A director must be pretty bad if he can't get a thrill out of war,
murder, robbery.
[on Boris Karloff] His face fascinated me. I made drawings of his
head, adding sharp bony ridges where I imagined the skull might have
joined.
[to Paul Robeson, upon hearing and seeing the "Ol' Man River" sequence
in Whale's 1936 film Show Boat (1936)] The spine-chilling effect of that
one song was something I shall never forget.
[on Frankenstein (1931)] That queer, penetrating personality of [Boris Karloff]'s was more important than his shape, which could be easily altered.