Happy Birthday: John Frankenheimer (1930–2002)

John Frankenheimer (1930–2002)

Born: February 19, 1930 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA
Died: July 6, 2002 (age 72) in Los Angeles, California, USA

[on Alfred Hitchcock] Any American director who says he hasn’t been influenced by him is out of his mind.

[on Alfred Hitchcock] When I say I have been influenced by Hitchcock, I think every director in a certain way has been influenced by Hitchcock, because in many of his films, you find those marvellous moments; but I’ve never been fulfilled by a Hitchcock film. I would certainly never want to be Hitchcock, and would never want to make films like his because I think they’re meaningless. I think all those kind of “after the fact” and “in depth” studies of Hitchcock are ludicrous. If ever there was a commercial director, it was Hitchcock. He’s terribly good, but also terribly glib and really a very…