"I have read and adored many books, but Joseph Campbell, with his vast knowledge of world mythology, comes closer than any author I know to answering life’s most important questions: who we are and why we’re here."

"I’ve seen this picture a zillion times but always find something new to wonder about. Graham Greene, Carol Reed, Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, Nazis, gangsters, Hitchcockian surrealism, innovative cinematography, a moody babe, Vienna, a zither for ear candy: it’s all here."

"I like Gladiator, the one with Russell Crowe, because it’s an epic and they used CGI really well, I thought. I like those movies. A lot of films I’ve done, it was about the hero’s journey and all that Joseph Campbell stuff. That’s a good one."

"Carol Reed magnificently evoked the specificities of time and place in post–World War II Vienna. The mood, the sound, the camera work . . . and perhaps, Orson Welles at the top of his acting game. Joseph Cotten might be one of the greatest underrated actors of all time."

"If you are at all interested in what it’s like to work in the theatre, especially Broadway, this is the only book you need to read. It’s more fun (and accurate) than All About Eve and as someone who can recite Joseph Mankiewicz’s screenplay from memory that is high praise indeed."