GH: My name is Guy Hamilton. I was born in Paris, France because my father was in the British embassy, and I lived in Paris until the age of eight when I went to prep school in UK [United Kingdom].

INT: What sort of education did you have?
GH: I fell in love with movies when I was about eight in Paris and I was at a, about seven, a dreadful international school in Paris that had sort of American children and all sorts of things. But the great thing was the little girls. All their fathers were Directors at United Artists and MGM [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer] and what have you, distributing pictures. And so we could get into the--any cinema on the Champs-Elysees. We knocked off at I think three o’clock and we had to be home by five, so we got two hours and we just walked up and down the Champs-Elysees and picked our cinema and the wretched managers sort of had to be polite and let us in, put us in boxes and try to keep us out of sight. But otherwise, obviously, you were going to remove their pictures because they were rude. So I saw hundreds of pictures, all American. Never saw the beginning; never saw the end. But I was really fascinated by pictures. French pictures were useless, absolutely useless until much--so now, I went to prep school in England and then public school and a month's holiday. If I didn't see 30 pictures in 30 days it was a rotten holiday. But then I discovered French pictures and that knocked me out and then from then on, American pictures were rubbish and I was destined for the diplomatic call, but that didn't work very well because I decided to be a film Director. I had little idea really what it was all about, but I could tell that it was a well-paid job and you met pretty girls. I mean that all ready was a, you know, showed that I had the right thoughts. I was obviously beaten at school because you were constantly asked what do you want to do when you grow up and leave school, be a film Director, and that was like wanting to run a brothel. I mean in those days it was absolutely not on. And my father said, you know, "Carry on beating him." The person who helped enormously in my career was Adolph Hitler because he declared war in 1939, or Chamberlain [Neville Chamberlain] declared war in 1939. It was my 17th birthday, and instead of going back to Hadaberry, my mother had a little flat and I had two younger sisters in Nice [France] and the-I knew there was a film studio down there and I said to my father, you know, “I think it would be a good idea if I could”--because there was a possibility of Zeppelins and things bombing Paris [France], because this was a Phoney War [early phase of WWII] of 1939 and nothing happened. And he said, “All right,” so I went down there, walked into the studio down there and asked to see the managing Director and said, “I’d like to be a film Director.” And he said, I mean, you know, “Today?” I said, “No, no. I want to learn,” you know. And he absolutely hysterical, they said, “Oh the English boy, you're not listening.” And he said, “All right, start on Monday."

INT: Did you speak French?
GH: Yes, I spoke perfect French. And he put me in the accounts department where I licked wage packets all week and I thought this is exploitation of child labor. And so on Friday I went to see him and said, you know, “I'm not on, not on.” And he said, “Oh come on, you've been with us now for one week and you've discovered that apart from Directors and film stars and Cameramen and Soundmen there are gardeners, there are powerhouse, there are”--I had, of course, learned the whole composition of a studio. And he said, “On Monday you start on the camera crew.” And the French camera crew were thrilled to bits because they were only three in number and there wasn't a clapper boy, and so you're a clapper boy and you were taught how to load and you were taught how to do hand tests and etc., etc. And I sucked up to the cameraman and he said, “Do you know, if you want to be a Director, I mean, this is it. This is a visual art and this is where you will learn to be a thing.” And I said, “Okay.” And then unfortunately the sound--the boom operator--went ill, so I was put on the--as assistant on the boom. And there were no Mole-Richardson booms [boom mic], there were long bamboo things and so all I had to do was when there was static I used to hold it for a bit and he used to go a bit of it. [Hamilton ruffles his polo shirt a bit and makes noise.] And then before the subtle stuff, you know, going out there. And they said, “Oh well because if you want to be a Director, we recommend pictures for Nickelodeons [movie theaters],” when-until sound came in. That's the thing. And at the end of this picture, which was directed by Duvivier [Julien Duvivier], who is one of my gods, he said, “What have you learned?” And I said, “I'm a bit confused, you know, because it's a visual art, but it was Nickelodeons [movie theaters] and apparently the pictures made in the cutting rooms, where I have to empty the bins every night, apparently that's where the picture’s really made.” And he said, “Good, you're making progress, you've learnt the first thing. If you want to be a Director, all technicians talk their own shit and you must bang their heads together. Now you're going to production.” [Hamilton claps hands.] And I was a runner on the wonderful picture with Verneuil [Henri Verneuil] and Fernandel [Fernand Contandin] and all sorts of people that was interrupted by the Italians invading the south of France. And so I was a refugee with my--His Majesty's Government sent to Collias [France] to evacuate the British inhabitants in the south of France and we all piled on. My first great war [World War II, WWII] effort was in Cannes [France]. A lot of old gentlemen turned up in Rolls-Royce's and said, you know, “I'm not going to leave my Roller [Rolls-Royce] for the bloody I-Tie [slur for Italian].” “Oh, can I run it into the harbor?” “Would you, lad?” And that's the first time I ever drove a Rolls-Royce into… “Oh, George, is that--let him do yours ‘cause he’s very good.” So I'm very proud. My first exercise with Rolls-Royce's is driving them into Canne harbor. Somerset Maugham was one of the refugees on this--

INT: When you say drove them into the Harbor [Cannes Harbor], do you mean drove them into the water?
GH: Yes, into the, into the water, you know. “No, we’re not going to, you know, not going to let the bloody I-Ties [racial slur for Italians] take over.” And the French were standing around absolutely stunned. But I mean it's typical that the inhabitants of the south of France of that period. Somerset Maugham looked absolutely awful because he--if you're going to be a refugee never have a collar detached, a celluloid detached collar. Because he's unshaven and no collar and he looked absolutely--but I wanted to ask him a lot of questions, because I was very keen on his short stories. And so I made sure that we schlepped about 10 lumps of coal out from where he was, so that I could watch his movements and catch him and he obviously had nothing else to do except answer my questions. And I remember being woken up, sort of crunch crunch, and a genius boy said, “Your tea, sir,” and it was a bully beef [tinned corned beef ate in the trenches] tin. He’d queued up and got the first load of tea. We headed for... [INT: So he was given tea by Somerset Maugham?] No. I never got to, I never got--he dodged me. We headed for Iran where the French wouldn't let us land, I don't know why, and we sailed on towards Gibraltar [British Overseas Territory], and on the way passed the Mediterranean fleet, greatest sight I'd ever seen in my life, you know, battleship, cruisers, it was a beautiful day. And having been in the OTC [Officers’ Training Corps], you know, and where you stoop and build tents and your puttees [a gaiter covering the lower leg] fall off and everybody yelling at you and you have to shave in cold water--this the greatest sight ever and I decided I was going to join the Navy. I didn't realize that this fleet was going to sink the French fleet to Iran. That was a really remarkable thing, because Churchill [Winston Churchill] asked the French Mediterranean fleet to get the hell out of the Mediterranean and join the British fleet and, of course, the French fleet absolutely loathes the Royal Navy historically and they said, “No.” And Churchill couldn't afford to let the French fleet fall into German hands and said, you know, “Well, go to a neutral country, go to Martinique [overseas region of France] or go somewhere, but don't hang around.” And they did hang around, and so Churchill gave the order for them to be sunk and they were sunk. That's something one doesn't talk about, but it's a very, very--that's what made me join the Navy. I got back to UK [United Kingdom]--I was 17 and a half and I went into Paramount News cutting rooms, which were absolutely marvelous, because you watch these Editors there who were working in original neg [film negatives], we all worked in original neg [film negatives], and tear it--that's the length of a close shot. [Hamilton mimes the tearing of film and length of a close shot.] And you had to turn out, I think, by Friday night and then my job was to put on the Paramount News, da da da da da da da [Hamilton sings theme song of Paramount News], on this little chopping machine pedal and it was like waiting for the newspaper, the roller that Olympic Labs [Olympic Kinematograph Laboratories Ltd.] next door were waiting and it's all being distributed. I learned a great, great deal in six months there because the newsreel stuff that came in was called "rotor". In other words, the official cameramen that were shooting it, there was no exclusives, it all went to Pathé [Pathé News], to Gaumont [Gaumont Film Company], Paramount and then it was for the Editors to decide how they were going to… And at the end of the week there was piles of this stuff and I used to go in on Saturdays and cut battles of all the Germans left to right, all the [Hamilton gestures left to right]. And thinking of Alexander Nevsky and, you know, really great--[INT: So no one knew you were doing this? You just…] No one-nobody even bothered; I mean it was all junk stuff. And it was terrible. And on a Monday I showed me and he said, you know, all he said, [Hamilton gestures movement with hands] 'cause it's meant to be, I mean I'm cutting shorter and it's meant to be getting to a climax and one of these lovely instinctive cutters would just say, you know, “Clip hear and"… [Hamilton gestures cutting film]. And they taught me a great deal. I went into the Navy. If you come out in one piece, it's a good war.

INT: Just going back, was the one film that you saw that you said was--
GH: Yes, Jean Renoir's LA BETE HUMAINE with Jean Gabin. It's about a train driver and his mate, and which is a hard work of piling coal and lot in the sense of, and the eyes are very tough. And there's a wife, and it was a first sort of neo realism that I'd ever seen. But shot in--it happened in--I nearly went out and bought a gun and shot myself. It had such an effect on me. [INT: And then you thought this is for me?] I thought this is for me and from then on I became passionate about the French cinema.

INT: So then you-the next big thing I read is how you became an Assistant Director, then began to work with some truly great Directors.
GH: Yes, it was-I came out and I had to live as a poker hustler for about six months because ACT [British Trade Union Act of 1871] had become very, very strong and tough and... [INT: That was the trade union?] Yes, very boring. You couldn't...You couldn't work if you hadn't got a ticket, and you couldn't have a ticket if you weren't working. So, original catch-22 [paradoxical situation]. Which I found really offensive because all of the ACT people had, you know, had arranged themselves nice cushy jobs during the war and they've never done anything. But anyway, I've managed to meet somebody and eventually I got in. And my first job was on a second unit in Dartmoor [moorland in south Devon, England] on a Trevor Heid [ph] picture. But then I was put under contract by Korda [Alexander Korda] as a Third Assistant. I became a Second Assistant, I became a First Assistant, you know. My first--I worked with--I found that working with bad Directors was infinitely more useful because you watched them get into trouble three times a day and puddle around and you say, you know, I won't do that, I don't want to fall into that trap. And around that period there were quite a few questionable ones. Then my first job as a First Assistant was for a Fox [20th Century Fox] picture, Jeany Negulesco [Jean Negulesco], on a-with a picture with Maureen O'Hara and Dana Andrews and a cast of all British Actors, and it was infinite--unbelievably boring [referring to [THE FORBIDDEN STREET]. Every scene was covered by a crane to start with. We were asked to rehearse, because we were not very good with cranes. We never used them and they were too expensive and we hadn't got the technicality of using them. Then having got that shot, I don't know, we locked down and we covered the whole scene again, fixed. Then you move in tight five shots, over the shoulder singles, and just a pattern, just a pattern. And it was hardly worth going into work. I got angry with Negulesco [Jean Negulesco] one Friday evening. We were obviously not going to finish and not be able to move on to the next set on Monday, and it was somebody firing a gun and he wanted lots of puff of smoke and then he wanted the shot--lots of blood coming out of where it's hit. And well we went on fussing about it and there wasn't enough smoke coming out of the gun, the blood was too much, not enough, etcetera. And I said, "Look, for christ sake Jean [Jean Negulesco], what shot do you want?" 'Cause it was now five to six and the breakers are really going--And in five minutes time it's breakers. You can't use both. I mean either the gun goes and then you've got it 'cause it's already in blood. Or, if you want the blood we will get another shirt. And so I conned him into whichever. And 10 days go by and he had a little portable dressing room and he calls me over and he says, "What scene, two, five, six, A and B," and I go over, and this was from a Zanuck's [Darryl F. Zanuck] cutting lady and this was the one insert that we hadn't shot. And I mean she, should ever Darryl [Darryl F. Zanuck] want this that or the other thing--they could cut anybody out. "I like that young man, give him more, I don't like the girl, cut her out," it was--I said, that's not for me. And I then felt very, very lucky. I became Carol Reed's Assistant [Assistant Director] on FALLEN IDOL [THE FALLEN IDOL]. And that was a joy to work with because he'd been a very, very good Assistant. He knew what it was all about. And I was determined to be not an Assistant Director, but a Director's assistant, which is much more interesting because I always found that all Directors, some things they are passionate about and there are other things that they're much less interested in. And so I'll, you know, worry about the things that you don't care about and make sure that the things that you care about, you're really happy with. And he then became my father in the business so to speak. He was a wonderful Editor, he cared about editing and he had a trick which was once we'd been shooting for about ten days he'd sit in a corner with the sound crew and record a little precis of every scene. Then he ran the rough cuts once a week, Wednesday night was sacred, and on would come what we'd shot to date, but interspersed were missing scene, and the--the missing scene included the little precis. [INT: The little precis.] And as the picture grew, you got to a stage where he says, you know, "We don't need the restaurant scene we're going to shoot next week. I mean, it's a getting to know you scene, but I mean we've--we've just done--I mean you can see when they see each other. I mean you want to cut button to bed. I mean there--the getting to--tell them we don't need this." And of course that's the way he went. When you began to realize that he sees the picture growing in front of his eyes, and I mean imaginary, but a blackmailer comes charging up the stairs and he goes in, there's a young lady and he says, "Well hello, darling if you've go the lobby for," you know. And he bullies her and he's--but he's so charming and so funny that you actually rather like him. And you're not meant to like him. And Carol [Carol Reed] says...[Hamilton makes a concerned face.] I said, "Retake, Carol?" He says. He says, "No, we haven't shot the staircase yet. Get me a little dog." And so I got the little dog. He said, "Now have him run up the stairs and kick the dog off the stairs, and then he comes in and says, 'Hello, my little darling.' I think the audience won't like him."

INT: So he would show you all the film as it was assembled, as you were doing it?
GH: As assembled. [INT: Really?] And later on THIRD MAN [THE THIRD MAN], some of the most beautiful stuff that had ever been shot with Bobby Krasker [Robert Krasker] at night. We'd been nights doing it. "I think, no, we can cut from here, from A to C, we don’t need B." [INT: So he was ruthless?] We also--"But these are the most beautiful stuff that's in the whole picture." He says, "Yes, I know, but it's--I don't need you, you can go." And don't make up your mind yet, but--And we, you know, we used to wet ourselves seeing this stuff and that he would sweat and then finally he said, "Go, gone, finished, out." Self-discipline, don't fall in love with your favorite scene. If it's not needed, it's gotta go. [INT: And did you carry that with you in your career?] I tried. You still end up with favorite scenes. So much of that was Carol [Carol Reed]. I mean he--he was magnificent. We shot all over the world without principles and, "We'll double that," and, you know. And shot a scene, we shot a little boy in Borneo [island in Southeast Asia], in Brunai on a canoe. Robert Maldy [may be referring to Robert Brown] and Trevor Howard. Trevor was shot in salon, Maldy [may be referring to Robert Brown] in the studio, and the little boy in the--but then--they played a scene together quite happily, which is cunningly done. [INT: Was he good with Actors?] Wonderful. Particularly children. He had unbelievable patience with children. Always making the Actor feel comfortable, you know. Never saying, "You move there, move there." Let them find their own way to be comfortable and then work out how you were going to use that.

INT: How was he with Orson [Orson Welles]?
GH: He wanted Orson very badly. Selznick [David O. Selznick] would rather shoot himself than have Orson because he was box office poison at that stage in the proceedings. And Noel Coward was up for the part, several other people, anybody but Orson. Orson was in Vienna [Austria]--in Rome, and we were shooting in Vienna and our next corridor was in London negotiating Orson's contract and Orson was blackmailing him and saying, you know, and he didn't want money he wanted--he got a lot of film in varied laboratories that were stuck there, and a few hotel bills somewhere else. That was the negotiations. They were very complex because in Vienna there were no telephones. You couldn't--Civilians could only use the telephone and queue up 4 o'clock because it was a military zone and what have you. And we were starting to run out of work at night without Orson, we badly needed him, and we're sitting there waiting for Bobby Krasker [Robert Krasker] to lie endlessly, and I happened to walk past a brute and it makes a big shadow went down the wall and Carol [Carol Reed] said, "Come back, make the shadow again." And I said, "What shadow?" And he said, "Now can you run in front?!" He says--I run in front of the--He says, "This is good, good, good." He said, "But your skinny little body, go and get a big hat and a big coat and leave the coat hanger in." And I started doubling for Orson whilst we're waiting for Orson. And then we invent the cat, you know, anything to, till waiting to eventually Orson turns up. And answer to your question, we were down in the sewers and Orson comes down and the first shot is-- Carol says, "Over here, there's a pipe and it's water's pouring out and it would be marvelous if you sort of, you know, get splashes on your shoulder, Orson and you look left and right and you hear these sounds of echoes and police, echoes and shouts and things." And Orson says-And he absolutely explodes, he says, "I'm not working down in this filth and this sewer and this smell and this"--I mean, "And you're eating food and ordering the sandwiches, you know, and living down there perfectly happily." And he said, you know, "I mean in cellophane! I mean you--in America you're not, I mean you wouldn't even be a"--And he stormed off and that was--I said, "Carol, you've got problems with Orson." But he cooled down, but we did have to build a sewer set in Pinewood [Pinewood Studios] for, or Shepperton [Shepperton Studios] it was, for Orson. He only worked for 10 days in Vienna and about a week in the studio, and that was it.

INT: But could you see that he [Orson Welles] was great doing it, or was that when you saw the movie [THE THIRD MAN]?
GH: Oh, I mean he is a, a character. I mean he was fun the way he dominated Joe Cotten [Joseph Cotten] because Joe and--You're talking about the relationship going back to CITIZEN KANE, you know. Orson [Orson Welles] bullied Joe [Joseph Cotten] then. Did we know that the picture was going to be a huge success? No. What in effect happened was towards the end of FALLEN IDOL [THE FALLEN IDOL], Carol's [Carol Reed] a bit nervous because we'd be weeks and weeks with Georges Perinal lighting this huge set, and the star's a small boy, this rather strange, small boy. Ralph Richardson was no box office attraction, Michele Morgan was slightly unknown, and if you didn't warm to this small boy, you're in trouble. And Carol said, "I think I'll have to do a comedy thriller next." [INT: As to what?] A comedy thriller. But he'd enjoyed working with Graham Greene on the script. They got along tremendously well. And he said to Graham [Graham Greene], "Have you got a, you know, a sort of a thriller, something with a bit of action because...?" And Graham said, "Yes, I have always wanted to write a story about a man who's walking down the Strand [a street in Westminster, England], and on the other side of the road he sees a man whose funeral he went to." And Carol [Carol Reed] says, "Yeah. That's rather good. I like that." And so they went to see Korda [Alexander Korda] and Carol said, "Graham's [Graham Greene] got a wonderful idea, tell him the idea." And Alex [Alexander Korda] says, "Yes, but why da Strand [the Strand]? I mean, why not Vienna?" "Yes, well I've always wanted to write a story about a man who's walking down the high street in Vienna, and on the other side. He said, "That is good, Graham, I like that." This is because Alex had a lot of frozen money in Vienna, and that would pay for the location. So Graham went off and wrote THE THIRD MAN. He discovered the sewers, he discovered the wheel, and the penicillin racket. It was really Graham's territory. And the four pars were a wonderful joke, but we turned up to shoot and Carol and I and Graham were out a month ahead finalizing locations and what have you. And I said, "Carol, I mean we've got a 16 week schedule, but it's--I reckon it's 36 weeks." And he said, "How did you work that out?" And I said, "Well, you know, went down in the sewers, you know." "How long is that?" "And then we got all day stuff, and then we got all the night stuff. And, you know, we've got all these brutes to move around, Krasker [Robert Krasker] is not the quickest thing on two legs." He said, "Oh we'll have three units: a day unit, a night unit and a sewer unit." And I said, "Well, you know, that's better." "I'll direct the night unit," and I said, "Well who'll direct the day unit?" He said, "I'll direct the day unit." I said, "How'd you reckon that?" He said, "Well think about it, it's winter and you can't shoot before, what, ten o'clock in the morning and light's gone by four, and then Bobby's [Robert Krasker] never ready before about eight o'clock at night so that you get four hours, you know, and another four hours. And there's this wonderful thing called Benzedrine, which I'll give you. You'll find it absolutely wonderful. It's a new American thing." Well, he directed all three units and we lived on Benzedrine. So he tried to--He tried to pull the trick again on, in Berlin, which I wasn't with him, but he told me the story because you never understood, he said, I mean it was Krasker [Robert Krasker] lighting again and it's freezing winter and they're all like that [hugs himself as if cold] and Carol has a warm little caravan, you know, and he--And they're going so slow and he's sitting there wondering why it's so slow and the clapper boy comes with a tray and the tea for Carol. And he says, "Which one's Bobby's [Robert Krasker]?" And he said, "He's the one that takes no sugar." And he said, "Well, he'll take some of this sugar." And then suddenly, and the focus pulled out a little is a bit as he swooshes his big fat mug. And he said, "It was amazing, Guy [Guy Hamilton]. I mean, about 10 minutes later, 'ready for you gov," you know, and, you know, from then on he [INAUDIBLE]. And then I don't know why, but the shop steward came along and said, 'You must stop doping the crews Sir Carol [Carol Reed].'" [INT: This is like wonderful advice from your Director, carry Benzedrine around with you.]

INT: So another great Director you worked with is Huston [John Huston]. [GH: Yes.] You know, so tell me about that experience.
GH: Oh that was--that was quite, quite different. I went up to be interviewed by Mr. Huston at Claridge's [London hotel] and I walked into his suite and I thought I'd walked into an armory. There was a little man from Purdey [James Purdey & Sons] you know, there were guns all over the place and he was saying, "And this is a lighter harbor for crocodiles. You may find it--" "Yeah, I'll have that. Okay, come in, kid." I mean he was supremely uninterested in his, in his assistant. It was the--the armory. A fortnight later...[INT: This is for AFRICAN QUEEN [THE AFRICAN QUEEN]?] For AFRICAN QUEEN. A fortnight later the Writer, Huston [John Huston], Wilfred Shingleton the Art Director and I, off we go to Nairobi [Kenya]. And we land in Nairobi and all this artillery is confiscated. I'm absolutely, I'm delighted because apparently you need a license to shoot an elephant. And this--"I'll have one of those," says John [John Huston]. He says, "Well there's no problem there. You put your name down and there's a seven year waiting list." [INT: To shoot an elephant?] To shoot an elephant. And so I thought, yeah, maybe we can get down to some work. And I go down the next morning in the hotel and John's [John Huston] vanished and I discover that he'd met a Belgian gentleman in the bar that evening and cried on his shoulder about not being able to shoot an elephant and the Belgian said, "Oh, well you want we'll go next door to the Belgian Congo. I mean you can shoot anything you want, I mean there's elephants galore, shoot the natives, nobody cares." And John [John Huston] had gone off in a little airplane, possibly with this Belgian and spotted some elephants and they'd apparently go around in circles, they tend to be in that territory, and I exaggerate when I say that he dropped a handkerchief and then came back to Nairobi [Kenya] and said, "Go and find the handkerchief, but that's where we're shooting." And that was pretty well it. And Wilfred Shingleton and I went down and no hotel, no accommodation, no absolutely nothing. Nada. "Oh well, Wilfred [Wilfred Shingleton], you can build, I mean the natives live in accommodation. They can build some rattan huts, you know, for the unit and big rattan pavilion, you know, where it can sort of be the mess." And I said, "Do you think that Bogey [Humphrey Bogart] and Katie [Katharine Hepburn] are going to put up with that?" "Oh, you build a nice bungalow for Katie , and one for me, and one for Bogey. Yeah, they'll be happy, they'll be very happy." Well, and John then buggered off back to UK [United Kingdom] and we stayed and we built this Butlins holiday camp [holiday parks in the United Kingdom] in the middle of the Belgian Congo. The water was a water tower and the native women, for a penny a bucket, carried the water and filled the water tower up. And electricity had to come in the form of a generator from Nairobi [Kenya], but that's a very long way. You couldn't get away with that sort of thing today. I mean, we go back to when on a location it was four to a bedroom, two for the sparks, and singles were only the Production Manager, the Cameraman, the First Assistant, otherwise everybody else doubled up. Last time I did a picture out here everybody had a car, they wouldn't stay in hotels. They drove to the location. We used to put everybody in a-in a shared van. That was it, end of story. And one car for the Assistant Director in case of accidents or somebody'd forgotten a piece of wardrobe or because there were no portable telephones. That's the big change in my Director's life. We had to be much more efficient as a crew because you had no portable telephones to get you out of stuck. [INT: Well did Huston shoot his elephants and…?] No, thank God, he never shot an elephant. I even Directed a scene with a pair of 'em where John [John Huston] was--We heard some bangs away in the distance, but we weren't going to wait for John.

INT: So did he [John Huston] pay attention to the job?
GH: Pardon? [INT: Did he pay eventually pay attention to the job of Directing the Actors and...] John [John Huston] was an excellent script Writer, he knew his script extremely well. He'd tend to listen rather more than look. His shooting style was very straightforward. Thank god, because we were shooting in 3D to three Technicolor, three strip, you know, this ginormous blimp. The African Queen [boat] was a total joke. I mean I've got some photographs that are unbelievable. It was a little old thing and it towed a platform that was made--The local native canoes were about 30 feet long and you put six together latched across with planks and made a platform, and that was towed by the African Queen. Which had bits and pieces of the African Queen because you couldn't get a Technicolor camera, the unit onto the actual African Queen. So you put all our stuff was on. That meant that the crew and the sound, makeup and hairdressing, we had to have another platform and that was towed by the next one. And behind that was the electrical equipment towed, and bringing up the rear was a generator which was an old--In an old hulk towed. We'd hardly got underway with this unbelievable circus, we're scene one, take one, de de de, you can hear the generator. So we got to have a generator because it's dialogue all the way through. So we just ran the electrical cable out and put the junction box in a little canoe and ran that out some more and the next junction box in the canoe. So there were two canoes with the generator; two canoes, the makeup, hairdressing, blah blah blah blah blah, electrical stuff, before you got on to the action. The next thing that happened...

INT: What did you learn from him [John Huston]?
GH: What did I learn from him? He told me to mind my own business and we were doing a close shot of Bogart [Humphrey Bogart] and Bogart was very laid back and John [John Huston] said, "Okay, cut, print it." And I shot around the back and I said, "You know, John, he can be much better than...Do another take, do another take." He said, "Okay well, okay." I said, "Okay, John, but to me he's lazy, not--" He said, "Kid, go and see the rushes tomorrow." And I did. And Bogart was as far away from me as you are and what I saw live was not what I saw on the screen. He was one of those magical Actors that is, as you know, they're so rare, they're 80% better than what you see with your eye and that was Bogey. And John had made half a dozen pictures with Bogey [Humphrey Bogart], knew him backwards, and trusted. And I mean it would have been idiot of him to say, "Bogey, let's have some more."