George Cukor filmography

You can always land on your feet if you know where the ground is. You can always land on your feet if you know where the ground is.

[1972 comment on Audrey Hepburn] She is a truly romantic creature. She doesn't just profess good man Show more [1972 comment on Audrey Hepburn] She is a truly romantic creature. She doesn't just profess good manners -- she is really well mannered at all times. She is not driven in her career but she gives full value and she is never indifferent. Hide

Jack Lemmon is not one of those actors who'll bore you to death discussing acting. He'd rather bore Show more Jack Lemmon is not one of those actors who'll bore you to death discussing acting. He'd rather bore you to death discussing golf. Hide

[on Bette Davis] She is a star, and all stars learn how to cultivate one very important asset early Show more [on Bette Davis] She is a star, and all stars learn how to cultivate one very important asset early in their career: a very short memory. They remember only what they want to remember. Hide

[on the arbitrary and indelicate re-editing to shorten A Star Is Born (1954)] If they thought it was Show more [on the arbitrary and indelicate re-editing to shorten A Star Is Born (1954)] If they thought it was too long there were other ways of shortening it besides chopping and hacking out vital bits. Had we been allowed, Moss Hart and I could have sweated out twenty minutes which would have been imperceptible to the audience. That's something which I can't understand. Producers spend millions of dollars to do pictures and then suddenly, right out of the blue, they say, 'Let's chop this out, then that..' It's one of the great sorrows of my career, the way the picture was cut by the studio. 'Judy Garland (I)' and I felt like the English queen who had 'Calais' engraved on her heart. Bloody Mary, wasn't it? Neither of us could even bear to see the final version. Hide

[on Ava Gardner] Ava herself was charming. She's a real movie queen, really exciting; lovely looking Show more [on Ava Gardner] Ava herself was charming. She's a real movie queen, really exciting; lovely looking, too, with marvelous legs. When she crosses the screen, you're bound to follow her. Hide

...you direct a couple of successful pictures with women stars, so you become a 'woman's director'.. Show more ...you direct a couple of successful pictures with women stars, so you become a 'woman's director'...Direct a sentimental little picture and all you get is sob stuff. I know I've been in and out of those little compartments. Heaven knows everyone has limitations. But why make them narrower than they are? Hide

[on Gary Cooper] He accomplishes really sincere acting with very few tricks. Someone like Gary is di Show more [on Gary Cooper] He accomplishes really sincere acting with very few tricks. Someone like Gary is dismissed with, "Oh, he is such a simple person, what he is playing is so simple." Look at it right up close, and you see it is much more than that, sometimes rather complex, but always subtle. Hide

(Camille (1936) "[Akins] managed to create a whole language, a kind of argot for the story.She wrote Show more (Camille (1936) "[Akins] managed to create a whole language, a kind of argot for the story.She wrote one very good scene of a party at Marguerite's house. All these tarts were sitting around, and Zoe had the idea they told rather coarse jokes in front of each other and Armand was shocked by it. In the middle of all these tarts being so raucous and common, Marguerite has a coughing spell. It was the only time she really coughed in the film. Most of the time she suggested her tuberculosis by little dry clearings of the throat and touching her mouth. Most ladies cough and splutter their way through this part...What Garbo did in that scene was she suddenly lost her breath and went into the other room. Armand comes in and he's revolted by the coarseness he's just heard, and I'll never forget how beautifully Garbo played the next moment. She has a line that Zoe Akins wrote -- 'Oh, I'm just a girl like all the rest' -- as if to warn him not to put her on a pedestal and sentimentalize her." Hide

[on the problems 'Cinemascope' introduced to cinematography] We couldn't move the camera up or down Show more [on the problems 'Cinemascope' introduced to cinematography] We couldn't move the camera up or down because of distortion, and we couldn't move back and away from the camera. Everything had to be played out on a level plane - if someone were too much upstage, they would be out of focus. And you weren't really able to come in really close on faces. It was rather like what happened when sound came in - you were supposed to forget everything you'd learned. Hide

[on Louise Brooks] A beautiful nothing. [on Louise Brooks] A beautiful nothing.

There's been an awful lot of crap written about Marilyn Monroe, and I don't know, there may be an ex Show more There's been an awful lot of crap written about Marilyn Monroe, and I don't know, there may be an exact psychiatric term for what was wrong with her but truth to tell, I think she was quite mad. Hide

Alas, I am not an auteur, but damn few directors can write. They're very clever and they can go thro Show more Alas, I am not an auteur, but damn few directors can write. They're very clever and they can go through the paces. As a director, you've got to think of your own limitations. There are certain things you're sympathetic with, and there are certain things you say to yourself. 'Well, I can do it because I'm perfectly competent, but there's so many people who can do it much better than I can.' I've been sent a script I think is charming and I said, 'I think you ought to get an Italian director; it's madness to ask me to do it'. Hide

(On Marie Dressler) "She acquired a peculiar distinction, a magnificence. She was a law unto herself Show more (On Marie Dressler) "She acquired a peculiar distinction, a magnificence. She was a law unto herself. She'd mug and carry on-which she did in this picture-but she knew how to make an entrance with great aplomb, great effect. Hide

[on directing Judy Garland in A Star Is Born (1954)] When you look at something, you're used to seei Show more [on directing Judy Garland in A Star Is Born (1954)] When you look at something, you're used to seeing the whole of a thing - then suddenly you see a section, arbitrarily, not composed. Just a section of something cut off. In the David painting 'Sacre de Napoleon', when the detail is reproduced in an art book, you see a head to one side, bits of other heads cut off here and there. And I thought, 'Why not do that in a movie?' So I decided we could do that when she sang 'The Man That Got Away'. I wanted the camera to follow her, always in front - sometimes she would go to the side and almost disappear out of the frame- all in one long take, for the whole musical number. Hide

[favorite bit of advice he'd give to hyperactive actresses] Don't just do something, stand there! [favorite bit of advice he'd give to hyperactive actresses] Don't just do something, stand there!

[on Greta Garbo] She is a fascinating actress but she is limited. She must never create situations. Show more [on Greta Garbo] She is a fascinating actress but she is limited. She must never create situations. She must be thrust into them. The drama comes in how she rides them out. Hide

[on Jean Harlow] When I first saw her in Hell's Angels (1930) she was so bad she was comic. People l Show more [on Jean Harlow] When I first saw her in Hell's Angels (1930) she was so bad she was comic. People laughed at her; she got big laughs where she didn't want them. Then she did Red-Headed Woman (1932) and Red Dust (1932) and she was marvelous. She was unique among actresses; she had that rare quality of speaking lines as though she didn't quite understand them ... [she] played comedy as naturally as a hen lays an egg. Hide

W.C. Fields had his own ideas about playing Mr Micawber in The Personal History, Adventures, Experie Show more W.C. Fields had his own ideas about playing Mr Micawber in The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger (1935). He wanted to include a juggling routine and when I said [Charles Dickens] never mentioned Micawber juggling, he said, 'He probably forgot'. Hide

I don't think you can teach people how to be funny. You can make suggestions about how to speak a li Show more I don't think you can teach people how to be funny. You can make suggestions about how to speak a line or get a laugh, but it has to be in them. Hide

[1972 comment on Greta Garbo] Extremely well behaved and disciplined. She was unique -- a creature b Show more [1972 comment on Greta Garbo] Extremely well behaved and disciplined. She was unique -- a creature born for the screen. She knew when to quit, she just sensed it. She is much too intelligent to want to try to come back now. Hide

[on the rivalry between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis] It seemed to me that each one coveted what th Show more [on the rivalry between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis] It seemed to me that each one coveted what the other possessed. Joan envied Bette's incredible talent, and Bette envied Joan's seductive glamor. Hide

[Garbo] said that when she was acting she had some sort of an ideal picture in her mind -- something Show more [Garbo] said that when she was acting she had some sort of an ideal picture in her mind -- something she was creating -- and she never saw the rushes because she was always disappointed in what she saw. But she said while she was acting she could imagine certain things and if she saw people just off the set staring at her, she felt like an ass, like somebody with a lot of paint on her face making faces. It stopped her imagination. Hide

(On John Barrymore Although he was playing a second-rate actor, he had no vanity as such. He even pu Show more (On John Barrymore Although he was playing a second-rate actor, he had no vanity as such. He even put things in to make himself hammier, more ignorant. Hide

Give me a good script, and I'll be a hundred times better as a director. Give me a good script, and I'll be a hundred times better as a director.

I suppose they call me a woman's director because there were all these movie queens in the old days, Show more I suppose they call me a woman's director because there were all these movie queens in the old days, and I directed most of them. Hide

Margaret Mitchell's only casting suggestion for Gone with the Wind (1939) was for her favorite star Show more Margaret Mitchell's only casting suggestion for Gone with the Wind (1939) was for her favorite star to play Rhett: Groucho Marx. Hide

You'd like to think you're pretty much an original, everything about yourself distinctive and indivi Show more You'd like to think you're pretty much an original, everything about yourself distinctive and individual. But it is surprising to realise to what extent you echo your family, and how, from childhood, you have been shaped and molded... Hide

[Commenting on his overlong production of 'A Star is Born']: Neither the human mind nor the human as Show more [Commenting on his overlong production of 'A Star is Born']: Neither the human mind nor the human ass can stand three hours of concentration. Hide

[on Joan Crawford] "In private life, Joan was a lovable, sentimental creature. A loyal and generous Show more [on Joan Crawford] "In private life, Joan was a lovable, sentimental creature. A loyal and generous friend, very thoughtful - dear Joan, she forgot nothing: names, dates, obligations. These included the people at Hollywood institutions who had helped to make and keep her a star. When it was fashionable to rail against the studio system and the tycoons who had built it, she was always warm in their defense. She spoke of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a family in which she was directed and protected, provided with fine stories and just about every great male star to play opposite; later, she built up a similar relationship with Warners." Hide

[on Ava Gardner] Ava Gardner's famous temper caused some sticky moments. She's a great trooper, we o Show more [on Ava Gardner] Ava Gardner's famous temper caused some sticky moments. She's a great trooper, we overcame all that. She's an old friend, with the command and control of the authentic star. Ava's a gent! Hide

Garbo didn't talk much to Robert Taylor. She was polite but distant. She had to tell herself that he Show more Garbo didn't talk much to Robert Taylor. She was polite but distant. She had to tell herself that he was the ideal young man, and she knew if they became friendly she'd learn he was just another nice kid. Hide

(On Camille (1936) I wanted to show that Marguerite was a public woman, that she went to the theater Show more (On Camille (1936) I wanted to show that Marguerite was a public woman, that she went to the theater to be seen. She had to walk through a crowded lobby of men...I wanted her to walk through to show herself, as if on parade for clients. At first Garbo walked through rather quickly, as if she didn't want to be seen. I might have said, 'Walk through a little more brazenly, a little more slowly,' but I didn't. I realized she was right. She could slip through, and you knew damn well the men would look at her anyway. Hide

If I were very handsome, maybe I'd have been an actor. If I were very handsome, maybe I'd have been an actor.

I don't weep or anything, but there's always some part of me left bloody on the scene I've just dire Show more I don't weep or anything, but there's always some part of me left bloody on the scene I've just directed. Hide

[on Greta Garbo] Garbo went through a great deal to get a scene right. She worked out every gesture Show more [on Greta Garbo] Garbo went through a great deal to get a scene right. She worked out every gesture in advance and learned every syllable of dialogue exactly as written. She never improvised and I respected her for that. Hide

[on Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)] The second time around, Bet Show more [on Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)] The second time around, Bette wanted vengeance. It was Elizabeth the First, all over again. A mere apology from Joan wasn't enough. Bette wanted her head. Hide

[on Joan Crawford] Joan may have been preposterous, but she was never cruel. [on Joan Crawford] Joan may have been preposterous, but she was never cruel.

[on Joan Crawford and the horror films she made at the end of her career] Of course she rationalized Show more [on Joan Crawford and the horror films she made at the end of her career] Of course she rationalized what she did. Joan even lied to herself. She would write to me about these pictures, actually believing that they were quality scripts. You could never tell her they were garbage. She was a star, and this was her next picture. She had to keep working, as did Bette [Davis]. The two of them spawned a regrettable cycle in motion pictures. Hide

(on Robert Taylor, who was directed by him in Camille (1936) and in Her Cardboard Lover (1942)) Robe Show more (on Robert Taylor, who was directed by him in Camille (1936) and in Her Cardboard Lover (1942)) Robert Taylor was my favorite actor. He was a gentleman. That's rare in Hollywood. Hide