Alfred Hitchcock
Master of suspense
Most quoted
"The audience is like a giant organ that you and I are playing. At one moment we play this note and get this reaction, and then we play that chord and they react that way. And someday we won't even have to make a movie — there'll be electrodes implanted in their brains, and we'll just press different buttons and they'll go 'ooooh' and 'aaahh' and we'll frighten them, and make them laugh. Won't that be wonderful?"
— from Interview with François Truffaut, 1966
"I'm scared 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."
— from Interview
"Fear isn't so difficult to understand. After all, weren't we all frightened as children? Nothing has changed since Little Red Riding Hood faced the big bad wolf. What frightens us today is exactly the same sort of thing that frightened us yesterday. It's just a different wolf."
— from Interview
All quotes by Alfred Hitchcock (313)
I never said all actors are cattle; what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle.
I am scared easily, here is a list of my fears: 1. The police. 2. Crowds. 3. Being alone. 4. Being in a room with a lot of people. 5. Being in a room with one person. 6. Being in a room with no one.
I don't believe in the supernatural. I believe in the super-natural.
Television has brought murder back into the home – where it belongs.
I have a perfect understanding of the human mind. I know what makes people tick. I know what makes them scream.
Casting is character. If you cast the right person, half your work is done.
I never go to the movies. I don't like to see other people's mistakes.
Fear isn't so difficult to understand. After all, everyone is afraid of something.
I try to get the audience to participate in the film. An audience that's screaming and yelling and gasping is an audience that's alive.
My love of suspense is not just about the thrill, but about the art of manipulation.
I'm a director, not a magician.
Logic is dull. Emotion is exciting.
I have a passion for suspense, but I also have a passion for food.
The difference between a good film and a bad film is the difference between a good script and a bad script.
I like to put the audience through it.
I am a firm believer in the power of the visual.
I'm not interested in the story, I'm interested in how it's told.
I like to surprise people. I like to shock them.
I am a man who likes to control things.
The MacGuffin is the thing that the characters are after, but the audience doesn't care about it.
Contemporaries of Alfred Hitchcock
Other Film & Theaters born within 50 years of Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980).