- There's a very fine line between underacting and not acting at all. And not acting is what a lot of actors are guilty of. It amazes me how some of these little numbers with dreamy looks and a dead pan are getting away wit it. I'd hate to see them on stage with a dog act.
- [on Al Jolson] The screen didn't give him enough space to project in. I remember as a kid seeing him on stage and I think to this day there have been two great performers in the world: one is Jolson and the other is Judy Garland. They had some kind of magic in front of people that no one could surpass -- they were sheer, magnificent talent beyond belief.
- [on Leslie Howard] Leslie Howard was a darling flirt. He'd be caressing your eyes and have his hand on someone else's leg at the same time. He was adorable. He was a little devil and just wanted his hands on every woman around. He just loved ladies.
- [on Jean Harlow] You know, she never wore underclothes and she was walking past the guys on The Public Enemy (1931) one day and James Cagney said, "How do you hold those things up?" and she said, "I ice them." And she was very serious.
- [on director Edmund Goulding] He did something that drove actors crazy. He'd get out there and act out everybody's role for them -- even the women! And we were supposed to imitate him. We wanted to give our own interpretations.
- [on Clark Gable] It was the joy of your life to know Clark Gable. He was everything good you could think of. He had delicious humor, he had great compassion, he was always a fine old teddy bear. In no way was he conscious of his good looks, as were most other men in pictures at that time. Clark was very unactorly.
- [on Bette Davis] When Bette's good, she's real good. When she's bad, she's awful. But at least, she's not afraid to bat an eyelash.
- [on her husbands] [George] Barnes provided my first real home, [Dick] Powell was my security man, and [Michael] Todd was my passion. But I loved them all.
- [on Topper Returns (1941)] It was a hit but has grown on TV viewings because it is public domain. I laugh when I see it. I laugh at Eddie Anderson and Patsy Kelly and Billie Burke and Rollie Young. It's a send-up of all those dark house plots.
- In the '20s, you were a face. And that was enough. In the '30s, you also had to be a voice. And your voice had to match your face, if you can imagine that. Jimmy Cagney and Eddie Robinson had voices that were as important as the characters they played. You knew what you were getting even before you paid for the ticket.
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