Alfred Hitchcock Quotes

40 Sourced Quotes

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

Alfred Hitchcock
What is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out.

Alfred Hitchcock
The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.

Alfred Hitchcock
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".

Alfred Hitchcock
I have a perfect cure for a sore throat — cut it.

Alfred Hitchcock
Film your murders like love scenes, and film your love scenes like murders.

Alfred Hitchcock
Television is like the invention of indoor plumbing. It didn't change people's habits. It just kept them inside the house.

Alfred Hitchcock
The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture.

Alfred Hitchcock
Our primary function is to create an emotion and our secondary function is to sustain that emotions.

Alfred Hitchcock
Give them pleasure – the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.
On audiences

Alfred Hitchcock
I'm not against the police; I'm just afraid of them.

Alfred Hitchcock
I have little personal relationship with actors. All actors are cattle.

Alfred Hitchcock
Some people claim I say all actors are cattle. What I say is all actors should be treated like cattle.

Alfred Hitchcock
If you've designed a picture correctly, the Japanese audience should scream at the same time as the Indian audience.

Alfred Hitchcock
I'm frightened of eggs, worse than frightened, they revolt me. That white round thing without any holes … have you ever seen anything more revolting than an egg yolk breaking and spilling its yellow liquid? Blood is jolly, red. But egg yolk is yellow, revolting. I've never tasted it.

Alfred Hitchcock
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.

Alfred Hitchcock
Some films are slices of life. Mine are slices of cake.

Alfred Hitchcock
Television has brought back murder into the home—where it belongs.

Alfred Hitchcock
For me, suspense doesn't have any value if it's not balanced by humor.

Alfred Hitchcock
The silent pictures were the purest form of cinema.

Alfred Hitchcock
A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it.

Alfred Hitchcock
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
Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need for it.

Alfred Hitchcock
I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.

Alfred Hitchcock
Seeing a murder on television can … help work off one's antagonisms. And if you haven't any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some.

Alfred Hitchcock