Includes interviews with Orson Welles, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick, Clint Eastwood, Francis Ford Coppola, David Mamet, Spike Lee, and the Coen brothers, among others.

The best movies speak in a universal language, communicating effortlessly on both the emotional and the intellectual levels. While there have been many great films, only a few directors have achieved such facility with the filmmaking medium. In this collection of remarkably candid interviews, seventeen of the screen's most widely acclaimed and creative filmmakers discuss what drives and inspires them. These revealing, thought-provoking, and highly personal interviews, possible only in Playboy's open forum, range from Roman Polanski's thoughts on the murder of his wife in the Manson Family massacre to Oliver Stone's frank discussions about the challenges he faced in creating his memorable films.

• Many of the interviews are presented for the first time since their original magazine publication-in some cases, almost 40-years ago-and all offer a unique window into the creative minds of some of cinema's true artists.

• Seventeen of the silver screen's greatest directors discuss their lives and work.