Top 22 Quotes & Sayings by Sidney Lumet

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American director Sidney Lumet.

Last updated on December 18, 2024.

Sidney Arthur Lumet was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated five times for the Academy Award: four for Best Director for 12 Angry Men (1957), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Network (1976), and The Verdict (1982) and one for Best Adapted Screenplay for Prince of the City (1981). He did not win an individual Academy Award, but did receive an Academy Honorary Award, and 14 of his films were nominated for Oscars.

American - Director | June 25, 1924 - April 9, 2011

Source: Wikipedia

For any director with a little lucidity, masterpieces are films that come to you by accident.

Sidney Lumet

All great work is preparing yourself for the accident to happen.

Sidney Lumet

There are no minor decisions in movie making. Each decision will either contribute to a good piece of work or bring the whole movie crashing down around my head many months later.

Sidney Lumet

I don't know how to choose work that illuminates what my life is about. I don't know what my life is about and don't examine it. My life will define itself as I live it. The movies will define themselves as I make them. As long as the theme is something I care about at the moment, it's enough for me to start work. Maybe work itself is what my life is about.

Sidney Lumet

All good work requires self-revelation.

Sidney Lumet

In drama, the characters should determine the story. In melodrama, the story determines the characters.

Sidney Lumet

The nature of the work is to prepare for a good accident .

Sidney Lumet

There's no such thing as a small part. There are just small actors.

Sidney Lumet

Over-length is one of the things that most often results in the destruction of the movie in the cutting room.

Sidney Lumet

There are no personal revelations other than feelings arising from the work itself

Sidney Lumet

Dolby was in the driver's seat. "Surround Sound" was added. Now we had three speakers behind the screen, two more on the left side of the theater, and two on the right. A closely guarded secret about all this is that you hear the correct balance only if you're sitting in the center of the theater. On the left or right side, those speakers tend to dominate.

Sidney Lumet

There's a powerful magic about being a writer that I still marvel at.

Sidney Lumet

The varying physical characteristics of the actors may also necessitate changes. Sean Connery is six feet four. Dustin Hoffman isn't.

Sidney Lumet

If I don't have a script I adore, I do one I like. If I don't have one I like, I do one that has an actor I like or that presents some technical challenge.

Sidney Lumet

I only said 'Titanic' is unwatchable because one can not watch it.

Sidney Lumet

While the goal of all movies is to entertain, the kind of film in which I believe goes one step further. It compels the spectator to examine one facet or another of his own conscience. It stimulates thought and sets the mental juices flowing.

Sidney Lumet

It's art. It's commerce. It's heartbreaking and it's fun. It's a great way to live.

Sidney Lumet

Suffice to say that the theme (the WHAT of the movie) is going to determine the style (the HOW of the movie).

Sidney Lumet

Good style, to me, is unseen style.

Sidney Lumet

Everything becomes creative if the person doing the job is

Sidney Lumet