Description
This article is from the Movie Trivia,
by Murray Chapman muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au with numerous contributions
by others.
503 Psycho (1960)
- DIRCAMEO(Alfred Hitchcock): about 4 minutes in wearing a cowboy hato
outside Marion's office.
- Considered for the role of Marion were: 'Eva Marie Saint' (qv),
'Piper Laurie' (qv), 'Martha Hyer' (qv), 'Hope Lange' (qv),
'Shirley Jones' (qv), and 'Lana Turner' (qv).
- 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. In
1962 exchanged the rights to the film and his TV-series for a huge block
of MCA's stock (he became their third largest stockholder).
- An early script had the following dialogue: Marion: ``I'm going to spend
the weekend in bed.'' Texas oilman: ``Bed? Only playground that beats Las
Vegas.''
- Hitchcock bought the rights to the novel anonymously from Bloch for
just $9,000. He then bought up as many copies of the novel as he could to
keep the ending a secret.
- During filming, this movie was referred to as ``Production 9401'' or
``Wimpy''.
- The Bates mansion is straight out of the painting ``House by the Railroad''
(1925) by the American artist Edward Hopper.
- Hitchcock originally intended to open the film with a four-mile dolly
shot from a helicopter, a scene similar to 'Orson Welles' (qv)' bravura
opening of "Touch of Evil (1958)" (qv). The early motel scene between
Norman and Marion (Leigh) resembles in many ways another scene from that
movie featuring Leigh.
- The painting that Norman removes in order to watch Marion undressing is
a classical painting depicting a rape.
- Hitchcock paid the title sequence designer 'Saul Bass' (qv) (also credited as
``Pictorial Consultant'') $2,000 to render storyboards for the famous
shower scene but, according to Leigh and Assistant Director
'Hilton Green' (qv), directed it himself.
- For a shot right at the water stream, the crew had to block off the inner
holes on the shower head so that the water sprayed past the camera lens.
- The shower scene has over 90 splices in it, and did not involve
'Anthony Perkins' (qv) at all. Perkins was in New York preparing for a play.
- Contrary to popular rumours, during the shooting of the shower scene,
Hitchcock did not arrange for the water to suddenly go ice-cold when the
attack started.
- The sound that the knife makes penetrating the flesh is actually the
sound of a knife stabbing a watermelon.
- Hitchcock originally envisioned the shower sequence as completely silent,
but Bernard Herrmann went ahead and scored it anyway and Hitch immediately
changed his mind.
- The blood in the shower scene is actually chocolate sauce.
- The zoom-out shot of Marion Crane's eye is not a still photo. As the camera
pulls away from the eye, a mobile and highly visible waterdrop falls from
her hair to the floor, just right of camera center. This is also
substantiated by 'Janet Leigh' (Qv) in a book.
- Hitchcock tested the ``fear factor'' of mother's corpse by placing it in
Leigh's dressing room and listening to how loud she screamed when
she discovered it.
- The skull superimposed over Norman's face at the film's conclusion is that
of ``Mother.''
- There is a rumor that the this film was not passed for release because it
was claimed that Janet Leigh's nipple was visible during the shower scene.
Hitchcock didn't edit it out, but merely sent it back, (correctly, it seems)
assuming that they either wouldn't bother to watch it, or miss it the second
time.
- Hitchcock insisted that audiences should only be allowed to see the film
from the start. This was unheard of back then as people were used to just
coming in at any point during a movie. The reason for this was that the
film was advertised as starring Janet Leigh, but her character is killed in
the first half of the film.
- After the film's release Hitchcock received an angry letter from the
father of a girl who refused to have a bath after seeing
"Diabolique (1954)" (qv) and now refused to shower after seeing Psycho.
Hitchcock sent a note back simply saying ``Send her to the dry cleaners''.
- The last shot of Norman Bates' face has a still frame of a human skull
inserted in it.
- DIRTRADE(Alfred Hitchcock): [bathroom]: The shot of Marion flushing the
toilet is believed to be the first such shot in American cinema history.
- DIRTRADE(Alfred Hitchcock): [bathroom]: Marion hides in the bathroom to
count the required number of bills.
- DIRTRADE(Alfred Hitchcock): [hair]: Lila, and Mother.
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