The Quotebook
On Hitchcock.
Four pictures, and the director he understood best.
Grant made four films with Alfred Hitchcock — Suspicion, Notorious, To Catch a Thief, and North by Northwest. He spoke about the working relationship rarely, and precisely.
The lines.
10 quotationsVerified
“Danielle, do me a favor. Don’t call me a cat.”
Cary Grant as John Robie · 1955 · film · To Catch a Thief (1955)
Robie, retired from burglary, dislikes the nickname.
Spoken as John Robie in To Catch a Thief (1955).
Verified
“This is a very strange love affair.”
Cary Grant as T. R. Devlin · 1946 · film · Notorious (1946)
Devlin, coldly, on what is happening between him and Alicia Huberman.
Spoken as T. R. Devlin in Notorious (1946).
Attributed
“Cary Grant is the only actor I ever loved in my whole life.”
Alfred Hitchcock · interview
Hitchcock directed Grant four times, in Suspicion, Notorious, To Catch a Thief and North by Northwest.
Widely repeated as a Hitchcock remark; the original interview and date have not been established.
Verified
“Dry your eyes, baby; it’s out of character.”
Cary Grant as T. R. Devlin · 1946 · film · Notorious (1946)
Devlin rebuffs Alicia's tears after her father's death — one of the cruellest lines Grant ever spoke.
Spoken as T. R. Devlin in Notorious (1946).
Verified
“Miss Huberman is first, last, and always not a lady. She may be risking her life, but when it comes to being a lady, she doesn’t hold a candle to your wife.”
Cary Grant as T. R. Devlin · 1946 · film · Notorious (1946)
Devlin turns on the colleagues who have been sneering at Alicia's past.
Spoken as T. R. Devlin in Notorious (1946).
Verified
“Ah, Maggie, in the world of advertising, there’s no such thing as a lie. There’s only the expedient exaggeration.”
Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill · 1959 · film · North by Northwest (1959)
Thornhill jokes with his mother about his trade, minutes before he is mistaken for a spy.
Spoken as Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest (1959).
Verified
“Well, well. You’re the first woman I’ve ever met who said yes when she meant yes.”
Cary Grant as Johnnie Aysgarth · 1941 · film · Suspicion (1941)
Johnnie Aysgarth, charming, early in the courtship — before the audience learns to distrust him.
Spoken as Johnnie Aysgarth in Suspicion (1941).
Verified
“Now you listen to me, I’m an advertising man, not a red herring. I’ve got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders dependent upon me, and I don’t intend to disappoint them all by getting myself slightly killed.”
Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill · 1959 · film · North by Northwest (1959)
Thornhill protests his innocence to the men who have mistaken him for George Kaplan.
Spoken as Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest (1959).
Attributed
“Hitchcock trusted the audience. That was the difference.”
Cary Grant · 1972 · interview
On working with Alfred Hitchcock across four pictures.
Verified
“When we were making Notorious, Ingrid could do no wrong as far as Alfred Hitchcock was concerned. He simply adored her. I always went to work whistling when I was working on a Hitchcock film because nothing ever went wrong. Hitch was so incredibly well prepared.”