Alfred Hitchcock Quotes

40 Sourced Quotes

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

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

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

Alfred Hitchcock
The Birds could be the most terrifying motion picture I have ever made.

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

Alfred Hitchcock
The paperback is very interesting but I find it will never replace the hardcover book — it makes a very poor doorstop.

Alfred Hitchcock
Blondes are the best victims. They're like virgin snow which shows up the bloody footprints.

Alfred Hitchcock
On Rear Window:
I'll bet you that nine out of ten people, if they see a woman across the courtyard undressing for bed, or even a man puttering around in his room, will stay and look; no one turns away and says, "It's none of my business." They could pull down their blinds, but they never do; they stand there and look out.

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

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

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

Alfred Hitchcock
All love scenes started on the set are continued in the dressing room.

Alfred Hitchcock
There is nothing quite so good as a burial at sea. It is simple, tidy, and not very incriminating.

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

Alfred Hitchcock
I didn't discover Grace [Kelly], but I saved her from a fate worse than death. I prevented her from being eternally cast as a cold woman.

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

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

Alfred Hitchcock
Making a film means, first of all, to tell a story. That story can be an improbable one, but it should never be banal. It must be dramatic and human. What is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out?

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
To make a great film you need three things: the script, the script and the script.

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
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.

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

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

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

Alfred Hitchcock