especially the westerns with Jimmy Stewart Nick Ray also did some good things but I never met him Same with Sam Fuller. But how could I have been his man? I was a generation too young.The same goes for Ford and Capra, who were retiring when I started out. I got a call from his office: “Mr Hitchcock would like to see you.

His health isn’t good, he may not make the movie, but he’d like to talk to you about the lead.” We had lunch at the Universal commissary It took us 10 minutes to walk from the door to the table He walked very slowly and carefully He ordered his usual lunch: steak and tomatoes He talked brilliantly and I fell under his spell The movie was set in Finland or Norway, on a train He’d seen a few of my movies, notably Misty We had a good time. Anyone can shoot a scene, but Capra added something which was neither written nor visualised, but which permeates all his work. All the greats had this gift to some extent.Hitchcock? He was with another studio when I was under contract at Universal Years later, I met him once, shortly before he died. When I read the script, I thought, “Capra could have made this”.Capra’s movies have an underlying energy which, although it’s difficult to define, he alone possesses. He was always pleased to see me, but I never worked with him Did Capra ever see Bronco Billy? I don’t know. I’m not the gang type.I met Capra when I was making High Plains Drifter.