1960 USA Black White

Mother, what´s the phrase?, isn´t quite herself today

Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) works as an office clerk in real state agency. Marion is utterly unhappy with her life, mostly because her lover Sam Loomis (John Gavin) can't marry her because of a huge alimony owed to his ex-wife. One hot day Marion acts on impulse and steals 40,000 US$ from one of agency's clients.

On the run, she ends up at the out-of-the-way Bates Motel, where the shy-but-kind manager, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), offers her a room, a meal, and a sympathetic ear. During her conversation with Norman, when he speaks about the traps that life places everyone in, Marion resolves to return on the following morning and give back the money.

Norman takes care of his Mother and, in return, she protects him from temptation and corruption, particularly in the form of attractive single women who come to stay at the motel. Marion´s short stay in Bates motel is terminated when she gets fatally stabbed under the shower. Norman, convinced that his pathologically jealous mother committed the crime, hides the body and all traces of Marion. The situation gets tense for Norman when Marion's sister, Lila (Vera Miles), Marion's lover, Sam, and private investigator Milton Arbogast (Martin Balsam) arrive to ask some questions.

Facts

Trivia

Janet Leigh said that the filming was easy until the last 20 seconds when she had to express total horror as her character was being slashed to death.

Release date: June 16, 1960

Oscar nominations:
Best Director ->Alfred Hitchcock
Best Actress in a Supporting Role -> Janet Leigh
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography

Robert Albert Bloch wrote the novel Psycho

Psycho ranks number 104 in the American box-office rankings.
Grossing adjusted for inflation -> $259.7 m
Source: www.boxofficemojo.com Source / More (Web)

Psycho is the first movie to show a woman (Janet Leigh) in just a bra and slip.

Considered for the role of Marion were: Eva Marie Saint, Piper Laurie, Martha Hyer, Hope Lange, Shirley Jones, and Lana Turner.

A nude model was used for some of the shower scene to create realism.

The film only cost $800,000 to make yet has earned more than $40 million. Hitchcock used the crew from his TV series to save time and money.

The Bates mansion is straight out of the painting House by the Railroad (1925) by the American artist Edward Hopper.

The movie was filmed in black and white because Alfred Hitchcock believed the movie would be too gory for color.

The shower scene has over 90 splices in it, and did not involve Anthony Perkins at all.

In November 1957 police in Plainfield, Wisconsin, USA arrived at the farmhouse of Eddie Gein. They discovered human-skull soup bowls, an armchair made of human skin, female genitalia kept preserved in a shoebox, four noses and so on. Years later, Eddie provided inspiration for the character of Norman Bates.

Cast

Multi Media

Put me down

One of those faces