THC: Back to what you were saying about directors making fewer films now--there are a lot of the older directors who worked really quickly, making two or three films per year.

JF: But don't forget: a lot of those directors didn't cut their movies. They'd do a three day thing with the editor, and then on to the next movie, and the producers and studios would cut them. That we've changed. We edit our own films, for the most part. There are some people that don't, but I certainly do. And I'm also involved with the Director's Guild (chairman of the Creative Rights Committee), and one of the things we're making directors do is exercise their creative rights.

THC: You've directed probably more than anybody else (38 films, 152 live television shows). Is that some sort of a record?

JF: I don't know, I've never tried to compare. [laughs]

THC: It's just remarkable how much you've done in comparison to other directors.

JF: Well, I think that's a problem with a lot of modern day directors, the fact that they don't work enough. I don't think you get to be a better director by having meetings and giving interviews and talking about it, and pontificating about it. I think that you become a better director by working, and by doing it. Having to face the everyday problems, and solve them. Boy, I tell you, you get better. I'm better now than I was twenty years ago. I think I have much more of a grip on stories. I know much more about what I want.

It's a pretty good bet that, as long as he continues to direct, there will always be open doors for John Frankenheimer in Hollywood. And, at the very least, you can bet that each and every one of his movies will make a statement.