I have ten commandments. The first nine are, thou shalt not bore. The tenth is, thou shalt have right of final cut.
Interpretation
This quote humorously emphasizes the importance of engaging storytelling and creative control in filmmaking.
Billy Wilder's quote highlights the essential elements of captivating an audience and maintaining creative authority. By stating that the first nine commandments revolve around avoiding boredom, he underscores the need for entertainment and engagement in film, while the final commandment stresses the importance of having the ultimate say in editing and presentation, which ensures the filmmaker's vision is preserved.
In practice
This quote would be perfect to use during a filmmaking workshop to emphasize the significance of audience engagement.
Film’s thought of as a director’s medium because the director creates the end product that appears on the screen. It’s that stupid auteur theory again, that the director is the author of the film. But what does the director shoot-the telephone book? Writers became much more important when sound came in, but they’ve had to put up a valiant fight to get the credit they deserve.
What critics call dirty in our pictures, they call lusty in foreign films.
Happiness is working with Jack Lemmon.
Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.
I'd worship the ground you walked on if only you walked in a better neighborhood.
He has Van Gogh's ear for music.
Status is always ripe for satire, status is always good for comedy.
I think if I took therapy, the doctor would quit. He'd just pick up the couch and walk out of the room.
Let me tell you what I look like: pale face, long hair, and a tiny start of a paunch. In addition, an awkward gait, and a cigar in the mouth and a pen in pocket or hand.
ASS, n. A public singer with a good voice but no ear.
Rule Forty-two. All persons more than a mile high to leave the court.
My dream in life is to write the one gag that makes everyone in the world laugh.
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