Sydney Pollack quotes

Sydney Pollack was an American film director, producer, and actor known for his work on both critically acclaimed dramas and popular hits. His films, such as "Out of Africa," "Tootsie," and "The Firm," received numerous awards and nominations. He became respected in Hollywood for his storytelling, versatility, and passion for cinema. Here are 30 of his quotes:

I think it's a terrible shame that politics has become show business. (Sydney Pollack)
Well, there's no question that a good script is an absolutely essential, maybe the essential thing for a movie. View quote
Sydney Pollack
I mean, certainly writing, painting, photography, dance, architecture, there is an aspect of almost every art form that is useful and that merges into film in some way. View quote
Sydney Pollack
For example, a man who might not have enormous charisma, who could be president 40 years ago, and who was a deserving president, I don't know that George Washington would be a president today, I don't know that Abe Lincoln would, I don't know that Roosevelt would. View quote
Sydney Pollack
I mean, the truth of the matter is, I like the failures as much as I like the successes, it's only the world that doesn't like the failures. View quote
Sydney Pollack
No, I never went to college. Always regretted it, always envied people who did. View quote
Sydney Pollack
But, I've made films in Japan, in Yugoslavia, all over Europe, all over the United States, Mexico, but not Hollywood. View quote
Sydney Pollack
You are not an active creator of the film. View quote
Sydney Pollack
Film is a collective experience, as you know. View quote
Sydney Pollack
We talked about Tootsie, the idea in Tootsie is that a man becomes a better man for having been a woman. View quote
Sydney Pollack
I personally have never made a movie in Hollywood, because I don't want to get up in my own bed and then go to the movie set, and then come home at night to my real life. (Sydney Pollack)
Every single art form is involved in film, in a way. View quote
Sydney Pollack
By that I mean, I think that it is true that politics and political heroes have to satisfy our need to be greater than mortal in some way, and that's led them into creating illusions, sound bites, focus groups that tell you what to do. View quote
Sydney Pollack
When you make a film you usually make a film about an idea. View quote
Sydney Pollack
I mean, certainly it's the single biggest event, I think, in terms of popular entertainment, or art even, if you say that, of the 20th Century. It's been film. It's the 20th Century's real art form. View quote
Sydney Pollack
And I taught acting for years, and without knowing it that was the real thing that started bending me toward directing. View quote
Sydney Pollack
Well, the wonderful thing about making movies, oddly enough, is that they're sort of highly motivated graduate studies in one or another field. View quote
Sydney Pollack
Well, I was born and raised in the Midwest, in Indiana specifically, and my childhood was full of weekend movies, you know, the Saturday and Sunday popcorn movies. View quote
Sydney Pollack
With a movie you're creating from the beginning this particular work, let's not call it work of art, because very few movies are works of art, let's just call them bits of popular culture, whatever they are, sometimes very rarely by accident a movie becomes a work of art. View quote
Sydney Pollack
Burt Lancaster was largely responsible for me becoming a director. View quote
Sydney Pollack
The very reasons sometimes that you make a film are the reasons for its failure. (Sydney Pollack)
I didn't grow up thinking of movies as film, or art, but as movies, something to do on a Saturday afternoon. View quote
Sydney Pollack
You know, essentially when you do a play you're reinterpreting a work of art that already exists. That's not what happens with a movie. View quote
Sydney Pollack
I've produced my own films for twenty years now - it means I have to talk to less people. View quote
Sydney Pollack
I mean, movies are like your kids or your fingers and toes or something, it's pretty hard to pick favorites. View quote
Sydney Pollack

Sydney Pollack

Sydney Pollack - Image
Photo: Arthur from Westchester County north of NYC, USA, at Arthur@NYCArthur.com, CC BY-SA 2.0
Occupation: American Director
Born: July 1, 1934
Died: May 26, 2008
Quotes count: 30