Quotes by George Cukor

About George Cukor:

George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of Production, assigned Cukor to direct several of RKO's major films, including What Price Hollywood? (1932), A Bill of Divorcement (1932), Our Betters (1933), and Little Women (1933). When Selznick moved to MGM in 1933 Cukor followed and directed Dinner at Eight (1933) and David Copperfield (1935) for Selznick and Romeo and Juliet (1936) and Camille (1936) for Irving Thalberg.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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 set...

George Cukor

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

George Cukor

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

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

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

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

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

George Cukor

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

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

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

George Cukor

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

George Cukor

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

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 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

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

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

George Cukor

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

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

Author Bio

  • NameGeorge Cukor
  • DescriptionAmerican film director and producer
  • BornJuly 7, 1899
  • DiedJanuary 24, 1983
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionFilm Director; Film Producer
  • AwardsAcademy Award For Best Director; Primetime Emmy Award; Directors Guild Of America Award