Alfred Hitchcock Quotes

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was an English film director and producer, referred to as the "Master of Suspense". He pioneered many elements of the suspense and psychological thriller genres. He had a successful career in British cinema with both silent films and early talkies and became renowned as Britain's leading filmmaker. Hitchcock moved to Hollywood in 1939 and became a U.S. citizen in 1955.

Hitchcock became a highly visible public figure through interviews, film trailers, cameo appearances in his own films, and the ten years in which he hosted the television programme Alfred Hitchcock Presents . He also fashioned for himself a recognisable directorial style, and the term Hitchcockian is now often used to refer to his style of filmmaking. Hitchcock's stylistic trademarks include the use of camera movement that mimics a person's gaze, forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism. In addition, he framed shots to maximise anxiety, fear, or empathy, and used innovative forms of film editing. His work often features fugitives on the run alongside "icy blonde" female characters.

He directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades and is often regarded as one of the most influential directors in cinematic history. His first thriller, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog , helped shape the thriller genre in film. His 1929 film, Blackmail, is often cited as the first British sound feature film, while Rear Window , Vertigo , North by Northwest and Psycho are regularly ranked among the greatest films of all time.

✵ 13. August 1899 – 29. April 1980
Alfred Hitchcock photo
Alfred Hitchcock: 45   quotes 16   likes

Famous Alfred Hitchcock Quotes

“If I won't be myself, who will?”

Source: Alfred Hitchcock: Interviews

“In the documentary the basic material has been created by God, whereas in the fiction film the director is a God; he must create life.”

As quoted in Hitchcock (revised edition 1984) by François Truffaut with the collaboration of Helen G. Scott, p. 102.

“There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.”

Attributed to Hitchcock in Halliwell's Filmgoer's Companion (1984).

Alfred Hitchcock Quotes about life

“Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.”

Picture Parade, BBC (5 July 1960)

“We do not recommend suicide as a way of life.”

Alfred Hitchcock Presents. 1965.

Alfred Hitchcock Quotes about people

Alfred Hitchcock Quotes

“Give them pleasure – the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.”

On audiences, Asbury Park NJ Press (13 August 1974).

“Puns are the highest form of literature.”

Dick Cavett Show (8 June 1972).

“As a matter of fact, I couldn't work if I weren't on friendly terms with them; I'll bend over backward every time. Besides, I get into each picture I make, if only for a couple of seconds—so I'm probably a frustrated actor at heart myself.”

Regarding his oft-cited quote stating that actors are cattle; as paraphrased and quoted in "Town Called Hollywood: Director Pleads Off Poundage" http://www.mediafire.com/view/ix2ammmxkb3flqx/Screen%20Shot%202018-09-11%20at%2012.56.17%20AM.png by Philip K. Scheuer, in The Los Angeles Times (30 May 1943).
Context: [T]he director passed off the phrase as one of his "Machiavellian quips," not to be taken seriously. "Let us say, rather, that actors are a necessary evil," he cautioned, with a straight face. "As a matter of fact, I couldn't work if I weren't on friendly terms with them; I'll bend over backward every time. Besides, I get into each picture I make, if only for a couple of seconds—so I'm probably a frustrated actor at heart myself."

“Let us say, rather, that actors are a necessary evil,”

Regarding his oft-cited quote stating that actors are cattle; as paraphrased and quoted in "Town Called Hollywood: Director Pleads Off Poundage" http://www.mediafire.com/view/ix2ammmxkb3flqx/Screen%20Shot%202018-09-11%20at%2012.56.17%20AM.png by Philip K. Scheuer, in The Los Angeles Times (30 May 1943).
Context: [T]he director passed off the phrase as one of his "Machiavellian quips," not to be taken seriously. "Let us say, rather, that actors are a necessary evil," he cautioned, with a straight face. "As a matter of fact, I couldn't work if I weren't on friendly terms with them; I'll bend over backward every time. Besides, I get into each picture I make, if only for a couple of seconds—so I'm probably a frustrated actor at heart myself."

“T. V. has brought murder back into the home where it belongs.”

National Observer (15 August 1966).
Variant: One of television's great contributions is that it brought murder back into the home, where it belongs
Context: One of television's great contributions is that it brought murder back into the home, where it belongs.

“[This award is] meaningful because it comes from my fellow dealers in celluloid.”

On receiving American Film Institute's 1979 Lifetime Achievement Award, recalled on his death (29 Apr. 1980).

“The silent pictures were the purest form of cinema.”

As quoted in Hitchcock (1967) by François Truffaut

“The lower lip definitely states that all actors are cattle—including the authorǃ”

Handwritten note accompanying Hitchcock's sketched self-portrait; as seen in—and addressed to the author of— "Melodrama Maestro" http://www.mediafire.com/view/uvl045zkpces0io/MELODRAMA_MAESTRO.jpg by Hume Cronyn, in McClean's (1 November 1944).

“I’m not against the police; I'm just afraid of them.”

As quoted in Hitchcock (revised edition 1985) by François Truffaut, p. 109 http://books.google.com/books?id=NnE_sPb3XBQC&q=%22I'm+not+against+the+police+I'm+just+afraid+of+them%22&pg=PA109#v=onepage.

“Hitchcock: You know that I think all actors are cattle?
George Raft: Yes, I know—but I'm no actor.”

On the set of The House Across the Bay; as quoted in "The New Yorker" http://www.mediafire.com/view/t6bdmd0wg1hvd8m/%20.png by Leonard Lyons, in The Washington Post (26 July 1940).

“Deep inside, I am a shy man. And in the presence of colorful characters, I am a clam. I never try to out-eccentric the eccentricsǃ”

As quoted in "New York Close-Up" http://www.mediafire.com/view/sllj68n3ug6dgju/Concert_Thursday_to_Aid_Memori.jpg.

“Actors are cattle. I've always said actors are cattle. In fact, Carole Lombard once built a corral on set and put three live calves into it, in recognition of my feelings. I tell them that, and treat them as such, and we get along fineǃ”

As quoted in "New York Close-Up" http://www.mediafire.com/view/sllj68n3ug6dgju/Concert_Thursday_to_Aid_Memori.jpg by Tex McCrary and Jinx Falkenburg, in New York Herald Tribune (27 February 1950).

“The Birds could be the most terrifying motion picture I have ever made.”

Movie trailer for the 1960s film The Birds.

“It still goes. But Pat is the nicest cattle I've ever seen.”

Reaffirming the "actors are cattle" quote while in Boston to see his daughter perform onstage; as quoted in "The Lyons Den" https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3ZBRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0mkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5954%2C4412673 by Leonard Lyons, in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (20 October 1944).

“Self-plagiarism is style.”

Defending his repetition of filming techniques, in The Observer [London], (8 Aug. 1976).

“You can't direct a Laughton picture. The best you can hope for is to referee.”

Films and Filming (Volume 9, Issue 3; 1963), p. 20 https://www.google.com/books/edition/Films_and_Filming/GMARAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22you+can%27t+direct%22+hitchcock+laughton

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