. >> could you tell some stories about alan arkin on sat? >> he was always unhappy. [laughter] he was an actor. but we had a very difficult schedule because we depended entirely on backlight. we had a genius to rector of and he decided we would always only shoot into the light that meant should be between two and 4:30 p.m. every day. if we had the signature look the me was between 2:00 p.m. in 4:30 p.m.. it cost $11 million for the movie. that was expensive in those days. but that meant we were in mexico which seem to like four years. no actor could go away because we did not know when the weather would be just right to do his or her scene. so some people stay there four months' waiting for their scene. and alan arkin and stayed there always because he was a in every scene and he did nothing but bitch of. [laughter] i said you have no idea how good you are. >> you are right. i don't. >> i said you are great. he wrote me a nice letter afterwards and it was so whole thing. >> host: how did you get that cast? settled think there was a terrific actor alive at that point*

nichols, i was just wondering if you could tell some stories about working with alan arkin on set. >> arkin was always unhappy. [laughter] he was an actor. i could have just said that. [laughter] but we had a very difficult schedule because we depended entirely on back light. we had a genius dp, director of photography, david watkins, and he decided that we would always only shoot into the light which meant, basically, that we could shoot from 2 to 4:30 every day. we could get ready, but if we were going to have our signature look, we couldn't shoot anytime except 2:to 4:30. this was in the days, of course, it was a very, very expensive movie, it cost $11 million. >> how much? >> 11 million. that's what was expensive in those days. but which meant that we were in mexico for what seemed like years. and no actor could go away because we didn't know when the weather would be just right to do his or her scene. so some people stayed there for months waiting for their scene, and arkin always stayed this because he was -- stayed there because he was in every scene. and he did nothing but bit