Psycho
Original film poster for Psycho
Directed by	Alfred Hitchcock
Produced by	Uncredited: Alfred Hitchcock Alma Reville
Written by	Novel: Robert Bloch Screenplay: Joseph Stefano Uncredited: Samuel A. Taylor
Starring	Anthony Perkins Janet Leigh Vera Miles John Gavin Martin Balsam John McIntire
Music by	Bernard Herrmann
Cinematography	John L. Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 Alma Lucy Reville Lady Hitchcock ( August 14, 1899, England &ndash July 6, 1982, Bel-Air Los Angeles California Robert Albert Bloch (April 5 1917 Chicago – September 23 1994 Los Angeles) was a prolific American Writer, primarily of crime Joseph Stefano ( 5 May 1922 Philadelphia Pennsylvania - 25 August 2006) was an American Screenwriter. Samuel A Taylor ( June 13, 1912 &ndash May 26, 2000) was an American Playwright and Screenwriter. Anthony Perkins ( April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an Academy Award -nominated Golden Globe -winning American Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress. Vera Miles (born Vera June Ralston; August 23, 1929) is an American actress known from such classic films as The Searchers John Gavin (born John Anthony Golenor Pablos on April 8, 1931 in Los Angeles California) is an American Film Martin Henry Balsam ( November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an Academy Award and Tony Award-winning American For the fictional character see Trapper John McIntyre. For the Scottish radiologist see John Macintyre. Bernard Herrmann ( June 29, 1911 &ndash December 24, 1975) was an American composer noted for his work in Motion pictures. Russell
Editing by	George Tomasini
Distributed by	1960–1968: Paramount Pictures 1968-present: Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	June 16, 1960 (US)
Running time	109 min. George Tomasini (April 20 1909 – November 22 1964 was an American Film editor, born in Springfield Massachusetts, who worked very closely with film Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and Distribution company, based in Hollywood California. Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios) a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is a major Global American Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	US$806,950 (est. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been )
Gross revenue	$32,000,000 (sub-total)
Followed by	Psycho II
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IMDb profile

Psycho is a 1960 suspense/horror film directed by auteur Alfred Hitchcock, from the screenplay by Joseph Stefano about a psychotic killer. Psycho II is the 1983 sequel to Alfred Hitchcock 's 1960 classic Psycho. The year 1960 in film involved some significant events Events April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military The thriller is a broad Genre of Literature, Film, Gaming and Television. Horror films are Movies that strive to elicit Fear, Horror and terror responses from viewers A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a Film. The term auteur ( French for author) is used to describe Film directors (or more rarely producers or writers who are considered to have a distinctive Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 See also Pre-production Screenwriting A screenplay or script is a written plan authored by a Screenwriter, for a Film or Television Joseph Stefano ( 5 May 1922 Philadelphia Pennsylvania - 25 August 2006) was an American Screenwriter. Psychosis (from the Greek ψυχή "psyche" for mind or soul and -οσις "-osis" for abnormal condition with adjective psychotic It is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Bloch, which was in turn inspired by the crimes of Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein. Psycho is a 1959 pulp thriller by Robert Bloch. Plot summary The story is divided (below but not in the actual book into Robert Albert Bloch (April 5 1917 Chicago – September 23 1994 Los Angeles) was a prolific American Writer, primarily of crime Wisconsin ( or wɪˈskɑnsɨn (French Ouisconsin) is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries ^[1] The film depicts the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), who is in hiding at a motel after embezzling from her employer, and the motel's owner, the lonely Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress. Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets usually financial in nature by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted Entering dictionaries after World War II, the word motel, a Portmanteau of motor and hotel or motorists' hotel, referred Fictional character biography Both the novel and Alfred Hitchcock 's 1960 film adaptation explain that Bates suffered severe emotional Abuse Anthony Perkins ( April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an Academy Award -nominated Golden Globe -winning American

It initially received mixed reviews but outstanding box-office returns, prompting a re-review which was overwhelmingly positive and led to four Academy Award nominations. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. Regarded today as one of Hitchcock's best films^[2] and highly praised as a work of cinematic art by international critics,^[3] Psycho is also acclaimed as one of the most effective horror films. ^[4] It was a genre defining film, and almost every scene is legendary, and many have been copied or parodied. The film spawned several sequels and a remake, which are generally seen as works of lesser quality. Psycho is a 1998 film Remake of the Alfred Hitchcock 1960 version produced and directed by Gus Van Sant for Universal

"The Shower Scene" has been studied, discussed, and cited countless times in print and in film courses much with debate focusing on why it is so terrifying and how it was produced, including how it passed the censors and debate over who actually directed it.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Production 2.1 Pre-production 2.2 Filming 2.3 Shower scene 2.4 Censorship 2.5 Promotion 3 Cast 4 Reception 4.1 Innovations in film 4.2 References in popular culture 5 Interpretation and themes 5.1 Psychoanalytic criticism 6 Sequels and remakes 7 Partial bibliography 8 Hitchcock's Cameo 9 References 10 External links

Plot summary

The movie opens in Phoenix, Arizona, where discreet lovers Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) and Sam Loomis (John Gavin) want to but cannot marry, as Sam is in debt and must also pay heavy alimony to his ex-wife. Phoenix (ˈfiːˌnɪks O'odham Skikik, Yavapai Wasinka, Western Apache Fiinigis, Navajo Hoozdo, Alimony, maintenance or spousal support is an obligation established by Law in many countries that is based on the premise that both spouses have an absolute Unhappy and desperate to improve their situation, Marion steals $40,000 in cash from her office and drives to California, where Sam lives. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. All the while, Marion is nervous and apprehensive, and drives well into the night, eventually parking alongside the road to sleep.

She is awakened by a highway police officer, who warns her that it is dangerous to sleep in a car and tells her in the future to find a motel. Intrigued by her nervousness, the officer looks at her license and registration, taking note of the plate number. He allows her to go on, but follows her, which agitates Marion further. Realizing that he now knows her plate number and that she can be tracked by the authorities when the money is reported stolen, she trades her 1956 Ford (and pays an additional $700) for a 1957 Ford before continuing to California. See also Ford Fairlane, Ford Crown Victoria Skyliner, Ford Crown Victoria The Ford line of cars gained a new body for 1955 to See also Ford Fairlane, Ford Skyliner, Ford Ranchero, Ford Galaxie The mainstream Ford line of cars grew substantially larger She is not aware that the same officer has seen the exchange and gotten her new plate number.

Marion becomes fatigued from stress and driving in heavy rain and decides to find a proper place to stay for the night, fearing a reprise of the incident with the patrolman. She arrives at the Bates Motel, a twelve-cabin lodging rather out-of-the-way with no other guests at present. The young, boyishly handsome and innocent-seeming owner, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), explains to her that business had died because a new road has made the one the motel was built by obsolete. He does what little work is left, and also looks after his mother in a sinister-looking house on top of a nearby hill. Marion checks in under an assumed name, though she unwittingly gives her real name to him later.

Norman suggests Marion should have dinner at his house, rather than drive to the nearest diner, which is ten miles away, especially as she's so tired. From her room, Marion overhears a heated argument between Norman and his mother, who seems to suspect that his meal with Marion is part of a sordid affair. The two eat in the office instead, where Norman keeps several stuffed birds (his hobby is taxidermy). Taxidermy ( Greek for "skin arrangement" is the art of mounting or reproducing Animals for display (e While eating, they have a gentle conversation at first, but Norman loses his temper after she delicately suggests he gets help in looking after his mother. He recovers from his brief outburst and admits that he would like to leave, but can't abandon his mother. He compares his life to a trap and observes that this aptly describes most people. Marion leaves for bed, saying she has a long drive back to Phoenix in the morning and undresses in her room next door while Norman watches through a peephole in the wall of his office.

Marion concludes that she should make things right with the money before the trap that she has stepped in closes, and is relieved by her decision. Forgetting the problems that plague her for the time being, she enjoys a shower. What happens next is one of cinema's most famous scenes: a woman's figure enters the bathroom - shadowy through the shower curtain - and brutally stabs Marion to death. She dies shortly after grabbing the curtain, which collapses.

Norman is horrified when he finds the bloody corpse, but he pulls himself together and wraps it in the shower curtain. He cleans up the room, then places the body and all of Marion's possessions (including the stolen money hidden in a newspaper) in the trunk of her car before pushing it into a swamp, eliminating any incriminating evidence.

Shortly afterwards, Marion's lover Sam is contacted almost simultaneously by Marion's worried sister Lila and by a private detective, Milton Arbogast (Martin Balsam), hired by Marion's employer to find her and recover the money without police involvement. Arbogast suspects that either of them could know Marion's whereabouts.

However, he traces the missing woman to the Bates Motel and questions Norman, who lies poorly. Arbogast wants to speak to Bates's mother but the young man vehemently forbids it. Arbogast then calls Marion's sister from a public phone, and tells her that he is not satisfied with what he has been told. He sneaks into the old house to question Mrs. Bates, but is pushed backwards down a flight of stairs and stabbed to death.

Lila and Sam become concerned when Arbogast does not report again and decide to alert the local police. Deputy Sheriff Al Chambers (John McIntire) is puzzled that Arbogast has claimed to have seen Norman's mother, as she has been buried for the past ten years, having poisoned herself and her lover with strychnine. Strychnine (ˈstrɪkniːn (British US /-naɪn/ or /-nɪn/ (US

Meanwhile the Bates' house resonates with a conversation as Norman confronts his mother, urging her to go into hiding in the fruit cellar, as people are already searching for Marion and will eventually search for Arbogast as well. She rejects the suggestion, angrily mentioning the previous occasion when Norman convinced her to stay down there for a long time. She then orders Norman to leave the room. He refuses, picks her up against her will and carries her downstairs to the fruit cellar, with her yelling "Put me down! I can walk!".

Sam and Lila decide to check into the Bates Motel, posing as a married couple. Norman assigns them to a cabin away from Marion's room. They sneak in anyway to investigate, and find that the shower curtain is missing. Lila looks into the toilet and sees a small scrap of paper caught at the edge. The sum of $40,000 is written on it, confirming that Marion had been there. Lila then sneaks into the house with the intention of talking to Norman's mother, while Sam distracts the young man.

Sam suggests to Norman that he has killed Marion to get his hands on her stolen money. They argue until Norman realizes that Lila is not present. Furious and panicked, he knocks Sam unconscious and races to the house. Seeing him come through a window, Lila hides from him in the fruit cellar, where she discovers that Mrs. Bates is a semi-preserved mummified corpse. At that moment, Norman (wearing his mother's clothes and a wig) enters with a knife, screaming "I am Norma Bates!". However, Sam has regained consciousness and arrives just in time to save Lila. He rips Norman's wig and dress during their struggle.

At the end of the film, a forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Forensic psychiatry is a subspecialty of Psychiatry. It encompasses the interface between Law and psychiatry Fred Richmond (Simon Oakland), explains to Lila, Sam and the authorities that Bates's mother, though dead, lives on in Norman's psyche. In Psychoanalysis, the psyche (ˈsaɪki refers to the forces in an individual that influence thought, Behavior and Personality. Dr. Richmond explains that while growing up, Norman lived alone with his mother, as if they were the only two people in the world. ("A boy's best friend is his mother," Norman had told Marion early in the film. ) But when his mother found a lover, Norman became jealous and murdered them both. He was so dominated by his mother while she lived, and so guilt-ridden for murdering her ten years earlier, that he tried to erase the crime from his mind by bringing his mother back to life. Physically, this was done by stealing her corpse ("a weighted coffin was buried," according to Richmond) and preserving his mother's body using his taxidermy skills. This process also created a dual personality in Norman; he incorporated the persona of his mother as a separate part of his psyche. A persona, in the word's everyday usage is a social Role or a character played by an Actor. When he is being his "Mother", he acts as he believes she would, talks as she would, and even dresses as she would, in an attempt to erase her absence and with it, his guilt. Because Norman was very jealous of his mother while she lived, he imagined that Mother would be equally jealous of any woman to whom he might be attracted, to the point of murdering them. Norman's psychosis protects him from (consciously) knowing about the crimes the mother figure commits, and it also prevents him from consciously knowing that his mother is long dead. The sheriff recalls that two other young women's disappearances in the area have gone unresolved.

The last scene shows Norman Bates seated in a cell. His mind is now completely dominated by the persona of his mother. We hear "her" internal voice as a voice-over. She blames Norman, and plans on demonstrating to the authorities that it was Norman who did the crimes, whereas she is utterly harmless. She knows that people must be observing her, and will show them what kind of a person she is. As a fly crawls on Norman's hand, Mother cotinues, "I'm not even going to swat that fly. I hope they are watching. They'll see, they'll know, and they'll say, 'Why, she wouldn't even harm a fly'". We see Norman give a smile of satisfaction which shows through Norman's demented stare. There is a brief instant when the hideous face of the decomposed mother can be seen, superimposed on Norman's.

The last scene shows Marion's car being recovered.

Production

Pre-production

The film is based on the novel by Robert Bloch, which was in turn based (although very loosely) on the crimes of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein. Hitchcock acquired the film rights anonymously through an agent for a very small sum of $9,000. ^[5]

Hitchcock embraced Psycho as a means to regain success and individuality in an increasingly competitive genre. He had seen many B-movies churned out by William Castle such as House on Haunted Hill (1958), and by Roger Corman such as Bucket of Blood (1959) that cleaned up at box offices despite being panned by critics. A B movie is a motion picture made on a low or modest budget Originally the term was used for films intended for distribution as the less-publicized second half of a Double William Castle ( April 24, 1914 &ndash May 31, 1977) was an American Film director, producer, and House on Haunted Hill ( 1959) is a Horror film directed by William Castle, written by Robb White, and starring Vincent Price Roger William Corman (born April 5 1926) sometimes nicknamed "King of the Bs" for his output of B-movies (though he himself rejects this as inaccurate A Bucket of Blood is a 1959 comedy Horror film directed by Roger Corman and starring Dick Miller. There were also a series of competing directors who had tried their hand at typical Hitchcock fare in such films as When Strangers Marry (1944), The Spiral Staircase (1946), Gaslight (1944), and so forth. When Strangers Marry is a 1944 Suspense film directed by William Castle. The Spiral Staircase is a 1945 American Psychological thriller film based on Ethel Lina White 's Novel Some Must Watch, This article is about the 1944 film Gaslight For the 1940 release see Gaslight. ^[6]

Furthermore, both Hitchcock and Henri-Georges Clouzot had adapted two books by the same authors with very different results. Henri-Georges Clouzot ( November 20, 1907 - January 12, 1977) was a French Film director, Screenwriter and Clouzot's Les Diaboliques (1955) was critically acclaimed and financially successful, earning him the title of the "French Hitchcock," while Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) had failed both critically and financially. Les Diaboliques ( 1954) is a black-and-white film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Simone Signoret and Véra Clouzot. Vertigo ( is a Psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Kim Novak and featuring Barbara ^[6] Hitchcock was also constantly reinventing himself (he once said "Style is self-plagiarism"), so, when Peggy Robertson, a trusted production assistant, brought Psycho to his attention, he seized on it not only for its originality but also as a way to retake his mantle as an acclaimed director of suspense. ^[6]

Ned Brown, Hitchcock's longtime agent, explains that Hitchcock liked the story because the focus began with Marion's dilemma then completely turned after the murder. ^[5] Hitchcock himself said in an interview with François Truffaut that "I think the thing that appealed to me was the suddenness of the murder in the shower, coming, as it were, out of the blue. François Roland Truffaut ( February 6 1932 – October 21 1984) was one of the founders of the French New Wave in filmmaking That was about all. "^[5]

James Cavanaugh wrote the original screenplay, but Hitchcock turned it down citing its dragging storyline that he believed read like a TV short horror story. ^[5] Hitchcock reluctantly agreed to meet with Joseph Stefano, who had worked on only one film before. Joseph Stefano ( 5 May 1922 Philadelphia Pennsylvania - 25 August 2006) was an American Screenwriter. Despite his inexperience, the meeting went well, and Stefano was hired.

The screenplay is relatively faithful to the novel with a few notable adaptations by Hitchcock and Stefano. The book features Mary Crane, from Dallas, Texas as its heroine and protagonist. Since, at the time, a real Mary Crane existed in Phoenix, Hitchcock renamed the character Marion Crane. ^[5] Stefano also changed Marion's telltale earring found in the bathroom after her death to a scrap of paper in the toilet. When developing the characters for film, Hitchcock asked Stefano why he did not like the Norman Bates character, to which Stefano replied that Norman was unsympathetic, unattractive, and a drinker. Hitchcock suggested Perkins as a sympathetic man, and Stefano agreed. ^[5] Other changes Stefano made for the screenplay include the location of Arbogast's death from the foyer to the stairwell. He also changed the novel's budding romance between Sam and Lila to just a friendly relationship, and instead of using the two to explain Norman's mental condition he replaced them with a professional psychiatrist. ^[5]

Paramount, whose contract guaranteed another film by Hitchcock, did not want Hitchcock to make Psycho. (Paramount was expecting No Bail for the Judge starring Audrey Hepburn who became pregnant and had to bow out, leading Hitchcock to scrap the production. Projects developed by Alfred Hitchcock but not realized Greenmantle (1939 – 1942 Hitchcock very much wanted to direct a follow-up to The 39 Steps Audrey Hepburn ( &ndash) was an English/Dutch Academy Award - Emmy Award - Tony Award - and Grammy Award -winning film and stage actress ) Their official stance was that the book was "too repulsive" and "impossible for films," and nothing but another of his star-studded mystery thrillers. ^[5][6] They did not like "anything about it at all" and denied him his usual budget. ^[6] So Hitchcock financed the film's creation through his own Shamley Productions, shooting at Universal Studios under the Revue television unit. Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios) a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is a major Global American ^[6][5] Hitchcock's original Bates Motel and Psycho House movie set buildings, which were constructed on the same stage as Lon Chaney's The Phantom of the Opera, are still standing at Universal Studios in Universal City near Hollywood, California and are a regular attraction on the studio's tour. Bates Motel is a 1987 Television movie about Alex West a mentally disturbed youth who was committed to an asylum after killing his abusive stepfather Psycho House (sometimes referred to as Psycho House Psycho III) is a 1990 Novel that Robert Bloch wrote as a Universal City is a community in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County California, that encompasses the 415 acre ( ^[7][5] As a further result of cost cutting, Hitchcock chose to film Psycho in black and white, keeping the budget under $1,000,000. ^[8] Other reasons for shooting in black and white were to prevent the shower scene from being too gory and that he was a fan of Les Diaboliques's use of black and white. ^[9][6]

To keep costs down and because he was most comfortable around them, Hitchcock took most of his crew from his television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including the cinematographer, set designer, script supervisor, and first assistant director. Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an Anthology Television series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. ^[6] He hired regular collaborators Bernard Herrmann as music composer, George Tomasini as editor, and Saul Bass for the title design and storyboarding of the shower scene. Bernard Herrmann ( June 29, 1911 &ndash December 24, 1975) was an American composer noted for his work in Motion pictures. George Tomasini (April 20 1909 – November 22 1964 was an American Film editor, born in Springfield Massachusetts, who worked very closely with film Saul Bass ( May 8, 1920 — April 25, 1996) was an American Graphic designer and Academy Award -winning filmmaker In all, his crew cost $62,000. ^[5]

Through the strength of his reputation, Hitchcock managed to cast Janet Leigh for a quarter of her usual fee, paying only $25,000. (In the 1967 book Hitchcock/Truffaut, Hitchcock said that Leigh owed Paramount one final film on her seven-year contract which she had signed in 1953. ) His first choice, Leigh agreed after having only read the novel and making no inquiry into her salary. ^[5]Her co-star, Anthony Perkins, agreed to $40,000. ^[5] Both stars were experienced and proven box-office draws.

Paramount did distribute the film, but four years later Hitchcock sold his stock in Shamley to Universal's parent company and his next six films were made at and distributed by Universal. ^[5] After another four years, Paramount sold all rights to Universal. ^[5] When the film became a major hit, the Hitchcocks received a much larger share of the profit than they would have otherwise.

Filming

The film, independently produced by Hitchcock, was shot at Revue Studios,^[10] the same location as his television show. Universal Media Studios ( UMS, formerly NBC Universal Television Studio is the TV production arm of the NBC Universal Television Group. Psycho was shot on a tight budget of $806,947. 55,^[5] beginning on November 11, 1959 and ending on February 1, 1960. Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1327 - Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[6][5] Filming started in the morning and finished by six or earlier on Thursdays (when Hitchcock and his wife would dine at Chasen's). Chasen's was a famous Restaurant in Beverly Hills, California that was a favorite hangout for everyone from entertainment luminaries to world leaders ^[5] Nearly the whole film was shot with 50 mm lenses on 35 mm cameras. 35 mm film is the basic Film gauge most commonly used for both still Photography and Motion pictures, and remains relatively unchanged since its This trick closely mimicked normal human vision, which helped to involve the audience more. ^[6]

Before shooting began in November, Hitchcock dispatched assistant director Hilton Green to Phoenix to scout locations and shoot the opening scene. Phoenix (ˈfiːˌnɪks O'odham Skikik, Yavapai Wasinka, Western Apache Fiinigis, Navajo Hoozdo, The shot was supposed to be an aerial shot of Phoenix that slowly zoomed into the hotel window of a passionate Marion and Sam. Ultimately, the helicopter footage proved too shaky and had to be spliced with footage from the studio. ^[5] Another crew filmed day and night footage on Highway 99 between Fresno and Bakersfield, California for projection when Marion drives from Phoenix. State Route 99 (SR 99 commonly known as Highway 99 or 99, is a north-south State highway in the U They also provided the location shots for the scene where she is pulled over by the highway patrolman. ^[5]

Green also took photos of a prepared list of 140 locations for later reconstruction in the studio. These included many real estate offices and homes like those belonging to Marion and her sister. ^[5] He also found a girl who looked just like Marion and photographed her whole wardrobe, which would enable Hitchcock to demand realistic looks from Helen Colvig, the wardrobe supervisor. ^[5]

Both the leads, Perkins and Leigh, were given freedom to interpret their roles and improvise as long as it did not involve moving the camera. ^[5] An example of Perkins' improvisation is Norman's habit of munching on candy corn. Candy corn is a confection popular in the United States, particularly around Halloween. ^[5]

Throughout filming, Hitchcock created and hid various versions of the "Mother corpse" prop in Janet Leigh's dressing room closet. There were no hard feelings as Leigh took the joke well, and she wonders whether it was done to keep her on edge and thus more in character or to judge which corpse would be scarier for the audience. ^[5]

During shooting Hitchcock was forced to uncharacteristically do retakes for some scenes. The final shot in the shower scene, which starts with an extreme close-up on Marion's eye and pulls up and out, proved very difficult for Leigh, since the water splashing in her face made her want to blink, and the cameraman had trouble as well since he had to manually focus while moving the camera. ^[5] Retakes were also required for the opening scene, since Hitchcock felt that Leigh and Gavin were not passionate enough. ^[5] Leigh had trouble saying "Not inordinately" for the real estate office scene, requiring additional retakes. ^[5] Lastly, the scene in which the mother is discovered required complicated coordination of Mother's chair turning around, Vera Miles hitting the light bulb, and a lens flare, which proved to be the sticking point. Hitchcock forced retakes until all three elements were to his satisfaction. ^[5]

According to Hitchcock, a series of shots with Arbogast going up the stairs in the Bates house before he is stabbed were directed by Hilton Green, working with storyboard artist Saul Bass's drawings only while Hitchcock was incapacitated with a "temperature. Acute viral nasopharyngitis or acute coryza, usually known as the common cold, is a highly contagious viral Infectious disease of the " However, upon viewing the dailies of the shots, Hitchcock was forced to scrap them. The Juncaceae, or the Rush Family, is a rather small monocot Flowering plant family He claimed they were "no good" because they didn't portray "an innocent person but a sinister man who was going up those stairs. "^[11] The scene was later reshot by Hitchcock, however, a little of the cut footage made its way into the film.

Filming the murder of Arbogast proved tricky due to the overhead camera angle (to hide the film's twist). A camera track constructed on pulleys alongside the stairway together with a chair-like device had to be constructed and thoroughly tested over a period of weeks. ^[5]

Shower scene

The film's pivotal scene, and one of the most famous scenes in cinema history, is the murder of Janet Leigh's character in the shower. A shower (also called shower bath is a booth for washing usually in a Bathroom, having an overhead nozzle that sprays water down on the body As such, it spawned numerous myths and legends. It was shot from December 17 to December 23, 1959 and between 71 and 78 angles (the exact number is unknown). ^[5] The scene "runs 2 minutes and includes 50 cuts. "^[12] Most of the shots are extreme close-ups except for medium shots in the shower directly before and directly after the murder. In Film, Television, and Still photography a close-up tightly frames a person or an object In Film, a medium shot is a Camera shot from a medium distance The combination of the close shots with the short duration between cuts makes the sequence feel longer, more subjective, more uncontrolled, and more violent than the images themselves were they presented alone or in a wider angle.

In order to capture the straight-on shot of the shower head, the camera had to be equipped with a long lens. The inner holes on the spout were blocked and the camera placed farther back, so that the water appears to be hitting the lens but actually went around and past it. ^[6]

The soundtrack of screeching violins, violas, and cellos was an original all-strings piece by composer Bernard Herrmann entitled "The Murder. Bernard Herrmann ( June 29, 1911 &ndash December 24, 1975) was an American composer noted for his work in Motion pictures. " Hitchcock originally wanted the sequence (and all motel scenes) to play without music^[13], but Herrmann begged him to try it with the cue he had composed. Afterwards Hitchcock agreed that it vastly intensified the scene and he nearly doubled Herrmann's salary. ^[14][15][5] The blood in the scene is in fact chocolate syrup, which shows up better and has more realistic density than stage blood on black-and-white film. Chocolate syrup is a type of condiment that is usually added to food to increase the Chocolate flavor ^[1] The sound of the knife entering flesh was created by plunging a knife into a casaba melon. Honeydew is a Cultivar group of the Muskmelon, Cucumis melo Inodorus group which includes crenshaw, casaba, Persian ^[16][17]

It is sometimes claimed that Janet Leigh was not in the shower the entire time and a body double was used. Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress. However, in an interview with Roger Ebert, and in the book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, Leigh stated that she was in the scene the entire time; Hitchcock used a live model as her stand-in for only the scenes in which Bates wraps up Marion's body in a shower curtain and places her body in the trunk of her car. Roger Joseph Ebert (iːbɝt born June 18, 1942) is an American film critic and Screenwriter. ^[18]

Another popular myth is that in order for Janet Leigh's scream in the shower to sound realistic, Hitchcock used ice-cold water. Leigh denied this on numerous occasions. ^[19][5] Also, all of the screams are Leigh's. ^[5]

Another myth was that Leigh was only told by Hitchcock to stand in the shower, and had no idea that her character was actually going to be murdered the way it was, causing an authentic reaction. The most notorious urban legend arising from the production of Psycho began when Saul Bass, the graphic designer, who created many of the title sequences of Hitchcock's films and storyboarded some of his scenes, claimed that he had actually directed the shower scene. Saul Bass ( May 8, 1920 — April 25, 1996) was an American Graphic designer and Academy Award -winning filmmaker This claim was refuted by several people associated with the film. Leigh, who is the focus of the scene, stated, ". . . absolutely not! I have emphatically said this in any interview I've ever given. I've said it to his face in front of other people. . . I was in that shower for seven days, and, believe me, Alfred Hitchcock was right next to his camera for every one of those seventy-odd shots. "^[5] Hilton Green, the assistant director and cameraman, also denies Bass' claim: "There is not a shot in that movie that I didn't roll the camera for. And I can tell you I never rolled the camera for Mr. Bass. "^[5] Roger Ebert, a long-time admirer of Hitchcock's work, was also amused by the rumor, stating, "It seems unlikely that a perfectionist with an ego like Hitchcock's would let someone else direct such a scene. Roger Joseph Ebert (iːbɝt born June 18, 1942) is an American film critic and Screenwriter. "^[20]

However commentators such as Stephen Rebello, Bill Krohn have established that Saul Bass did contribute to the creation of that scene in his capacity as a graphic artist. Bass is credited for the design of the opening credits and also as 'Pictorial Consultant' in the credits. Francois Truffaut had asked Hitchcock during their famous interview to the extent of Bass' contribution to the film to which Hitchcock said that Bass designed the titles as well as provided storyboards for the Arbogast murder which he claimed to have rejected but Hitchcock made no mention of Bass' storyboards for the shower scene which he had either neglected or ignored altogether. François Roland Truffaut ( February 6 1932 – October 21 1984) was one of the founders of the French New Wave in filmmaking Bass first claimed to have directed the scene, according to Bill Krohn's Hitchcock At Work in 1970 where he provided to a magazine 48 drawings used as storyboards as proof that he directed the scene.

Krohn's analysis of the production of Psycho in his book Hitchcock at Work while refuting Bass' claims for directing the scene notes that these storyboards did introduce key aspects of the final scene notably the fact that the killer appears as a silhouette, details such as the shower curtain being torn down, the curtain rod being used as a barrier and the detail of the transition from the hole of the drainage pipe to Marion Crane's dead eyes which as Krohn notes is highly reminiscent of the iris titles for Vertigo.

Krohn's extensive research notes that Hitchcock shot the scene with two cameras. One a BNC Mitchell, the other a handheld camera called an Eclair which Orson Welles had used in Touch of Evil. George Orson Welles (May 6 1915 – October 10 1985 was an Academy Award -winning director, writer actor and producer for film stage radio and television Touch of Evil ( 1958) is a black-and-white American film written directed and co-starring Orson Welles. Hitchcock in order to create the right montage to make the biggest emotional impact on the audience shot a lot of footage which he would trim down in the editing room. He even at one time brought a Moviola on the set to gauge a better idea of the footage required. This is about the editing machine For the television channel see Movieola. The final sequence which his editor George Tomassini worked on with Hitchcock's advice as Krohn noted went far beyond the basic paradigms set up by Bass' storyboards.

It is often claimed that, despite its graphic nature, the "shower scene" never once shows a knife puncturing flesh. ^[4][21][5] However, a frame-by-frame analysis shows that the knife does indeed visibly penetrate the skin by a fraction of an inch, albeit only once, and so briefly (just three frames of film, or about an eighth of one second) as to be subliminal. A film frame, or just frame, is one of the many single photographic images in a motion picture. This was done by filming the knife being drawn away, and reversed.

According to Donald Spoto in The Dark Side of Genius, Hitchcock's wife, Alma Reville, spotted a blooper in one of the last screenings of Psycho before its official release: After Marion was supposedly dead, one could see her blink. Donald Spoto (born June 28, 1941) is an American Celebrity biographer, Catholic theologian and former monk Alma Lucy Reville Lady Hitchcock ( August 14, 1899, England &ndash July 6, 1982, Bel-Air Los Angeles California A blooper usually describes a short sequence of a film or video production which contains a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew The "making of" featurette on the Collector's Edition DVD also mentions the fact that Alma spotted a blooper in a late screening of the film; however, according to this account, the problem was that Leigh's character appeared to take a breath. In either case, the postmortem activity was edited out and was never seen by audiences.

Although Marion's eyes should be dilated after her death, the contacts necessary for this effect would have required six weeks of acclimatization in order to wear them, so Hitchcock decided to forgo them. Acclimatization is the process of an organism adjusting to chronic change in its environment, often involving temperature moisture food often relating to seasonal Climate ^[5]

Anthony Perkins was not used for the filming of the scene because he was in New York preparing for a play. Anthony Perkins ( April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an Academy Award -nominated Golden Globe -winning American

Leigh herself was so affected by this scene when she saw it, that she no longer took showers unless she absolutely had to. Then she would lock all the doors and windows and would leave the bathroom and shower door open. ^[5]

Janet Leigh and Hitchcock fully discussed what the scene meant:

Marion had decided to go back to Phoenix, come clean, and take the consequence, so when she stepped into the bathtub it was as if she were stepping into the baptismal waters. The spray beating down on her was purifying the corruption from her mind, purging the evil from her soul. She was like a virgin again, tranquil, at peace. ^[5]

Film theorist Robin Wood also discusses how the shower washes "away her guilt. Robin Wood (born Robert Paul Wood on 23 February 1931, in Richmond London, England) is a Canada -based author of several " He comments upon the "alienation effect" of killing of the "apparent center of the film" with which spectators had identified. ^[22]

Censorship

According to Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, the censors in charge of enforcing the Production Code for the MPAA wrangled with Hitchcock because some censors insisted they could see one of Janet Leigh's breasts. For the television broadcasting term please see Production code number. Hitchcock held onto the print for several days, left it untouched, and resubmitted it for approval. Astoundingly, each of the censors reversed their positions – those who had previously seen the breast now did not, and those who had not, now did. They passed the film after the director removed one shot that showed the buttocks of Leigh's stand-in. ^[5] The board was also upset by the racy opening, so Hitchcock said that if they let him keep the shower scene he would reshoot the opening with them on the set. Since they did not show up for the reshoot, the opening stayed. ^[5]

Another cause of concern for the censors^[23] was that Marion was shown flushing a toilet, with its contents (torn-up paper) fully visible. In film and TV at that time a toilet was never seen, let alone heard. This tradition became so well-known that later shows like All in the Family and Sanford and Son added a laugh track every time a flushing sound was heard. All in the Family is an American Situation comedy that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12 1971 to April Sanford and Son is an American Sitcom that premiered on the NBC Television network on January 14 1972, and was broadcast for

Also, according to the "Making of" featurette on the Collector's Edition DVD, some censors objected to the use of the word "transvestite" in the film's closing scenes. This article deals with the history of the word 'transvestite' This objection was withdrawn after writer Joseph Stefano took out a dictionary and proved to them that the word carried no hidden sexual context, but merely referred to "a man who likes to wear women's clothing". Joseph Stefano ( 5 May 1922 Philadelphia Pennsylvania - 25 August 2006) was an American Screenwriter. A dictionary is a book of alphabetically listed Words in a specific language with definitions etymologies pronunciations and other information or a book of alphabetically

Internationally, Hitchcock was forced to make minor changes to the film, mostly to the shower scene. Notably, in Britain the shot of Norman washing blood from his hands was objected to and in Singapore, though the shower scene was left untouched, the murder of Arbogast and a shot of Mother's corpse were removed. ^[5]

Promotion

Hitchcock did most of the promotion on his own, forbidding Leigh and Perkins from making it the usual television, radio, and print interviews for fear of them revealing the plot. ^[5] Even critics were not given private screenings but rather had to see the film with the general public, which, despite possibly affecting their reviews,^[5] certainly preserved the plot.

The film's original trailer features a jovial Hitchcock taking the viewer on a tour of the set, and almost giving away plot details before stopping himself. It is "tracked" with Bernard Herrmann's Psycho theme, but also jovial music from Hitchcock's comedy The Trouble With Harry; most of Hitchcock's dialogue is post-synchronized. The trailer was made after completion of the film, and since Janet Leigh was no longer available for filming, Hitchcock had Vera Miles don a blonde wig and scream loudly as he pulled the shower curtain back in the bathroom sequence of the preview. Since the title, "Psycho," instantly covers most of the screen, the switch went unnoticed by audiences for years. However a freeze-frame analysis clearly reveals that it is Vera Miles and not Janet Leigh in the shower during the trailer. ^[5]

The most controversial move was Hitchcock's "no late admission" policy for the film, which was abnormal for the time. It was not entirely original as Clouzot had done the same in France for Les Diaboliques. ^[6] Hitchcock thought that if people entered the theater late and never saw the star actress Janet Leigh, they would feel cheated. ^[5] At first theater owners were up in arms claiming that they would lose business, but after the first day the owners enjoyed long lines of people waiting to see the film. ^[5]

The film was so successful that it was reissued to theaters in 1965. A year later CBS purchased the television rights for $450,000. CBS Broadcasting Inc ( CBS) is an American radio and Television network. CBS planned to televise the film on September 23, 1966, but three days prior Valerie Percy, the daughter of an Illinois senatorial politician candidate, was murdered. Events 1122 - Concordat of Worms. 1459 - Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. Charles Harting "Chuck" Percy (born September 27, 1919) was chairman of the Bell & Howell Corporation from 1949 to 1964 and United States As her parents slept mere feet away, she was stabbed a dozen times with a double-edged knife. In light of the murder, CBS agreed to postpone the screening, but as a result of the Apollo pad fire of January 27, 1967, the network washed its hands of Psycho. Events 98 - Trajan becomes Roman Emperor after the death of Nerva. Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ^[5] Following another successful theatrical reissue in 1969, the film finally made its way to television in one of Universal's syndicated programming packages for local stations in 1970. Psycho was aired for twenty years in this format, then leased to cable for two years before returning to syndication as part of the "List of a Lifetime" package. ^[5]

Cast

• Janet Leigh as Marion Crane. Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress. Until her death, Leigh continued to receive strange and sometimes threatening calls, letters, and even tapes detailing what they would like to do to Marion Crane. One letter was so "grotesque" that it was passed along to the FBI, two of whose agents visited Leigh and told her the culprits had been located and that she should notify the FBI if she received any more letters of that type. ^[5]

• Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates. Anthony Perkins ( April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an Academy Award -nominated Golden Globe -winning American Fictional character biography Both the novel and Alfred Hitchcock 's 1960 film adaptation explain that Bates suffered severe emotional Abuse After Psycho had established itself, as well as jump-starting the careers of Perkins and Leigh, both suffered from typecasting. For other meanings see Typecasting. Typecasting is the process by which a film TV or stage Actor is strongly identified with a specific ^[5] However, when Perkins was asked whether he would still take the role knowing that he would be typecast afterwards he replied with a definite yes. ^[5]

• Martin Balsam as Detective Milton Arbogast
• John Gavin as Sam Loomis
• Vera Miles as Lila Crane
• Simon Oakland as Dr. Martin Henry Balsam ( November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an Academy Award and Tony Award-winning American John Gavin (born John Anthony Golenor Pablos on April 8, 1931 in Los Angeles California) is an American Film Vera Miles (born Vera June Ralston; August 23, 1929) is an American actress known from such classic films as The Searchers Simon Oakland ( August 28, 1915 – August 29, 1983) was an American Actor of stage, screen, and Television Fred Richmond
• John McIntire as Sheriff Al Chambers
• Frank Albertson as Tom Cassidy
• Patricia Hitchcock as Caroline
• Ted Knight as Policeman

• Alfred Hitchcock's cameo is a signature occurrence in most of his films. For the fictional character see Trapper John McIntyre. For the Scottish radiologist see John Macintyre. Frank Albertson ( February 2, 1909 &ndash February 29, 1964) was an American Character actor. Patricia Hitchcock O'Connell (born July 7, 1928, London, UK) is a British -born American actress and Ted Knight ( December 7, 1923 &ndash August 26, 1986) was an American Actor best known for playing the comedic role of Thirty-seven of director Alfred Hitchcock 's 52 surviving major films — his second film The Mountain Eagle is lost — contain a Cameo appearance by Hitchcock In Psycho, he can be seen (7 minutes into the film) through a window, wearing a Stetson hat, standing outside of Marion Crane's office. Stetson hats or Stetsons are a brand of hat manufactered by the John B

Norman Bates's mother was voiced by Paul Jasmin, Virginia Gregg, and Jeanette Nolan, who also provided some screams for Lila's discovery of mother's corpse. Virginia Gregg Burket ( March 6, 1916 &ndash September 15, 1986) was an American Actress. Jeanette Nolan ( December 30, 1911 – June 5, 1998) was an American actress born in Los Angeles. The three voices were thoroughly mixed, except for the last speech, which is all Gregg's. ^[5]

Persistent rumors claim that actor George Reeves was originally cast as Detective Arbogast and that Reeves had actually begun filming. George Reeves ( January 5, 1914 &ndash June 16, 1959) was an American Actor, best known for his role as Superman in the These rumors are false. Reeves died 16 June 1959, four months before the script to Psycho was completed and five months before filming began.

A young Ted Knight appears as the security guard outside of Norman Bates' cell in the end of the film. Ted Knight ( December 7, 1923 &ndash August 26, 1986) was an American Actor best known for playing the comedic role of

Reception

Initial reviews of the film were thoroughly mixed. ^[5] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times warned people that Hitchcock "comes at you with a club in this frankly intended bloodcurdler" and complained that the "denouement falls quite flat for us. Francis Bosley Crowther ( July 13, 1905 &ndash March 7, 1981) was a Film critic for The New York Times for "^[24] Other negative reviews stated, "a blot on an honorable career," "plainly a gimmick movie," and "merely one of those television shows padded out to two hours. "^[5][25] Positive reviews stated, "Anthony Perkins' performance is the best of his career. . . Janet Leigh has never been better," "played out beautifully," and "first American movie since Touch of Evil to stand in the same creative rank as the great European films. Touch of Evil ( 1958) is a black-and-white American film written directed and co-starring Orson Welles. "^[5][26] A good example of the mix is the New York Herald Tribune's review, which stated, ". . . rather difficult to be amused at the forms insanity may take. . . keeps your attention like a snake-charmer. "^[5] The public loved the film, with lines stretching outside of theaters as people had to wait for the next showing. It broke box-office records in Asia, Japan, China, France, Britain, South America, the United States and Canada, and was a moderate success in Australia for a brief period. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. ^[5] It is one of the largest-grossing black-and-white films and helped make Hitchcock a multimillionaire and the third-largest shareholder in Universal. ^[5] In Britain it shattered attendance records at the London Plaza Cinema, but nearly all British critics panned it, questioning Hitchcock's taste and judgment. Reasons cited for this were the critics' late screenings, forcing them to rush their reviews, their dislike of the gimmicky promotion, and Hitchcock's expatriate status. An expatriate (in abbreviated form expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing ^[5] Perhaps thanks to the public's response and Hitchcock's efforts at promoting it, the critics did a re-review, and the film was praised. Time magazine switched its opinion from "Hitchcock bears down too heavily in this one" to "superlative" and "masterly," and Bosley Crowther put it on his Top Ten list of 1960. Francis Bosley Crowther ( July 13, 1905 &ndash March 7, 1981) was a Film critic for The New York Times for ^[5]

Psycho was initially criticized for making other filmmakers more willing to show gore, and indeed a scant three years later Blood Feast, considered to be the first "gore film," was released. Blood Feast ( 1963, also known as Egyptian Blood Feast and Feast of Flesh) is an American Horror film directed A splatter film or gore film is a type of Horror film that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of gore and Graphic violence. ^[5] Psycho's success financially and critically had others trying to ride its coattails. Inspired by Psycho, Hammer Film Productions launched a series of mystery thrillers, most shot in black and white and all with twist endings, starting with Taste of Fear (1961), followed by Maniac and Paranoiac (1963), Nightmare and Hysteria (1964), Fanatic and The Nanny (1965), and Crescendo (1969). Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Taste of Fear (US title Scream of Fear) is a 1961 British thriller directed by Seth Holt for Hammer Films Maniac is a 1963 Hammer Film Productions release filmed in black and white in the Camargue district of southern France. Paranoiac is a 1963 suspense film from Hammer Films directed by Freddie Francis and starring Janette Scott, Oliver Reed Nightmare is a 1964 horror/suspense film from Hammer Films. The film was directed by Freddie Francis and written by Hammer Films regular Fanatic (US title Die! Die! My Darling!) is a 1965 British thriller directed by Silvio Narizzano for The Nanny was a 1965 Suspense film directed by Seth Holt and starring Bette Davis as a devoted Nanny caring for a ten-year-old ^[27] Other films inspired by the success of Psycho include William Castle's Homicidal, followed by a whole slew of more than thirteen other splatter films. Homicidal is a 1961 Thriller film produced and directed by the self-proclaimed "King of Showmanship" William Castle. A splatter film or gore film is a type of Horror film that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of gore and Graphic violence. ^[5] Psycho was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actress (Janet Leigh), Direction (Alfred Hitchcock), Black and White Cinematography (John Russell), and Black and White Art Direction-set decoration (Joseph Hurley, Robert Clatworthy; George Milo). Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing (Best Director is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS to The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a Cinematographer for work in one particular Motion picture. The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. It did not win any Academy awards, though Leigh did win a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, and Perkins tied for best actor in an award from the International Board of Motion Picture Reviewers. The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and Television programs given out each year during a formal dinner The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance Stefano was nominated for two writing awards by Edgar Allan Poe Awards and the Writers Guild of America; he won the former only. The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars) named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions The Writers Guild of America East (WGAE representing Hitchcock was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures by the Directors Guild of America. Directors Guild of America ( DGA) is the labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States In 1992, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry. The Library of Congress is the De facto National library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress The National Film Registry is the registry of Films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of

"No other murder mystery in the history of the movies has inspired such merchandising. "^[5] Any number of items emblazoned with Bates Motel, stills, lobby cards, and highly valuable posters are available for purchase. In 1992, it was adapted scene-for-scene into three comic books by the Innovative Corporation. ^[5]

It is represented in the following of the American Film Institute's lists:

• #18 on the list of the 100 Greatest American Movies. The American Film Institute ( AFI) is an independent Non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 The first of the AFI 100 Years series of cinematic milestones AFI's 100 Years
• #1 on the list of the 100 Most Thrilling Movies Ever. Part of the AFI 100 Years series, AFI's 100 Years 100 Thrills is a list of the top 100 thrilling movies in American cinema ^[28]
• Norman Bates was ranked the second best villain on their list of the 50 Best villains in cinema history. AFI's 100 Years100 Heroes
• The music in the film was ranked #4 in the list of the 25 best film scores of all time.
• Norman's famous line "A boy's best friend is his mother" was 56th on the list of the 100 Most memorable movie quotes in history. Part of the AFI 100 Years series, AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores is a list of the top 25 film scores in American cinema Part of the AFI 100 Years series, AFI's 100 Years 100 Movie Quotes is a list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema

It appeared on a number of lists by websites, TV channels, magazines, and books including the following:

• Its shower scene was featured as #4 on the list of Bravo Network's 100 Scariest Movie Moments. Bravo is a Cable television network owned by NBC Universal. It is currently seen in more than 80 million homes and was the first service dedicated to film drama ^[29]
• The finale was ranked #4 on Premiere's list of "The 25 Most Shocking Moments in Movie History. Premiere was an American and New York City -based film Magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U "^[30]
• #11 in Entertainment Weekly's book titled The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time. Entertainment Weekly (sometimes abbreviated as EW) is a Magazine published by Time Inc ^[1]

Innovations in film

In his novel, Bloch used an uncommon plot structure: he repeatedly introduced sympathetic protagonists, then killed them off. The Protagonist or main character is the central figure of a story. This played on his reader's expectations of traditional plots, leaving them uncertain and anxious. Hitchcock recognized the effect this approach could have on audiences, and utilized it in his adaptation, killing off Janet Leigh's character at the end of the first act. Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress. This daring plot device, coupled with the fact that the character was played by the biggest box-office name in the film, was a shocking and disorienting turn of events in 1960. The most original and influential moment in the film is the "shower scene," which became iconic in pop culture because it is often regarded as one of the most terrifying scenes ever filmed. Part of its effectiveness was due to the use of startling editing techniques borrowed from the Soviet montage filmmakers, and to Bernard Herrmann's intense and imaginative musical score. Soviet montage theory is an approach to understanding and creating cinema that relies heavily upon editing ( montage is French for "putting together" Bernard Herrmann ( June 29, 1911 &ndash December 24, 1975) was an American composer noted for his work in Motion pictures.

Psycho is a prime example of the type of film that appeared in the 1960s after the erosion of the Production Code. For the television broadcasting term please see Production code number. It was unprecedented in its depiction of sexuality and violence, right from the opening scene where Sam and Marion are shown as lovers sharing the same bed. In the Production Code standards of that time, unmarried couples shown in the same bed would be taboo. In addition, the censors were upset by the shot of a flushing toilet; at that time, the idea of seeing a toilet onscreen - let alone being flushed - was taboo in American movies and TV shows. According to Entertainment Weekly, "The Production Code censors. Entertainment Weekly (sometimes abbreviated as EW) is a Magazine published by Time Inc . . had no objection to the bloodletting, the Oedipal murder theme, or even the shower scene—but did ask that Hitchcock remove the word transvestite from the film. Oedipus (pronounced /ˈɛdəpəs/ in American English or /ˈiːdəpəs/ in British English; Greek: Oidípous meaning "swollen-footed" This article deals with the history of the word 'transvestite' He didn't. "^[1] At one point, Hitchcock actually considered releasing the film without censorial approval. For the television broadcasting term please see Production code number. Its box office success helped propel Hollywood toward more graphic displays of previously-censored themes.

Psycho is widely considered to be the first film in the slasher film genre. The slasher film (sometimes referred to as bodycount films and dead teenager movies) is a Sub-genre ^[31][32]

References in popular culture

Psycho has become one of the most recognizable films in cinema history, and is arguably Hitchcock's most well-known film. The iconic shower scene is frequently spoofed, given homage to and referenced in popular culture, complete with the violin screeching sound effects. The Simpsons in particular has spoofed it on numerous occasions. ^[33] while Principal Skinner's relationship with his mother is reminiscent of Norman Bates's. Principal Seymour Skinner (born in Capitol City as Armin Tamzarian) is a Fictional character on the animated sitcom The Simpsons

Notably, director Brian DePalma has referenced Psycho in his early films, borrowing Bernard Herrmann's famous shrieking violins for scenes in Carrie and (more briefly) in Dressed to Kill, a movie whose plot is heavily inspired by Psycho. Brian De Palma (born Brian Russell DePalma on September 11 1940 in Newark New Jersey) is an American Film director. Bernard Herrmann ( June 29, 1911 &ndash December 24, 1975) was an American composer noted for his work in Motion pictures. Dressed to Kill is a 1980 Suspense thriller / Horror film written and directed by Brian de Palma.

An early stabbing murder in the "Terror in Topanga" segment of the horror anthology film Nightmares uses similar frenetic editing as that done for the shower murder in this movie. Nightmares is a 1983 film with four tales of horror, starring Emilio Estevez and Lance Henriksen.

That '70s Show's Halloween special "Too Old To Trick Or Treat, Too Young To Die" parodies a number of films from Hitchcock's oeuvre, including a scene in which Kelso and Laurie mimic the shower scene from Psycho using red raspberry shampoo. That '70s Show is an American television sitcom that centered on the lives of a group of teenagers living in the fictional town of

In the last episode of the first season of The Golden Girls, the series leads find it hard to sleep after watching Psycho. The Golden Girls is an American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9,

Swiss thrash metal band Coroner used a still photograph from the film for the cover of their 1991 album Mental Vortex. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Thrash metal (sometimes referred to simply as thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized by its fast tempo and aggression Coroner was a Swiss technical thrash metal band from Zurich. They garnered relatively little attention outside of Europe. A film still, sometimes called a publicity still, is a Photograph taken on the set of a movie or Television program during production An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially-released audio recording product or Album. Mental Vortex is the fourth album of the Swiss thrash metal trio Coroner.

In the survival horror video game Silent Hill, the protagonist Harry Mason visits a run-down Bates Motel, whose owner is identified simply as "Norman. Survival horror is a video game genre inspired by fictional Horror films in which the player's primary objective is to survive and/or escape a threat typical of horror Silent Hill is a Video game, the first in the Survival horror series with the same name. Harry Mason may refer to Harry Mason (Silent Hill character - a playable character from the Video game Silent Hill " Also, one of the streets in the town of Silent Hill is named Bloch after Psycho's author. Psycho is a 1959 pulp thriller by Robert Bloch. Plot summary The story is divided (below but not in the actual book into

In an episode of the anime Kirby: Right Back At Ya!, the characters are being haunted, and Escargoon gets covered in red paint. Kirby Right Back At Ya!, known in Japan as, is an Anime series based on Nintendo 's Kirby franchise Later, with a sepia tone, he is reflecting on the fact that it isn't blood, climbs into a shower, and relaxes. A figure appears behind the curtain, pulls it back, and repeatedly hits him with a hammer, until he falls back against the wall, and pulls back the curtain. Dedede is then shown, surprised it was Escargoon he was hitting.

Rapper Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP" features the song "Kill You" a song containing the lyrics, 'A blood stain is orange after you wash it three or four times in the tub / But that's normal, ain't it Norman?' is a reference to the film Psycho's "Norman Bates". Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17 1972 known as Slim Shady and his primary Stage name Eminem, is an Academy Award -winning The Marshall Mathers LP is the third Studio album released by American Rapper Eminem, released in 2000 The Marshall Mathers LP is the third Studio album released by American Rapper Eminem, released in 2000 Fictional character biography Both the novel and Alfred Hitchcock 's 1960 film adaptation explain that Bates suffered severe emotional Abuse

In World of Warcraft, the innkeeper of the Sepulcher in Silverpine Forest is Innkeeper Bates. The innkeeper of the Undercity is also named Norman

Puddle of Mudd made a music video in the Bates motel for the song "Psycho" which also makes references to Michael Myers and Leatherface. Puddle of Mudd is an American rock band from Kansas City, Missouri, United States. Appearances Michael Myers is the primary antagonist in all of the Halloween films with the exception of Halloween III Season of the Witch, as that Appearances Original series The character was originally played by Gunnar Hansen.

The television series Charmed also makes a reference to Psycho in the episode entitled, "Chick Flick". When Piper Halliwell (played by Holly Marie Combs) runs away from Bloody Mary, she runs into the bathroom, locks the door, and hides in the shower, to which she says, "I'm being stalked by 'Psycho' killers, and I hide in the SHOWER?!", referencing the shower scene in Psycho. Piper Halliwell is a Fictional character from the American Television program Charmed, and one of the four leading characters featured Holly Marie Combs Donoho (born December 3 1973) is an American Actress.

In a special episode of Fear Factor the contestants are staying in the Bates Motel, with several stunts that were inspired by the movie. The fear factor in occupational terminology refers to the increased per-worker productivity resulting from the threat of impending layoffs.

In the 1999 video game Front Mission 3, a fictional serial killer named Anthony Barkins (also using the alias of Norman Bates) is mentioned throughout the game. Front Mission 3 is a game for the PlayStation, created by Square and released in Japan September 9, 1999, and later in America A serial killer is a person who Murders usually three or more people with a "cooling off" period between each murder and whose motivation for killing is largely based Fictional character biography Both the novel and Alfred Hitchcock 's 1960 film adaptation explain that Bates suffered severe emotional Abuse His name is a reference to Anthony Perkins, the actor who played Norman Bates. Anthony Perkins ( April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an Academy Award -nominated Golden Globe -winning American

Samples from the soundtrack were used by the group Laibach on their 1985 album, Nova Akropola. Laibach is a Slovenian avant-garde Music group strongly associated with industrial, martial, and neo-classical musical Nova akropola ( New acropolis in Slovene) was the second album by Laibach.

An ad campaign for Gibson's Robot Guitar features one where an unnamed obese male is in the shower, crudely singing the main riff from Smoke on the Water. Technical Information The tuning system used on the Gibson Robot Guitar is based on the aftermarket Powertune system which was developed by the Tronical Company of Germany In Music, a riff is an Ostinato figure a repeated Chord progression, pattern refrain or melodic figure, often played by the Rhythm " Smoke on the Water " is a song by the British Hard rock band Deep Purple. The scene then continues to the point where the Robot Guitar kills the man, with a version of the screeching violins played by overdriven guitars. Technical Information The tuning system used on the Gibson Robot Guitar is based on the aftermarket Powertune system which was developed by the Tronical Company of Germany The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles the scene ends with the man's hand sliding down the shower wall, with the fender logo on his hand.

The television series Mad Men references Psycho in the season 1 episode "Long Weekend. Mad Men is an American Television drama series created by Matthew Weiner. " Season 1 takes place in 1960 and Psycho is in the theaters at the time. The character Roger Sterling says "Did you see that ridiculous Psycho? Hollywood isn’t happy unless things are extreme. "

In the film Halloween H20 numerous references to Psycho are made. Halloween H20 Twenty Years Later (or Halloween H20) is the seventh film in the Halloween film series This is because Janet Leigh, the mother of Halloween star Jamie Lee Curtis, makes a cameo appearance as Laurie Strode's secretary. Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress. Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22 1958 is a two-time Golden Globe -winning BAFTA -winning and Emmy -nominated American Film Character History John Carpenter's Halloween (1978 Laurie Strode (born Cynthia Myers) is a seventeen-year-old senior who attends Haddonfield High Some examples of these references include one of Laurie's son's school friends telling him that "if [you don't] assert your individuality and get away from her the two of you will end up living all alone running a motel at the side of the interstate", a clear reference to Norman and his mother's motel. Another homage is Janet Leigh's character's car being a completely identical copy of the one her character drives in Psycho. Also, the last time she is seen on camera, a piece of music originally composed specially for Psycho can be heard faintly playing.

Interpretation and themes

The film often features shadows, mirrors, windows, and, less so, water. A shadow is an area where direct light from a light source cannot reach due to obstruction by an object A mirror is an object with a surface that has good Specular reflection; that is it is smooth enough to form an Image. GlassWindowjpg|thumb|right|190px|A stained glass panel depicting Biblical scenes at a historic church in Scotland]] A window is an opening The shadows are present from the very first scene where the blinds make bars on Marion and Sam as they peer out the window. The stuffed birds' shadows loom over Marion as she eats, and Mother is seen in only shadows until the very end. More subtly, backlighting turns the rakes in the hardware store into talons above Lila's head. ^[5]

Mirrors reflect: Marion as she packs, her eyes as she checks the rear-view mirror, her face in the policeman's sunglasses, her hands as she counts out the money in the car dealership's bathroom. A motel window serves as a mirror by reflecting Marion and Norman together. Hitchcock shoots through Marion's windshield and the telephone booth, when Arbogast phones Sam and Lila. The heavy downpour can be seen as foreshadowing of the shower, and it letting up can be seen as a symbol of Marion making up her mind to return to Phoenix. ^[5]

There are a number of references to birds. Marion's last name is Crane and she is from Phoenix. Norman's hobby is stuffing birds, and he comments that Marion eats like a bird. ^[5]

Psychoanalytic criticism

Psycho has been called "the first psychoanalytical thriller. "^[34] The sex and violence in the film were unlike anything previously seen in a mainstream film. "[T]he shower scene is both feared and desired," wrote French film critic Serge Kaganski, "Hitchcock may be scaring his female viewers out of their wits, but he is turning his male viewers into potential rapists, since Janet Leigh has been turning men on ever since she appeared in her brassiere in the first scene. "^[34]

In his documentary The Pervert's Guide to Cinema, Slavoj Žižek remarks that Norman Bates' mansion has three floors, parallelling the three levels that psychoanalysis attributes to the human mind: the first floor would be the superego, where Bates' mother lives; the ground floor is then Bates' ego, where he functions as an apparently normal human being; and finally, the basement would be Bates' id. The Pervert's Guide to Cinema ( 2006) is a two-hour documentary by Sophie Fiennes, scripted and presented by Slavoj Žižek. Slavoj Žižek (ˈslavoj ˈʒiʒɛk (born 21 March 1949) is a Post-Marxist Sociologist, Philosopher, and Cultural critic Id, ego, and super-ego are the three parts of the " Psychic apparatus " defined in Sigmund Freud 's structural model of Psychoanalysis is a body of ideas developed by Austrian physician Sigmund Freud and his followers which is devoted to the study of human psychological functioning and behavior Žižek interprets Bates' moving his mother's corpse from first floor to basement as a symbol for the deep connection that psychoanalysis posits between superego and id. ^[35]

Sequels and remakes

The film spawned three sequels: Psycho II (1983), Psycho III (1986), and the prequel Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990), the last being a TV movie written by the original screenplay author Joseph Stefano. Psycho II is the 1983 sequel to Alfred Hitchcock 's 1960 classic Psycho. Psycho III is a 1986 sequel to Alfred Hitchcock 's 1960 classic Psycho. Psycho IV The Beginning is a 1990 made-for-television prequel to Alfred Hitchcock 's 1960 film Psycho which was broadcast on Joseph Stefano ( 5 May 1922 Philadelphia Pennsylvania - 25 August 2006) was an American Screenwriter. Anthony Perkins returned to his role of Norman Bates in all three sequels, also directing part III, and the voice of Norman Bates' mother was maintained by noted radio actress Virginia Gregg with the exception of Psycho IV where the role was played by Olivia Hussey. Virginia Gregg Burket ( March 6, 1916 &ndash September 15, 1986) was an American Actress. Olivia Hussey (born April 17 1951 is an Anglo - Argentine actress best known for her Golden Globe -winning role as Juliet in Franco Vera Miles also reprised her role of Lila Crane in Psycho II. The sequels were generally considered inferior to the original. ^[36][37] Hitchcock did not participate in the making of any of the Psycho sequels (he died before any of them were made).

A spinoff of the Psycho series is Bates Motel (1987) a failed TV pilot turned TV movie. A spin-off (or spinoff) is a new Organization or Entity formed by a split from a larger one such as a Television series based on a pre-existing Bates Motel is a 1987 Television movie about Alex West a mentally disturbed youth who was committed to an asylum after killing his abusive stepfather A television pilot is a test episode of an intended Television series. In it, the Bates Motel is bequeathed to Alex West (played by Bud Cort), a fellow inmate of the institution Norman Bates has been committed to. Bud Cort (born March 29, 1948) is an American Film and stage Actor, writer, and director. Because of Norman's death, it is not considered canon to the rest of the Psycho series. Anthony Perkins declined to appear in the pilot, so Norman's cameo appearance was played by Kurt Paul, who was Perkins' stunt double on Psycho II and III. Kurt Paul is an American Actor and stuntman He was a Stunt double for Anthony Perkins in Psycho II and Psycho

In 1998, Gus Van Sant directed a remake of Psycho. Gus Green Van Sant Jr he has dealt unflinchingly with homosexual and other marginalized subcultures without being particularly concerned about providing positive role models Psycho is a 1998 film Remake of the Alfred Hitchcock 1960 version produced and directed by Gus Van Sant for Universal The film is in color and features a different cast, but aside from this it is a virtually shot-for-shot remake copying Hitchcock's camera movements and editing. A Conversation with Norman (2005), directed by Jonathan M. Parisen, was a film inspired by Psycho. A Conversation with Norman produced and directed by Jonathan M Jonathan M Parisen (born 26 December 1971) is an American film-maker who wrote produced and directed Stairwell Trapped in the World Trade Center It premiered in New York City just three days short of the 45th anniversary of the premiere of the original film. The City of New York It starred Christopher Englese as Norman, Grace Orosz as Marion and Tom Loggins as Sam.

Partial bibliography

The following publications are among those devoted to the production of Psycho:

• Naremore, James. James Naremore, born James Otis Naremore, is a film and Comparative literature scholar based at Indiana University. Filmguide to Psycho. Indiana University Press, 1973. Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is a Publishing house at Indiana University that engages in Academic publishing, specializing
• Anobile, Richard J. ; editor. Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (The Film Classics Library). Avon Books, 1974. Avon Publications was an American paperback book and Comic book publisher This volume, published before the proliferation of home video, is entirely comprised of photo reproductions of film frames along with dialogue captions, creating a fumetti of the entire motion picture. Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or hired for home entertainment Fumetti (or photo novels) are a genre of Comics illustrated with Photographs rather than drawings.
• Rebello, Stephen, Psycho: The Making of Alfred Hitchcock's Masterpiece. Cinefantastique, April 1986 (Volume 16, Number 4/5). Cinefantastique was a horror, Fantasy, and Science fiction film magazine originally started as a mimeographed Fanzine Comprehensive 22-page article.
• Rebello, Stephen. Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. Dembner Books, 1990. A definitive "making of" account of all stages of making of the film as well as its aftermath.
• Leigh, Janet with Christopher Nickens. Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress. Psycho: Behind the Scenes of the Classic Thriller. Harmony Press, 1995.
• Durgnat, Ramond E. Raymond Durgnat ( September 1, 1932 - May 19, 2002) was a distinctive and highly influential British Film critic, who was A Long Hard Look at Psycho (BFI Film Classics). British Film Institute, 2002. The British Film Institute ( BFI) is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to encourage the development of the arts of film television
• Kolker, Robert; editor. Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho: A Casebook. Oxford University Press, 2005.
• Skerry, Philip J. The Shower Scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho: Creating Cinematic Suspense and Terror. Edwin Mellen Press, 2005.

Hitchcock's Cameo

Director Alfred Hitchcock is briefly seen standing outside Marion Crane's office wearing a cowboy hat. Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 Time: 7 minutes into film.

References

External links

• Psycho (1960) at the Internet Movie Database
• Psycho (1960) at Allmovie
• Psycho (1960) at Rotten Tomatoes
• Bright Lights Film Journal article on Psycho
• Filmsite: Psycho In-depth analysis of the film. Allmovie (previously All Movie Guide) is a commercial database of information about Movie stars movies and television shows. Rotten Tomatoes is a Website devoted to reviews information and news of Movies.
• Review of the UK Special Edition DVD release, by Brian Elliott of DVD Reviewer
• Psycho vs. Psycho Comparison of the Hitchcock original to the Gus Van Sant recreation.
• Psycho Eyegate Gallery

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