AH: Just thinking about test screenings, not quite what you… Well, semi-test and then test. On OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE, when we were just in the process of editing, Jeffrey Katzenberg asked if the Executives could look at the film. And I said, "No, my Editor and I really only worked on three reels." And we hadn't even, the other part was, you know, just assembled. And they said, well they wanted to decide whether to release it at Christmas or wait for February. And I said, "No, it just, when I get it in good shape..." And they said, "Well it will be too late." Anyway, it finally ended up they talked me into running it at Jeffrey Katzenberg's home in the private screening room with only Jeffrey and Michael Eisner. And you know, Scott Kroopf and Robert Cort [Robert W. Cort], my Producers, and Tom Rolf, my Editor and you know. Anyway we, and I think, and Richard Frank [Richard H. Frank], the other VPs over at Disney [Walt Disney Pictures], so. And we ran it, and it was okay. It was, as I say, we'd worked on only three reels, and the rest of it was, Tom Rolf was, had done it loosely. You know, he put in everything so that I could see, and we could, you know, make choices and work. And actually, when Jeffrey was convincing me, I remember him saying, "Arthur, we, you know, we run a studio. We know how to look at a movie." And I remember saying, "Jeffrey, I think I'm a Director, and I know that I look at dailies, and I think why did I print that. I should know why I printed it." And I printed it for one line. I have to say to myself, “Arthur, you printed it for that line. You don't, you cannot, nobody can really look.” Anyway, I was finally convinced and so this group meets, and it's over, and I remember Michael Eisner saying, you know, "Arthur it's good, you know, and fine, and the others liking it." And that was it. And I knew they just weren't thrilled, and I thought, well it's not ready. Anyway, we went ahead they decided to let it go 'til February. And then when we finished and got to the Director's Cut, we had a sneak preview in Pasadena [Pasadena, California], and it just went through the roof. I mean it just couldn't have been, you couldn't be happier with the reaction and the laughter and the cheers and everything. And as we came out from it, I still remember Michael Eisner running over to me and saying, "Arthur," he said, "it's so good!" He said, "You know when I first saw it," he said, "I hated it. Now," he said, "I love it. I love it." You know, and I said, remember saying, "Michael, you see what we can do when you leave us alone." No, it was, they, but it just, yeah, that's why you have to be careful in sneaks and you have to be careful because we don't know, you know. They didn't know. We didn't know. It's just, you have to be aware sort of all the time.

INT: Can you talk about any noteworthy releases on your pictures?

AH: I can still remember my excitement, which I don’t think has happened on any other film, when LOVE STORY was released. It just, it got to me because people were lined up four blocks around, literally around the block, for the first time in history, and I thought, we just made a nice little movie... And it's the only time I can remember going to look and taking my kids and my wife with me and driving into Westwood Village [Los Angeles, California] and looking at... Now we had the great fortune of, the screenplay came first, but Erich Segal was writing the book based on his screenplay while we were filming. And the timing worked out. I think the book came out about six weeks before the film. Well you couldn't ask for everything to come together better and so it was just a, I liked, how should I say, most of the releases. You know, some of your films you wish were never released, you know. You can't help it. You look at some with happiness and mostly you want to change everything. But that's normal.

INT: How about the advertising and publicity for your films?

AH: I'd say basically I've been very happy with the ad campaigns and the publicity. I think they… My only big fight with them has always been trying to get the Writer along. I always felt that it was not fair. They never invite the Writer because they say the press isn't interested. And I keep saying, well that's the, then you have to get them interested, but I think only one film was I unhappy and that was MARRIED TO IT. It was a film that, made for Orion [Orion Pictures], and three weeks before release, Orion went bankrupt. And it was pulled from release. It didn't, and it was on the shelf for a year and a half. Then, they restarted Orion, somehow, but not with very, shall we say, experienced or professional people, and they decided to then release MARRIED TO IT, and they called me in and showed me their ad campaign, what they were going to do. And I said, "Why are you not using the quotes?" Because we'd had the press junket or whatever you call it, a year and a half before, and we had a lot of terrific quotes, and they said "No-no," they said, "We'll use them next, you know, next weekend." I said, "There won't be a next weekend. It's not the kind of film that everybody's waiting for." And there were, we had six terrific Actors, but nobody was what you'd call the major star in terms of drawing an audience. We had, you know, terrific people, Ron Silver, and Cybill Shepherd were one couple, and Beau Bridges and Stockard Channing a second couple, and Mary Stuart Masterson and Robert Sean Leonard the third couple. You know, all terrific and all known, but not of that quality of level that draws people. Nor was it the kind of story that draws. And I kept at them to use the quotes. And they didn't. And the picture just sort of faded away. So that's the only negative release. I've had other films that, what should we say, didn't do as well as expected. But I can remember Jeffrey Katzenberg phoning me and apologizing for the ad campaign on TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS. And I said, "I thought it was a good campaign. I didn't think there was anything lacking." He said, "We should know better." They felt that they had fallen short on it. And on THE BABE, when it didn't do what was expected, we all thought it was going to do a lot better. The, Universal [Universal Pictures] and their marketing thought that maybe they should have advertised it instead of the Babe and children and kids, the Babe with women, with two women, you know played on that aspect, and maybe they're right. You know, I didn't think there was anything wrong with the campaign but, and maybe they're right. It should've been… And maybe that would've made a difference. Maybe it wouldn't. I don't know. But basically, I felt that they've done good campaigns and publicizing.

INT: Have you always been advised about the editing of versions of your films for ancillary markets and had the opportunity to participate in the editing for instance, for television?

AH: Since the DGA got us the right to be notified and invited to the editing for television or re-releases or whatever, I'm pretty sure I've been notified and asked each and every time. And sometimes they've gone to great lengths. Like I was on a film, I forget which one I was at, I was at Fox [20th Century Fox] when they were going to do the editing on THE IN-LAWS for television, and they wanted me to supervise. They rented an editorial space at Fox, brought in the Assistant Editor. The Editor was not available, and I would run over whenever I had time and work away with him. But that's the kind of attention… And I've been, I was even invited way back when I did AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY [THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY] before, long before the DGA had set the rights, because the young man who was in charge of editing for, I forget which network it was, he loved the picture so much, and I was filming in New York, and he called me, and he said he had to edit it. Would I like to be part of it, and he would, and he arranged it on a Saturday, so that I could be there. The only problem I've had when I did work with them, was with CBS on MAKING LOVE. Because Standards and Practices said we had to drop the scene of the two men making love. And the person who edited didn't want to, and I've got, said, I met with the Standards and Practices people and I said, "That's the point of the film. That these, not the point of the film, but at least, but it's a major part that these two men have become lovers." And they agreed, but they said, "We can't show that." I said, "Why did you buy the film? I mean, why would you buy a film that you don't want to keep one of the most important scenes?" And I hung in and hung in, and finally they agreed to leave it in, with, we put, they put a little diffusion, but it did stay in. But otherwise, they've made, if I wanted something, it went different way or this way, or I wasn't thrilled, but there really wasn't anything that could be done. But it's basically, and I've been also called a couple of times, I've gone when the Cinematographer wasn't available, to supervise the switch to color or to tape, I mean to video. And I remember having to work with them because they were trying to help it too much. They wanted everything to be the best colors, and they were spoiling what the Cinematographer, the shadings… I mean they meant well, but it needed somebody sort of watching… So you get calls. In fact last week, I was at one for TIGER MAKES OUT [THE TIGER MAKES OUT], which I did umpteen years ago. I just went in to watch the color of this put, sort of put together, again, version, ‘cause they're gonna distribute it on TV now and…

INT: As a recipient of the DGA Robert Aldrich Award [Robert B. Aldrich Service Award], can you talk about that honor?

AH: I felt very honored to receive the Robert Aldrich Award. You know, it's saying that you have contributed to your guild, that you've given, that you've given back. I remember that when I received it, I commented, I just reminded everybody that the Guild was started by a group. I've forgotten now, and funny, I’m blanking at 10 or 12, but of Directors who didn't need the Guild. They could negotiate their own deals. They cared about their fellow Directors. And they formed this Guild, and look what was done. Look at, think of all the years and think of the minimum wage that cutting back of the seven-day week. The health, we have the best health plan in the industry, the best pension plan. It's just, you know, a remarkable Guild. I just, I'm almost embarrassed to receive it, because of course you should be giving back to a Guild that has given you so much or fought for your Creative Rights or just looks after you with support, support, support from the Guild. So I was very, very proud to receive that award.

INT: Do you have a favorite film? If so, what was it and why?

AH: My own favorite film of any that I've done is THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY. I just, and it bothers me that I made it in 1964, and I keep thinking, why can't I make another one that I feel as strongly about, you know, over the years? But first of all, it was written by Paddy Chayefsky, who, as I always say, was the only genius I ever worked with. But it was this black, sort of satiric dramedy that was anti the glorification of war, but it set, it is such a dramatic setting. And well, it's, as I say, my favorite, but it's also Julie Andrews' favorite film. It's James Garner's favorite film, James Coburn's favorite film, Marty Ransohoff [Martin Ransohoff], the Producer, his favorite. It was one of Paddy's two favorites. It's something, and it was a first draft. That was, when Paddy got the concept, it was based on a book by William Bradford Huie, but the book was more about a dog robber, which is the kind of character whose wartime has to look after the generals and the admirals and make sure they can meet the girls and get the silk stockings and the chocolates, you know, the things that were not easily available. But Paddy took it, and changed the flavor from just American boy meets British girl into this comment on glorification of war. And said, yes, there are times when you have to go to war but don't make it seem so wonderful that kids will want wars, so they can grow up to be heroes. And so that's of mine, sort of my favorite.

INT: What's your least favorite project and why?

AH: [LONG PAUSE] Over the years, I've done some films that I wish I hadn't done. And I did them, I guess, part of it is that I love making movies, and I get depressed if I'm not. And I'm always scared that maybe they're not going to ask me. I'm not going to make it. And I took on some, yes, I didn't think they were terrible, but I didn't really have the feeling that I should've had, and I didn't hang with my sort of instincts and my feelings enough, and say, "No, I'm going to wait 'til I get what I really want to do." And it, part of that is also, as I say all the time, we were all, well I say this about all creative people. I have this phrase, "If I said that every creative person I know is insecure, I'd be doing a disservice to very few people." We just can't, it's part of creativity, and I've let it affect me at times, when I shouldn't have. And it's very hard to keep faith in yourself, and what I say to new people, or kids that say, "What does it take to be a Director?" And I say, "Well first you have to have passion. You have to feel that that's what I want to do." And when they say to me, "Yeah, you know, that's what I love," or they come in and ask and say, "I want to be a Director." And I say, "Have you ever made a film?" And if they say, “No,” I say, I don't dismiss them, but I think they're not really ready because if you have that passion, then you got out, and you wash dishes, or something, and you rented a little video camera, and you got your friends, you wrote something, and you did a little 10 minute movie. You do something. You need that. Or, you need to feel, I say, "Is that what you want to do most in all the world?" and they say, "Oh, yes." And I say, "That's not enough. It has to be the only thing you want to do, or it isn't worth the travails and the problems and the difficulties you're going to have." And then you have to have knowledge. You have to know, you have to read up on film. You have to know about the people who've been involved. You have to know how do you make a film. I'm not saying you have to be skilled, but if, you need that, and you have to have respect, respect for the art form, for what it is you're doing, not... It's not a game. It's an art form. It's, and you have to respect that. And you have to respect the other people who are involved in filmmaking and what they do. And you have responsibility. You have to have responsibility, because a studio puts up the money. They have, they put up the money. We can complain, and they did this, they did that, but they put up the money, and we agreed to do it at that budget for those many days. We made a commitment. We have a responsibility to come through on that commitment. I also say you have to be in good physical shape to be a Direct--which is true. You just, because when you're filming, you're round the clock. You rarely get enough sleep, and you don't have time to sit. You're thinking about so many things every moment, every moment, every moment. So it's not easy. It takes a lot to be a Director.

INT: What's the hardest part of directing? [AH: I know about the...] What's the worst part of directing?

AH: [long pause] I don't know about the worst part of directing or the hardest part of directing, but my least favorite sort of part of directing is having to fend off all the experts who are around to help you, who think they know so much, and to keep them out of the pot, so to speak. That doesn't say that you shouldn't have your ears open, that you shouldn't listen, because you learn things, but you don't need that overload constantly all over you. In terms of the actual film, again, I don't think I'd say the worst part of directing, but the hardest part of directing is the human relations aspect. The, creating, each person that you're working with is a different person. And you, as the Director, have to figure out what is the best way to work with each one. And that's not just the Actors. Certainly there, it's very important, but that includes the whole Crew. Everybody who's working with you is somebody else, and how do you get that? You have to create a climate where all those people can do their best work, can bring their best to the project. It's especially difficult with the Actors, because the Actors are so insecure. And how do you bring security to people when you're insecure? And you have to do that. You have to give them the feeling that they can do what you want them to do, or that they can do something that they didn't realize they could do, that, and you have to find the ways of doing that. Sometimes they will have different feelings about a role, and they're a legitimate feeling, and you have to explain that yes, there can be three or four things that are right at this moment for this character to do in this situation, and explain why you want the one right one, because of what your vision is of the entire film. And so you have to, how shall I say, in terms of that giving of security, you have to believe in yourself. And it's, that's, the hardest thing is to keep your faith in yourself when you're directing, to, because you're insecure and the, you struggle. You have your passion. You have your knowledge. You respect your profession. You respect the other's profession. You do your, you have your responsibility for the budget, the responsibility for the schedule; those are all there. But you also need to believe in yourself and keep that belief.

INT: What is the best part of directing?

AH: For me the most pleasure when I'm directing is the actual filming, because the adrenaline is flowing all the time. All these creative juices are all working together. There is that wonderful teamwork that's going on, and all the juices pouring into the pot and out comes this new little entity, a film, and I just, I love that. [INT: Great.]

INT: Can you describe your relationship with your Assistant Director [AD] on a film?

AH: I pay attention, and then we think ahead together. I try to keep him involved or her involved, with my particular vision and let them know what special equipment I might need, what effects I'm thinking about, anything that will affect the schedule. Then sit down with them when they work out the schedule and work on what could be done better, or I could do more, or could we do this in this order, or I need more time here. It really is, again, collaboration and realizing how dependent you are on a Pete Scoppa [Peter R. Scoppa] or a Jimmy Van Wyck [Jim Van Wyck], or Jack Roe, you know, to keep you organized, to keep you on track and to help you to get everything you need together to help you do the best film you can and fulfill your vision.