The Last Kings of Hollywood Quotes

“You just have to make something beautiful,” Francis said, “you can’t worry about if anybody will see it. You can distribute it. Success is a drug. It’s like a woman: if you chase it, you won’t get it.”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“a film’s budget, he said, was like par on a golf course, an ideal number to aim for, and handicapping par for a “course” like Jaws was as difficult as playing golf “with new clubs on a strange course with an exploding ball”—”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“Fast, good, cheap: pick two”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“Pacino later wrote in his memoir, Sonny Boy. “It stuck with me for a long time. Life’s on the wire, man. That’s my acting, my life. When I work, I’m on the wire. When I’m going for it. When I’m taking chances. I want to take chances. I want to fly and fail … It’s what’s kept me alive.”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“(“My favorite quote of Michelangelo’s,” Pacino once said: “Free me of myself, Lord, that I may please you.”)”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“Francis and Puzo wrote a similar idea into The Godfather. A sort of motto, a capitalist self-justification that worked as a counterpoint to “I believe in America.” A line we hear from several characters, but which Michael Corleone only utters when he finally joins in the killing: “It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.” That was what America told you, as far as Francis saw it. That it was only business as, literally or metaphorically—firing you after decades in a job, say, or taking your films and your company away from you because it had done the math and you weren’t worth the money—America blew your brains all over its nice Ivy League suit.”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“Oligarchies are the death of innovation.”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“Kershner was fired up. “It’s not like saying, ‘Look, we’re going to make a lot of money!’” he remembered. “It’s saying, ‘We’re going to build something.’ And that was the difference for me … Money itself means nothing. It’s what done with it that matters.”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“It’s the trajectory of every revolution, you know. As Eric Hoffer said, every great idea starts as a movement, becomes a business, and winds up as a racket. That’s just nature. That’s what happens. It’s like the life and death of any organism. All you can do is delay the curve.”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“The crew on Temple of Doom were shipping the footage shot every day back to London”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“Fundamentally”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“He wanted Zoetrope to lead the way into the new era. He’d produce one film a month”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“Over tasteless room service breakfast”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“Nobody expects one mega-hit”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“They came out of the diner to find a long line of people queuing outside of Mann’s Chinese Theatre. When George enquired”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“My favorite quote of Michelangelo’s,” Pacino once said: “Free me of myself”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“He read and reread his chosen chapters. He covered them in notes and scribbles”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“George would put down his camera and start writing”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema

“Film is power,” Francis told Milius. “If you have enough film”
― Paul Fischer, The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema