Hitchcock Movie Quotes
Alfred Hitchcock
I will never find a Hitchcock blonde as beautiful as you.
Alma Reville
Oh, Hitch. I've waited thirty years to hear you say that.
Alfred Hitchcock
And that my dear, is why they call me the Master of Suspense.
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Alfred Hitchcock
You may call me Hitch. Hold the "cock."
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Geoffrey Shurlock
Is there any improper suggestion of nudity in this, uh, murder in the shower scene?
Alfred Hitchcock
She won't be nude, she'll be wearing a shower cap.
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Alfred Hitchcock
[wakes Alma in the middle of the night and hands her Robert Bloch's novel "Psycho"]
I just want you to read this little bit here. It takes place in the motel bathroom.
Alma Reville
"Mary started to scream. And then the curtains parted farther and a hand appeared, holding a butcher's knife. It was the knife that, a moment later, cut off her scream and her head." Charming. Doris Day should do it as a musical.
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[Hitchcock has handed round very graphic photos of Ed Gein's victims at the press launch of the Psycho project]
Whitfield Cook
I've seen happier faces on a school bus going over a cliff.
Alfred Hitchcock
But they can't stop looking, can they?
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Alfred Hitchcock
I'm under extraordinary pressures on this picture and the least you can do is give me your full support.
Alma Reville
Full support! We've mortgaged our house! I'm your wife! I celebrate with you when the reviews are good. I cry for you when they are bad! I put up with all those people who look through me as if I were invisible because all they see is the great and glorious ALFRED HITCHCOCK!
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Alfred Hitchcock
[wrestling to keep his snack bowl]
Beware, all men are potential murderers. And for good reason.
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Alfred Hitchcock
My contract guarantees me final cut.
Barney Balaban
Your contract also says Paramount isn't required to distribute any film that could cause us embarrassment.
Alfred Hitchcock
Unlike the last five Martin and Lewis films you're all so proud of.
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Alma Reville
You shouldn't wait until half way through. Kill her after thirty minutes.
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Peggy Robertson
MGM wants you to do the Ian Fleming book "Casino Royale" with Cary Grant. Definitely your style.
Alfred Hitchcock
Doesn't she know I just made that movie? It was called "North by Northwest". And "style", my dear, is mere self-plagiarism.
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Alfred Hitchcock
The only thing worse than a visit to the dentist is a visit to the censor.
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Alma Reville
I'm going to ask you this once, and I'll never mention it again. Why this one, Hitch? It's not just because so many people are saying *no*, is it?
Alfred Hitchcock
Do you remember the fun we had when we started out all those years ago? We didn't have any money then, did we? We didn't have any time, either. But we took risks, do you remember? We experimented. We invented new ways of making pictures because we had to. I just want to feel that kind of freedom again. Like we used to, you know?
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Rita Riggs
Is this really going to be your next picture?
Alfred Hitchcock
Yes Madam! Oh by the way, try the finger sandwiches. They are real fingers.
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[first lines]
Henry Gein
It's lucky it didn't reach the house.
Ed Gein
Yeah.
Henry Gein
You know, there's gonna be a lot more jobs at that factory in Milwaukee come June. I could put in a word.
Ed Gein
You can't leave us, Henry. She needs us both.
Henry Gein
Can you stop being a mama's boy for one second? I'm not trying to hurt you, but Jesus, you gotta live your own life sometime. That woman can take care of her own god...
[Ed hits Henry with a shovel]
Alfred Hitchcock
Good evening. Well, brother has been killing brother since Cain and Abel, yet even I didn't see that coming. I was as blindsided as poor old Henry down there. And apparently, the authorities shared my naïveté. In other words, they believed the young man's story. That Henry fell, hit his head on a stone and died of smoke asphyxiation. On the other hand, if they hadn't believed him, Ed Gein would never have had the opportunity to commit those heinous crimes for which he became most famous. And we, of course, well
[pause]
Alfred Hitchcock
we wouldn't have our little movie, would we?
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Janet Leigh
I do have a concern or two. Well, I'm an actress, of course, but I'm first a wife and a mother. And I'm just curious to know - um - how are you going to shoot this shower scene?
Alma Reville
Yes, you and the Shurlock Office.
Janet Leigh
It's only that, well, from here up, I'm not exactly boyish, so...
Alfred Hitchcock
Allow me to set your mind at rest, my dear. I will be shooting short bits of film from various angles. Cut together, the montage will only suggest nudity, suggest violence. Nothing will actually be shown. But of course, having you in the shower will make it all that more, well - titillating.
Alma Reville
Will you excuse me?
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George Tomasini
[in film cutting room]
Well, what do you think?
Peggy Robertson
I think I'll never have a shower again.
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Alfred Hitchcock
Did you read that little snippet from A.H. Weiler's review in the New York Times? He said he found the climax to be "overdrawn".
Alma Reville
Yes, well I doubt Mr Weiler has had a climax in years.
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[last lines]
Alfred Hitchcock
Good evening.
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Alfred Hitchcock
[after viewing the shower scene with Bernard Herrmann's score for the first time]
It's getting there.
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Ed Gein
This is my favorite place. Just shut the door, make the world go away.
Alfred Hitchcock
Don't you ever get lonely, out here?
Ed Gein
I can always talk to my mother.
[the police start to raid Ed's house]
Ed Gein
That's strange.
[the police move upstairs]
Ed Gein
That's my mother's room. That's my mother's room.
[sobs]
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[last lines - talking to camera]
Alfred Hitchcock
And so, gentle viewers, Psycho turned out to be one of my greatest achievements, and Alma and I got to keep the house and the swimming pool. But you know what they say in Hollywood: "you're only as good as your last picture". So if you will excuse me, I had better toddle away to begin the exhaustive search for my next project. Unfortunately I find myself once again quite bereft of any inspiration. However, I do hope something comes along soon.
[a large black raven lands on his shoulder and then flies away]
Alfred Hitchcock
Good evening.
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Geoffrey Shurlock
I distinctly saw both the stabbing and the nudity.
Alfred Hitchcock
What you think you're seeing is purely informed by the power of suggestion. I assure you, once you view the final version, with Mister Herrmann's lovely, lyrical score...
Geoffrey Shurlock
A lyrical score is not going to change my opinion.
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Alfred Hitchcock
I'm treading water, Peggy. I need something fresh, something different. Without expensive stars to pretty it up.
Peggy Robertson
Fox is offering you The Diary of Anne Frank for the third time.
Peggy Robertson
The audience would spend the entire picture waiting for Miss Frank to discover the corpse I'd hidden in the attic. Wouldn't you agree, Nunzio?
Nunzio
Si.
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Alfred Hitchcock
If this picture fails, Alma, we'll be in for a long, humiliating bout of crow-eating.
Alma Reville
It'll be splendid.
Alfred Hitchcock
Are you sure?
Alma Reville
Of the movie? Not at all. But of you? Unquestionably.
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Alfred Hitchcock
Everyone in Hollywood resents me. I make them millions of dollars and every year I sit at those dreadful award show dinners waiting for someone just to say,"You're good." They take sadistic pleasure in denying me that one little moment.
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Anthony Perkins
Now, Hitch, explain to me why I'm watching Marion undress.
Janet Leigh
I feel I should take offense at that.
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Alma Reville
You may not be the easiest man to live with, but you do know how to cut a picture better than anyone else.
Alfred Hitchcock
Except for you.
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Alfred Hitchcock
Tell me, my dear, do you think I'm too old?
Alma Reville
Yes, you're a true relic. And lest we forget, a notably corpulent one.
Alfred Hitchcock
You always know precisely where to plunge the dagger, don't you?
Alma Reville
Right between the shoulder blades. I learned it from your pictures.
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Alma Reville
Oh, you imp. You've got nudity in there!
Alfred Hitchcock
Well, her breasts were rather large. It was a challenge not to show them.
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Alma Reville
Are we going to have to sell the whole house, or just the pool?
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Alma Reville
You know, Hitch always says that your private life is in danger of being more entertaining than any of your plots.
Whitfield Cook
Well, I'm surprised he let me have you for the whole afternoon. Especially looking so beautiful. So, tell me, what are you working on these days?
Alma Reville
Me? I'm satisfied working in my garden.
Whitfield Cook
Well, that's one lucky garden.
Alma Reville
You know, all this relentless sycophancy is actually giving me indigestion. What are you after?
Whitfield Cook
I was hoping that you may be able to apply your considerable pruning skills to this.
Alma Reville
Ah, all is finally revealed. Whit, you are a little predictable, you know?
Whitfield Cook
The most fun I ever had was working with you.
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Alfred Hitchcock
What if someone really good made a horror picture? Just think of the shock value. Killing off your leading lady halfway through. I mean, you are intrigued, are you not, my dear? Come on, admit it. Admit it.
Alma Reville
Actually, I think it's a huge mistake. You shouldn't wait till halfway through. Kill her off after 30 minutes.
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Geoffrey Shurlock
No American movie has ever found it necessary to show a toilet - let alone to flush one.
Alfred Hitchcock
Well, perhaps we ought to shoot the film in France. Use a bidet instead.
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Alfred Hitchcock
I have to confess, Mister Stefano, it boggles my brain just trying to imagine what on earth you and your shrink could possibly talk about every day.
Joseph Stefano
Just the usual. Sex, rage, my mother.
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Alma Reville
You'll feel better when you find a new project. Hasn't Peggy unearthed any decent books for you recently?
Alfred Hitchcock
Yes, sleeping pills with dust jackets.
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Lew Wasserman
We are about to propose a re-structured deal for "Psycho."
Barney Balaban
I'm listening.
Lew Wasserman
We finance it, independently. Hitch waives his directorial fee. Paramount *only* distributes it, in exchange for 40% of the profits.
Barney Balaban
Interesting. But what exactly is Paramount distributing? Is this still a picture about a queer killing people in his mother's dress?
Lew Wasserman
What this picture is about is the reputation of Alfred Hitchcock.
Barney Balaban
No one is arguing that.
Lew Wasserman
Barney, it's very simple. This is Mr Hitchcock's next film. Are you in - or are you out?
Barney Balaban
Fine. We'll take that deal. If you can get the money.
Alfred Hitchcock
We already *have* the money, Barney.
[pulls out his checkbook]
Alfred Hitchcock
Who do I make it out to?
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Alfred Hitchcock
[filming the shower scene]
More! More! Use some guts! Come on! No! More anger! All right, cut! Cut, cut! For God's sake! Will someone get me a proper stunt double? Now, give me the knife! Like this! Ungovernable rage! Homicidal violence! Cut! Cut and print. We've got it.
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Peggy Robertson
Are you sure about this? It's just so unlike you.
Alfred Hitchcock
That is exactly the point, my dear.
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Alma Reville
Muhammad had the eyes of peeping toms gouged out with arrows.
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Janet Leigh
I thought you only liked those Fauchon chocolates.
Alfred Hitchcock
Well, needs must when the devil drives, my dear.
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Epilogue
Alfred Hitchcock made six more films after Psycho, but none was able to eclipse its incredible success. He never won an Oscar, but in 1979, the American Film Institute honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Upon accepting it he said, "I share this award, as I have my life, with Alma."
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Vera Miles
You know that poor, tortured soul - Jimmy Stewart played in "Vertigo." That's Hitch. Only younger, slimmer and better-looking.
Janet Leigh
Well, I don't know. Compared to Orson Welles, he's a sweetheart.
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Alma Reville
There will be no more shipments flown in from Maxim's of Paris. We can't afford it. The foie gras at Chasen's is more than adequate.
Alfred Hitchcock
But those geese are from Barstow, not from Marseille.
Alma Reville
Yes. Well, we all have to make our sacrifices for the greater good. Don't we, Alfred?
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Alfred Hitchcock
Of course, the real secret of Mrs. Simpson's appeal to the Duke of Windsor was that she could make a toothpick feel like a cigar.
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Alma Reville
Anthony Perkins. Think of the duality he could bring to the role of Norman. The rage lurking beneath that little boy grin, the winsome charm he uses to keep from being found out.
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Alfred Hitchcock
If I could get Grace Kelly to play the girl they'd let me get away with murder.
Alma Reville
Well, you can't. She's a princess now, which makes her permanently unattainable.
Alfred Hitchcock
And all the more desirable.
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Alfred Hitchcock
Graphic elements of brutal violence, voyeurism, transvestitism and incest. Very nice. Not your average run-of-the-mill nutcase, is he, dear?
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Alma Reville
Consider this a reminder. I am your wife, Alma Reville... not one of those contract blondes you badger and torment... with your oh-so-specific directions.
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[Wasserman comes to Hitchcock with news after Paramount screens "Psycho"]
Alfred Hitchcock
Well, what's the verdict?
Lew Wasserman
Let's just say it was a four-letter review and it wasn't "good". Screw him! It's too late for Paramount to back out, no matter what Balaban says. You know, the other option is to recut it as a two-parter for the TV series. Because of the budget and the Hitchcock name, we stand a good chance of breaking even. Look, I made Jimmy Stewart a millionaire on "Winchester '73". And that was a dog. At least I could sit through your picture.
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Alfred Hitchcock
Don't ask me. I'm just a man hiding in the corner with my camera, watching. My camera will tell you the truth, the absolute truth.
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Janet Leigh
A boy's first glimpse of a naked woman is usually his mother.
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Reporter #2
Mr. Hitchcock, you've directed 46 motion pictures. You're the most famous director in the history of the medium. But you're 60 years old. Shouldn't you just quit while you're ahead?
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Alfred Hitchcock
"The New Masters of Suspense." Why do they keep looking for new ones when they still have the original?
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Alma Reville
There's a project out there waiting for you, Hitch. I promise you.
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Alfred Hitchcock
Nice, clean, nasty little piece of work. That's what I'm looking for.
Peggy Robertson
I shall see what I can find.
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Alfred Hitchcock
They just want the same thing over and over and over. They've put me in a coffin, and now they're nailing down the lid.
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Alfred Hitchcock
Peggy, I want you to summon your minions.
Peggy Robertson
Minions?
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Lillian (Studio Head's Wife)
You're looking a little pale. Well, it's no wonder, with that thing your husband's working on now. You can't possibly approve. Why are you letting him do something so tasteless?
Alma Reville
Don't upset yourself, darling. It's only a bloody movie.
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Vera Miles
See? He's always watching.
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Alfred Hitchcock
Stop following me around like a puppy dog and get me a drink.
Peggy Robertson
It's not even three!
Alfred Hitchcock
Then give me the key to the cabinet.
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Alfred Hitchcock
You think you can get away with it, don't you? But you can't. You think they can't tell, but they can. They know. You can feel that noose tighten around that breakable little *neck*. You could return the money secretly, but what would that prove? It's too late. Poor Marion Crane, always so tight, so respectable, so prim and so proper. Perfect, untouchable, unsullied Miss Crane. Daddy's perfect little angel. And now they all know - those dirty little secrets you've been hiding so long. Messy, sticky, little lunchtime trysts with that oh-so-handsome failure Mister Samuel Loomis. They'll smirk, they'll gossip and they'll whisper. Even your boss, strait-laced, hatchet-faced Mister George Lowery, why even he can smell the rancid, pungent scent of *sex* all over you!
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Alfred Hitchcock
Darling, just fake it. You know how to do that. Act.
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Alfred Hitchcock
Why are you spending all the hours of day and night with that talentless mummy's boy?
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Alfred Hitchcock
I was going to make her into a star; but, she chose the life of a housewife instead. Why do they do it, I wonder? Why do they always betray me?
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Alfred Hitchcock
I think the big failure is the relationship between the heroine and the hero, you see? Probably, if you weren't so smitten with your friend Whitfield Cook, you'd be able to see that, wouldn't you? But then I suppose women never really care to face the truth - when their hearts are involved, do they?
Alma Reville
How would you know what really goes on between a man and a woman?
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Alfred Hitchcock
Poor old Whit. He isn't worth a damn when he's not working with you. Neither am I. I couldn't pull off the picture this time. It just sits there. Refusing to come to life.
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Ed Gein
My mother always said: if you want to do a job, do it right.
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Alfred Hitchcock
Why didn't you stay with me? I would have made you as big a star as Grace Kelly.
Vera Miles
Well, unlike Grace Kelly, I can pick up my own dry-cleaning. I've got a family, Hitch, a home. That blonde woman of mystery you're always after? She's a fantasy. She doesn't exist.
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Alma Reville
How about Janet Leigh? I know she's normally the good girl, but she was awfully good in "Touch of Evil." You remember how you always used to remark on her figure at the Wasserman's parties?
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