The renowned British filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock was born in 1899 in Leytonstone, London. He is credited with pioneering many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres, and he achieved great success in his native England with both silent films and early talkies.
After moving to Hollywood, he became an American citizen in 1956, though he maintained his British citizenship. His career spanned 60 years, and during this time he directed more than 50 feature films, including the iconic Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963).
Alfred Hitchcock was not only a director, but also an actor, often appearing in cameos in his own films. He was a writer too, contributing to various screenplays, and his first movie as a director was released in the early 1920s.
He directed his last film, The Family Plot in 1976. He died in 1980 in Bel Air in Los Angeles, California in the United States. The cause of death was renal failure. He will be remembered as the “Master of Suspense” and a legend of both the silver screen and television.
Here are a few quotes from Alfred Hitchcock, a true legend:
1. “A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it.”
2. “Always make the audience suffer as much as possible.”
3. “Blondes make the best victims. They’re like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints.”
4. “Disney has the best casting. If he doesn’t like an actor he just tears him up.”
5. “Give them pleasure – the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.”
6. “I am scared easily, here is a list of my adrenaline – production: 1) small children, 2) policemen, 3) high places, 4) that my next movie will not be as good as the last one.”
7. “I’m full of fears and I do my best to avoid difficulties and any kind of complications. I like everything around me to be clear as crystal and completely calm.”
Alfred Hitchcock really knew what he was doing he was making films
8. “If it’s a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on. ”
9. “In films murders are always very clean. I show how difficult it is and what a messy thing it is to kill a man. ”
10. “When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, ‘It’s in the script.’ If he says, ‘But what’s my motivation?, ‘ I say, ‘Your salary.’ ”
11. “We seem to have a compulsion these days to bury time capsules in order to give those people living in the next century or so some idea of what we are like. ”
12. “Television is like the invention of indoor plumbing. It didn’t change people’s habits. It just kept them inside the house.”
13. “Someone once told me that every minute a murder occurs, so I don’t want to waste your time, I know you want to go back to work.”
14. “The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.”
15. “There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it.”
16. “There’s nothing to winning, really. That is, if you happen to be blessed with a keen eye, an agile mind, and no scruples whatsoever.”
17. “I am to provide the public with beneficial shocks.”
Alfred Hitchcock even had some solid maritial advice
18. “The ideal husband understands every word his wife doesn’t say.”
19. “This paperback is very interesting, but I find it will never replace a hardcover book – it makes a very poor doorstop.”
20. “Conversation is the enemy of good wine and food.”
21. “You reach a point where you say you’re not going to do juveniles any longer.”
22. “The best actor is the man who can do nothing extremely well.”
23. “Here’s a choice item, very rare. Only 740,000 were ever made!”
24. “I’ve become a body of films, not a man, I am all those films.”
25. “Drama is life with the dull parts cut out of it.”
Well, there you have it, some legendary quotes from Alfred Hitchcock. If you’ve enjoyed reading them, feel free to share this article on your social networks. Sharing is caring after all.
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2 Comments
Alfred Hitchcock, the legend
Phillip: Indeed 🙂