Quotes by Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder

Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and artist

Lived from: 1906 - 2002

Category: Movie | Media Country: FlagAustria

Born: 22 june 1906 Died: 27 march 2002

  • Eighty percent of a picture is writing, the other twenty percent is the execution, such as having the camera on the right spot and being able to afford to have good actors in all parts.
  • Now, what is it which makes a scene interesting? If you see a man coming through a doorway, it means nothing. If you see him coming through a window - that is at once interesting.

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  • France is the country where the money falls apart and you can't tear the toilet paper.
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • A bad play folds and is forgotten, but in pictures we don't bury our dead. When you think it's out of your system, your daughter sees it on television and says, My father is an idiot.
    Culture and Commitment, 1929-1945 (1973)
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • A director must be a policeman, a midwife, a psychoanalyst, a sycophant and a bastard.
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • An actor entering through the door, you've got nothing. But if he enters through the window, you've got a situation.
    The Bright Side of Billy Wilder (1970)
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • An audience is never wrong. An individual member of it may be an imbecile, but a thousand imbeciles together in the dark, that is critical genius.
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • Don't be too clever for an audience. Make it obvious. Make the subtleties obvious also.
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • Eighty percent of a picture is writing, the other twenty percent is the execution, such as having the camera on the right spot and being able to afford to have good actors in all parts.
    The New Hollywood : American Movies in the 70s (1975)
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • France is a country where the money falls apart in your hands and you can't tear the toilet paper.
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • France is a place where the money falls apart in your hands but you can't tear the toilet paper.
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • Hollywood didn't kill Marilyn Monroe, it's the Marilyn Monroes who are killing Hollywood.
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • If there's anything I hate more than not being taken seriously, it's being taken too seriously.
    The Bright Side of Billy Wilder
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • If you are going to tell people the truth, be funny or they will kill you.
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • If you're going to tell people the truth, make them laugh, or they'll kill you.
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • It was hell at the time, but after it was over, it was wonderful.
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • Marilyn [Monroe] was mean. Terribly mean. The meanest woman I have ever met around this town. I have never met anybody as mean as Marilyn Monroe nor as utterly fabulous on the screen, and that includes Garbo.
    The Show Business Nobody Knows (1971)
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • My Aunt Minnie would always be punctual and never hold up production, but who would pay to see my Aunt Minnie?
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • Now, what is it which makes a scene interesting? If you see a man coming through a doorway, it means nothing. If you see him coming through a window - that is at once interesting.
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • The Austrians are brilliant people. They made the world believe that Hitler was a German and Beethoven an Austrian.
    ― Billy Wilder
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  • The best director is the one you don't see.
    ― Billy Wilder
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Questions and Answers

What are the most famous quotes from Billy Wilder?

The two most famous quotes from Billy Wilder are:

  • "France is the country where the money falls apart and you can't tear the toilet paper."
  • "A bad play folds and is forgotten, but in pictures we don't bury our dead. When you think it's out of your system, your daughter sees it on television and says, My father is an idiot."

When did Billy Wilder live?

Billy Wilder was born in 1906 and died in the year 2002.