CHARACTERS
Norman Bates, played by actor Anthony Perkins.
Marion Crane, played by actress Janet Leigh
Lila Crane, played by actress Vera Miles
Sam Loomis, played by actor John Gavin
Dective Milton Arbogast, played by actor Martin Balsam
Sheriff Al Chamber, played by actor John McIntire
Dr. Fred Richmond, played by actor Simon Oakland
Geroge Lowery, played by actor Vaughn Taylor
Tom Cassidy, played by actor Frank Albertson
Eliza Chambers, played by actress Lurene Tuttle
Caroline, played by actress Patricia Hitchcock (Alfred's daughter!)
Charlie, played by actor John Anderson
Highway Patrol Officer, play by actor Mort Mills
SYNOPSIS
(If you do not want to know what happends then do not read beyond!!)
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho
The movie's first scene takes place in a cheap hotel room in Phoenix and shows Marion Crane (Leigh) and her boyfriend Sam Loomis (Gavin) in their undergarments after a Friday afternoon tryst. Marion is clearly unhappy, torn between her desire to be with Sam and her shame at these discreet meetings. But, Sam explains that between his father's unpaid debts and alimony payments to his ex-wife he is forced to live in the back room of a store. Until his finances improve, they cannot marry. Marion returns to find that her boss has just sold a house to the rich Tom Cassidy (Frank Albertson), for $40,000. Cassidy flirts with Marion, asking if she is "unhappy." "You know what I'd do about unhappiness," he tells her, "I'd buy it off." He then plops down $40,000 in cash, explaining that his daughter has never had an unhappy day in her life and this house is to be her wedding present. Marion's boss is uncomfortable with that amount of cash in the office and asks Marion to deposit it at the bank for the weekend, explaining that he'll get Tom to write a check the next week. Instead of depositing the money she packs and leaves town, the money the ticket to her and Sam's happiness.Hitchcock builds his trademark tension as Marion becomes convinced that people know of her crime, trading her car for another in California, because she believes she is being followed. Driving at night in a pouring rain, Marion realizes that she can go no further and turns off at the sign for the Bates Motel. The place seems deserted, but she notices the figure of a woman in the window of the house around back. Honking her horn for service, Norman Bates (Perkins), runs down from the house and helps her into the office.The motel, he explains, receives few visitors, as a newer freeway has bypassed the road she was following. Only those who are lost or take the wrong turn ever come here, but Norman keeps it open to give him some relief from taking care of his ailing mother. Despite finding out that she is only 15 miles from Fairvale, and Sam, Marion decides to stay the night. Norman cheerfully offers to share his dinner with her rather than force her back out into the storm. While settling into her room Marion overhears a fight between Norman and his mother through the open window. The mother refuses to allow Marion to come up to the house, accusing Norman of a "cheap erotic mind" that "disgusts" her and of him lacking the "guts" to send Marion away. Norman sheepishly brings some food down to the motel, inviting Marion to dine in the office's parlor, which is gaudily decorated with examples of Norman's hobby of taxidermy: birds being his favorite subject. As she eats, Marion discovers that Norman's mother is not only ill, but also overly controlling of her son. "Do you ever go out with friends?" she asks. "Well a boy's best friend is his mother," he replies. As they talk Marion comes to realize that she must return to Phoenix and make amends.
It turns out that Bates' mother is not ill physically, but mentally. She stabs Marion to death in the famous shower scene (with its now trademark score by Bernard Herrmann, featuring the screeching violins). Bates is horrified when he finds the corpse, but cleans up as if he has done this several times before. Her car, belongings, and the money is sunk in a swamp behind the Bates' property.The rest of the film deals with the search for Marion. Marion's sister Lila (Miles) drives to Fairvale to confront Sam, unable to believe that her sister took the money. As they talk another individual arrives, a private detective Milton Arbogast (Balsam), sent by Tom Cassidy to recover his money. Arbogast explains that he was following Lila in hopes that she would lead him to Marion. It soon becomes clear, however, that Sam is unaware of either Marion's whereabouts or the theft. Arbogast then is able to trace her to the Bates Motel, calling Lila and Sam to let them know. But Arbogast's curiosity proves fatal when, upon returning to the motel, he climbs up to the old house to talk with mother.When the detective fails to report back, Sam and Lila become convinced that he must have discovered something important, possibly from Norman's mother, and decide that it is time to involve the law. But the local sheriff is skeptical of their story, or that Norman's mother could have any important information. For Norman, he explains, lives alone at the Motel, his mother having died 10 years earlier in a particularly gruesome murder/suicide.Lila and Sam realize that they must go to the motel themselves to see what Arbogast had discovered. While Sam distracts Norman down at the office, Lila goes up to the house to talk with mother. Sam tries to pressure Norman into admitting that he stole Marion's money, but the argument escalates into violence and Norman is able to knock Sam unconscious, and flee up to the house. Hearing Norman enter the house, Lila slips down to the basement only to find the corpse of Bates' mother. At that moment the killer is revealed to be Norman Bates himself (cross-dressed in his mother's clothing, complete with wig). Sam also appears at this moment and is able to wrestle the butchers knife out of Norman's clawed hand.At the end of the film a forensic psychiatrist (Oakland) explains to Lila, Sam and the police that Bates' mother, though dead, lives in Norman's psyche. Norman was so dominated by his mother, and so guilt-ridden over having murdered her 10 years earlier when it appeared she was about to remarry, that he had tried to "erase" the crime from his mind by bringing his mother back. Physically this was done by exhuming her corpse and preserving it with his taxidermy skills, but mentally this was accomplished by allocating half of his personality to his mother. He acted as she would, talked as her, and even dressed as her in an attempt to erase her absence. And because Norman was so very jealous of his mother, he assumed she was also jealous of any woman he was attracted to. The Norman personality had convinced itself that his mother was not dead, so it had no knowledge of "her" crimes. The last scene shows Bates totally taken over by his "mother."
TO ORDER A COPY OF PSYCHO
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Alfred Hitchcock Biography- from http://www.alfredhitchcock.com/bio.html
"Alfred Hitchcock was the most well-known director to the general public, by virtue of both his many thrillers and his appearances on television in his own series from the mid-'50s through the early '60s. Probably more than any other filmmaker, his name evokes instant expectations on the part of audiences: at least two or three great chills (and a few more good ones), some striking black comedy, and an eccentric characterization or two in every one of the director's movies.
Originally trained at a technical school, Hitchcock gravitated to movies through art courses and advertising, and by the mid-'20s he was making his first films. He had his first major success in 1926 with The Lodger, a thriller loosely based on Jack the Ripper. While he worked in a multitude of genres over the next six years, he found his greatest acceptance working with thrillers. His early work with these, including Blackmail (1929) and Murder (1930), seem primitive by modern standards, but have many of the essential elements of Hitchcock's subsequent successes, even if they are presented in technically rudimentary terms. Hitchcock came to international attention in the mid- to late '30s with The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), and, most notably, The Lady Vanishes (1938). By the end of the 1930s, having gone as far as the British film industry could take him, he signed a contract with David O. Selznick and came to America.
From the outset, with the multi-Oscar-winning psychological thriller Rebecca (1940) and the topical anti-Nazi thrillers Foreign Correspondent (1940) and Saboteur (1942), Hitchcock was one of Hollywood's "money" directors whose mere presence on a marquee attracted audiences. Although his relationship with Selznick was stormy, he created several fine and notable features while working for the producer, either directly for Selznick or on loan to RKO and Universal, including Spellbound (1945), probably the most romantic of Hitchcock's movies; Notorious (1946); and Shadow of a Doubt (1943), considered by many to be his most unsettling film.
In 1948, after leaving Selznick, Hitchcock went through a fallow period, in which he experimented with new techniques and made his first independent production, Rope; but he found little success. In the early and mid-'50s, he returned to form with the thrillers Strangers on a Train (1951), which was remade in 1987 by Danny DeVito as Throw Momma From the Train; Dial M for Murder (1954), which was among the few successful 3-D movies; and Rear Window (1954). By the mid-'50s, Hitchcock's persona became the basis for the television anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which ran for eight seasons (although he only directed, or even participated as producer, in a mere handful of the shows). His films of the late '50s became more personal and daring, particularly The Trouble With Harry (1955) and Vertigo (1958), in which the dark side of romantic obsession was explored in startling detail. Psycho (1960) was Hitchcock's great shock masterpiece, mostly for its haunting performances by Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins and its shower scene, and The Birds (1963) became the unintended forerunner to an onslaught of films about nature-gone-mad, and all were phenomenally popular -- The Birds, in particular, managed to set a new record for its first network television showing in the mid-'60s.
By then, however, Hitchcock's films had slipped seriously at the box office. Both Marnie (1964) and Torn Curtain (1966) suffered from major casting problems, and the script of Torn Curtain was terribly unfocused. The director was also hurt by the sudden departure of composer Bernard Herrmann (who had scored every Hitchcock's movie since 1957) during the making of Torn Curtain, as Herrmann's music had become a key element of the success of Hitchcock's films. Of his final three movies, only Frenzy (1972), which marked his return to British thrillers after 30 years, was successful, although his last film, Family Plot (1976), has achieved some respect from cult audiences. In the early '80s, several years after his death in 1980, Hitchcock's box-office appeal was once again displayed with the re-release of Rope, The Trouble With Harry, his 1956 remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo, all of which had been withheld from distribution for several years, but which earned millions of dollars in new theatrical revenues."
~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
PSYCHO IN FILM HISTORY
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho
Psycho is often seen as a turning point in film history, representing the shift from Classical to the more experimental "Post-Classical" film. Psycho's unconventional storytelling and stylized photography and editing show the influence of the French New Wave and the European art films that Hitchcock admired.
In his novel, Bloch used an uncommon plot structure: he repeatedly introduced sympathetic protagonists, then killed them off. 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 masterfully in his adaptation
The most original and influential moment in the film is the "shower scene", which became iconic in pop culture because it was one of the most terrifying scenes ever filmed. Part of its effect was due to the use of startling editing techniques borrowed from the Soviet Montage filmmakers, and to Bernard Herrmann's bizarre but effective musical score.
Psycho is an example of the types of film that appeared in the 1960s after the erosion of the Production Code. It was unprecedented in its depiction of sexuality and violence (in addition, it was the first film ever to depict a flushing toilet onscreen). Its box office success helped propel Hollywood toward more graphic displays of previously censored themes.
Psycho is often considered to be the first of the slasher movie genre.
In the advertising campaign in its original run, Hitchcock told movie theater owners not to allow seating after the movie began. This was so the surprises of the film would remain surprises. Previously, people entered the movie theater whenever they showed up and left whenever they wanted; after Psycho, movie theaters quickly began adopting a policy of setting specific times for showing films and (generally) not letting people in afterwards.
FUN FACTS!!!!!
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho
Robert Bloch lived in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, close to Ed Gein's stalking grounds in 1957, when the Gein murders were discovered. The idea that "the man next door may be a monster unsuspected even in the gossip-ridden microcosm of small-town life" [1] took root in Bloch's subconscious at that time. Bloch states that he did not realize "how closely the imaginary character I'd created resembled the real Ed Gein both in overt act and apparent motivation" until years later.
Psycho was the first film to introduce a single main character and then kill her halfway into the film - a rather shocking turn of events in 1960, with no apparent indication of where the story might go afterwards.
Psycho was the first film to show a toilet being flushed onscreen.
Although there is little visible gore portrayed on the screen, the infamous "shower scene" is often regarded as one of the most frightening sequences in cinema history, in large part due to the soundtrack, an original piece entitled "The Knife."
The "shower scene" was imitated in an episode of Kirby: Right Back at Ya! when Escargoon was repeatedly bashed with a hammer by King Dedede while taking a shower in a haunted house.
To test the scare factor of the "mother's corpse" prop, Hitchcock placed it in Janet Leigh's dressing room and listened to how loud she screamed when she discovered it.
Chocolate sauce, which shows up better than stage blood on black-and-white film, was used as the blood for the infamous shower scene. A knife, wielded by Hitchcock himself, plunging into a melon was the source of the sound effect.
Psycho is consistently in the top 25 on the Internet Movie Database's list of top 250 films, was ..18 on American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Movies and ..1 on its 100 Years, 100 Thrills, and has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
In 1966, CBS had planned to air Psycho. However, the September 18 murder of Valerie Percy, 21, one of the twin daughters of then-U.S. Senator Charles H. Percy (R, Il) days before its scheduled airing caused CBS to cancel this plan. Valerie was killed at night at home by an unknown intruder with a hammer and a knife. Despite a US$50,000 reward and an international investigation, the case is still unsolved. Her killing remains a mystery.
In 1993, the video-artist Douglas Gordon exhibited a version of Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film which was slowed down so that it lasted for 24 hours.
In order to get Psycho made, Hitchcock had to put up the cash himself.
That is Hitchcock himself standing outside the office window when Janet Leigh enters.
Patricia Hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock's daughter, plays the other secretary. There is a subtle poke at her plain looks when she explains away Tom Cassidy's inattention with "he must have seen my wedding ring."
The voice of Norman Bates' Mother throughout the entire Psycho movie series was that of noted radio actress Virginia Gregg.
Anthony Perkins did not participate in the shower scene. He was in New York preparing for a stage play.
When Gus Van Sant was asked by a journalist why he was remaking Psycho shot-for-shot, he responded, "So nobody else had to."
PSYCHO INFORMATION WEBSITES:
http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/p/psycho.html
http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue08/reviews/psycho/text.htm
http://www.alfredhitchcock.com/
http://www.cas.sc.edu/socy/faculty/deflem/Hit/ahitch4.htm
http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue02/features/psycho.htm
http://www.filmsound.org/articles/hitchcock/makingpsycho.htm