George Cukor Quotes

If there is such a thing as 'a Cukor style,' I guess it arises out of two principal factors: my own personalized perception of the world and my ability to deal professionally with actors. As far as perception is concerned, I always try to imagine settings through the best possible eyes.

- George Cukor

People who aren't complicated in real life come through as pretty bland on the screen. Most great performers are not very happy and well adjusted. Perhaps that's the price they pay for being originals.

- George Cukor

Looking for love is tricky business, like whipping a carousel horse.

- George Cukor

We've all been tired and thought we wanted a long vacation when all we needed was a few days off, but didn't know it.

- George Cukor

I work through the actors, and the more successful I am, the less my work is apparent.

- George Cukor

So many directors say nothing beautifully, and so many others say great and profound things but have no idea how to read a light meter or arrange a shot.

- George Cukor

Anyone who looked at something special, in a very original way, makes you see it that way forever.

- George Cukor

You're just poor cornball provincial people, you critics; you just don't know what the hell you're talking about.

- George Cukor

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. But I also directed Jack Barrymore and Ronald Colman and James Stewart, to name a few.

- George Cukor

Women's director! Well, I'm very pleased to be considered a master of anything, but remember, for every Jill there was a Jack. People like to pigeonhole you - it's a shortcut, I guess, but once they do, you're stuck with it.

- George Cukor

I choose my actors well and get to know the quirks of their personalities - and, most of all, I share humor with them. Then I keep my eyes open when they rehearse and perform, because you never know where the next stimulation comes from.

- George Cukor

It is reassuring for people to feel they have a boss, someone who knows the answers and has charted the course.

- George Cukor

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.

- George Cukor

If she was a victim of any kind, she was a victim of her friends.

- George Cukor

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

- George Cukor

Unless the story line carries the scenes, the scenes don't really mean anything.

- George Cukor

When one deals with stars, he is dealing with intelligent people. If they weren't intelligent, they wouldn't have arrived at the star pinnacle.

- George Cukor

The truth is, a director wins an Oscar for a writer's script and actors' performances.

- George Cukor

It never occurred to me that I could live in California. Now I can't imagine living anywhere else.

- George Cukor

As a professional, it pains me to watch a movie that is botched and amateurish. I prefer directors who have control of both their craft and their ideas.

- George Cukor

You can't have any successes unless you can accept failure.

- George Cukor

From the director's point of view, it's infinitely easier to do violence than to do a good dramatic scene.

- George Cukor

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

- George Cukor

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

- George Cukor