BERLIN (AP) – Lauren Bacall says she doesn’t believe in retirement, but after more than 60 years in movies, she’s not impressed with the state of the business.

Bacall, 82, came to the Berlin film festival Tuesday to present Paul Schrader’s “The Walker.” She stars as one of a group of rich, influential Washington wives who are clients of a high-class escort, played by Woody Harrelson.

“I have too much energy to stop working, and I don’t believe in retirement,” Bacall said. Making films, she added, “means to me mostly … staying alive.”

Bacall, who began her acting career in the mid-1940s, was nominated for an Oscar for her role in 1996’s “The Mirror Has Two Faces.” Her screen credits also include “The Big Sleep” and “Key Largo.”

She argues that television has dragged down the standard of films.

“I think there are still people who really want to do good work,” Bacall said at a news conference.

“Unfortunately, in television, sometimes they want to do good work but a lot of the time they’re doing terrible work – and I think that has affected moviemaking badly.”

“At the end of every movie, always I’m feeling, “You’re never going to work again,”‘ Bacall said.

“That’s going to happen one day, but I hope I’m not alive.”


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