31 Quotes by Robert B. Weide

Writing, to me, conjures up a physical act, like running or eating.

In any movie, there are a number of scenes that get cut in an effort to keep the film from running too long. Some are of little consequence, but others are important scenes that are very painful to lose.

A lot of British comedy feels foreign rather than feeling universal.

I hate to sound like someone twice my age talking about these comics today and all that, but it's as though their intent or goal on stage seems to be to see how uncomfortable they can make the audience, or how viciously they can savage their subjects.

If you're watching comedy movies, go back and check out the Marx Brothers in 'Duck Soup,' or Buster Keaton in 'The General,' or Laurel and Hardy or W.C. Fields or whatever - and see what pure talent really was, so that you can see where it came from, and then you can sort of gauge it from there.

I like to make films about my heroes.

The documentaries are one thing - I was highlighting someone else's work, someone else's genius. Once I had to find my own voice, I'm glad I was a little bit older and had some confidence and had all these great inspirations to draw from.

Kurt Vonnegut and I - it's not an exaggeration to say we were best friends. And I grew up just idolizing him.

Somehow I got a hold of an address for Vonnegut shortly after making the Marx Brothers film. Vonnegut wrote back, saying that he had seen the Marx brothers film and loved it. That became the foundation of our friendship: old movies and comedies.