Mystery is an intellectual process... But suspense is essentially an emotional process.

San Francisco would be a good location for a murder mystery.

Give them pleasure -- the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.

Give them pleasure. The same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.

Content, I am not interested in that at all. I don't give a damn what the film is about. I am more interested in how to handle the material so as to create an emotion in the audience. I find too many people are interested in the content. If you were painting a still life of some apples on a plate, it's like you'd be worrying whether the apples were sweet or sour. Who cares?

Claude Jade is a brave nice young lady. But I don't give any guarantee what she will do on a taxi's back seat.

The only way to get rid of my fears is to make films about them.

Actually, I have no regard for money. Aside from its purchasing power, it's completely useless as far as I'm concerned.

Man does not live by murder alone. He needs affection, approval, encouragement and, occasionally, a hearty meal.

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.'

In films murders are always very clean. I show how difficult it is and what a messy thing it is to kill a man.

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.

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?

Really, the novelist has the best casting since he doesn't have to cope with the actors and all the rest. -Alfred Hitchcock.

There is nothing to winning, really. That is, if you happen to be blessed with a keen eye, an agile mind, and no scruples whatsoever.

I can't read fiction without visualizing every scene. The result is it becomes a series of pictures rather than a book.

Blondes make the best victims. They're like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints.

I have a feeling that inside you somewhere, there's somebody nobody knows about.

Kicking is very important in football. In fact, some of the more enthusiastic players even kick the ball, occasionally.

The ideal husband understands every word his wife doesn't say.