listen, on "the godfather," i'd go up to francis coppola and i'd say, "you know this picture, bob evansnd i have been discussing it and we need another action scene." the tollbooth murders, francis didn't wanna shoot it. he said, "i don't want to go over budget. i'll go way over budget. it's bad for the studio." i said, "forget the d--- studio, shoot the scene. the picture needs to be opened up a bit. just shoot it and shut up." (machine gun firing) i think out of that tension comes better movies. (narrator) ruthless, conservative, tyrannical, even vulgar, the studio boss was the system's father figure. sometimes possessed by an uncanny intuition for mass taste and devotion to production. however, the paramount lot, unlike its competitors, had no such figure. rapid turnover of studio chiefs in the 30's meant that a degree of control was left to its strong roster of highly successful directors. paramount's reliance on its essential creators led to german filmmaker ernst lubitsch taking over all studio operations in the mid-30's. i think it's an artists' studio in the 30's in a way that n