Sidney Lumet Quotes

"I knew I wasn't buying a pig in a poke. I knew how good he was."
-Sidney Lumet

"We're all, and I include myself in this, big snobs about action heroes, we relegate them. It's what we used to do with beautiful actresses... if you're an action hero and a star it means you cannot act -- and all of this despite the fact that we know different."
-Sidney Lumet

"Galvin uses the word 'faith' several times in his summation to the jury, ... He says, 'In my faith, we are told you have only to act as if you have faith and faith will be given you.... You have only to act with justice,' and so on. He is using 'faith' absolutely synonymously with 'love.' ."
-Sidney Lumet

"That's the only part of 'Network' that hasn't happened yet, and that's on its way."
-Sidney Lumet

"We all have a prejudice about action films. It's sort of like, if they're beautiful and blonde, she can't act, and we should know better by now. I've heard it from people, 'What are you doing, doing a picture with Vin Diesel?' They're not giving him the credit he deserves. Sometimes, I just say, 'Wait till you see him in the picture."
-Sidney Lumet

"People make the great mistake with action heroes. They think that because generally the plots are simpler and their behavior is one-note that they can't act. But most of the time they can."
-Sidney Lumet

"I thought back to the O.J. Simpson trial. I would have voted him guilty. But there was no doubt that Johnnie Cochran overwhelmed the jury."
-Sidney Lumet