ARTS / Overheard

Film has lasted through the 20th century but soon it will be no more. We create with celluloid and chemical pigments that don't last very long. In 200 years there will be nothing left of our work but dust. - Louis Malle, film director, Daily Telegraph

It's hard to get happy when you're going to lay out dollars 100 to sit down for two hours. - Arthur Miller on the state of the theatre, New York Times

When this show started, Madonna was a name we gave to paintings of the Virgin, Britain's only famous Gascoigne was Bamber, and the M25 seemed a good idea. - Stephen Fry, one of the authors of Me and My Girl, on its last night

Most rock singers never warmed up - they'd have a couple of vodkas and a big joint and then go on. And no wonder so many had problems with their throats. - Mick Jagger, Independent

Confidence is the hardest thing about directing movies. When you're young you have so much self-assurance you think you can run out in the street and dodge all the traffic. But then, inevitably, a car hits you. - Francis Ford Coppola, director, Sunday Telegraph

I'm a coward. I don't care what I say about people in print, but I can't face them in person. - Julie Burchill, columnist and pulp novelist, Sunday Times