Alfred Hitchcock's
Most Important Film Making Advice

We think that this might be Alfred Hitchcock's most important film making advice:

“The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.”

How brilliant is that? Some of the best advice in the world is often the stuff rarely articulated by anyone, except perhaps privately by one's parents. Things such as to look both ways when you cross the street, count your change, and remember to flush! We think this bit of advice, although meant to be funny, is important. Who wants to leave their movie seat to run to the restroom and miss even a moment of a film?

Hitchcock lived from 1899 until 1980, and was one of the most influential film makers of the twentieth century. Born in England, he began his career working in silent films. Later, attracted to the lucrative film industry in the United States, he began to work in Hollywood. He made some of the greatest suspense films of that era, and worked with many of the best actors and actresses in the business. Hitchcock, known as the ‘Master of Suspense’ was also known for being a highly detail-oriented craftsman, who planned out his films visually, shot by shot, from start to finish, working closely with his writers.

He was well known for his “gallows humor” too – making light of serious matters especially regarding himself. His career was once strained by a quote attributed to him – that “Actors are cattle.” An actress then arranged to bring three heiffers to the set wearing name tags of the intended stars. Hitchcock quipped, “I have been misquoted. I said, ‘Actors should be treated like cattle.’”

Image taken by Fred Palumbo