John Sturges

Don Siegel

“Most of my pictures, I’m sorry to say, are about nothing. Because I’m a whore. I work for money. It’s the American way.”

Buster Keaton

“I don't act anyway. The stuff is all injected as we go along. My pictures are made without script or written directions of any kind.”

Stuart Gordon

[On H. P. Lovecraft] That's the thing, he used his phobias. Fear of things that are different or unknown is sort of a central theme to a lot of his stories.

Georges Méliès

“We sat with our mouths open, without speaking, filled with amazement.”

Douglas Sirk

“If I can say one thing for my pictures, it is a certain craftsmanship. A thought which has gone into every angle. There is nothing there without an optical reason.”

David Mamet

“A good film script should be able to do completely without dialogue. ”

Quentin Tarantino

“I don't believe in elitism. I don't think the audience is this dumb person lower than me. I am the audience.”

Frank Capra

“My advice to young filmmakers is this: Don’t follow trends. Start them!”

Kathryn Bigelow

“I've spent a fair amount of time thinking about what my aptitude is, and I really think it's to explore and push the medium. It's not about breaking gender roles or genre traditions.”

Anthony Mann

"Primarily known for his Westerns, Mann portrayed a world of violence against some of the most striking natural vistas in cinema history. His crime films are gritty and real, and all his work reflects an exploration of the complex psychology of the human soul." —William R. Meyer (The Film Buff's Catalog, 1978)

Budd Boetticher

“The Western formula: A man has a job to do, or a couple of men. They try to do it against tremendous odds. They do it.”

Fritz Lang

“I should say that I was a visual person. I experience with my eyes and never, or rarely, with my ears...to my constant regret.”

Billy Wilder

“If you're going to tell people the truth, be funny or they'll kill you.”

Mario Bava

“In a horror film, lighting is 70% of the effectiveness. It’s essential in creation the atmosphere.”

Charlie Chaplin

“Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.”

Martin Scorsese

“Cinema is a matter of what's in the frame and what's out.”

Roger Corman

“In science-fiction films the monster should always be bigger than the leading lady.”

John Landis

“Directors, like actors, get typecast.”

Peter Bogdanovich

“It's a misconception about acting that it's a practice in pretending to be someone else. It's actually a practice in finding the character within yourself.”