There are many things that could explain genius. It is used sometimes used too often, when it comes to movies. Alfred Hitchcock’s name is used frequently. There is a reason. It applies to how he used a camera, among other things. One outstanding feature of a genius is the ability to overcome obstacles. Hitchcock was told by the studio, that he couldn’t use their crew. This was because of the violent nature of the movie. The master of suspense continued with his movie. He used his television crew to shoot the movie. Hitchcock had for several years, filmed most of his movies in color. Psycho was filmed in black and white. He felt that the shower scene would be too intense with the blood.
The story centers around Marion Crane, (Janet Leigh). She has embezzled $40,000 from the bank in Phoenix, Arizona This is so she can help her lover, Sam Loomis, (John Gavin), out of his financial hole. She drives a long way, in a rain storm, to go to Sam’s store in Fairvale, California. She is tired and decides to spend the night in an old motel. The motel is run by a young man Norman Bates, (Anthony Perkins) and his mother. Bates invites Marion to have dinner with him. She agrees. They have some conversation, much of which focuses on Norman’s mentally unstable mother. Marion excuses herself, saying she is very tired. She decides when she goes to her room to take a shower. She steps into the shower and hopes this will relax her. While she is taking the shower, she is stabbed to death, by a woman:Norman’s mentally unbalanced mother. Norman is stricken with horror, at his mother’s crime and stashes Marion’s body in the trunk of her car. He then releases the brake and watches it slowly sink into the swamp.
Marion’s absence from work is noticed by her boss, George Lowery, (Vaughan Taylor). He calls in a detective, Milton Arbogast, (Martin Balsam). Lila Crane, (Vera Miles), also wonders what has happened to her sister. She begins investigating with Sam Loomis and they butt heads with the detective. During the investigating, they come across Sheriff Al Chambers, (John McIntire). He explains a few things about Norman Bates, that are disturbing. Detective Arbogast, decides it would be a good idea to question Norman Bates. He does, but gets little new information. He later goes back to further interrogate him. The detective goes to the Bates house on the hill. He searches for Norman, but instead runs into the sharp end of Mrs. Bates knife. Martin Balsam’s death scene is photographed well, and is reminiscent of the death scene in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
Lila Crane and Sam Loomis decide to also look for Norman. He is after all the last person to see Marion alive. Sam is attacked and disabled. Lila while looking for Norman, makes a horrifying discovery in the fruit cellar. This leads to the final confrontation with Mrs. Bates.
A movie is often identified with its score. This was done by frequent Alfred Hitchcock collaborator, academy award winning, Bernard Hermann. He sets the mood with the music for the opening credits. The shower scene with the violins frantically playing, gives a true feel of terror. His many film scores put him on the level of Max Steiner Dimitri Tiompkin and other great film composer’s. His influence extended to modern composers like Danny Elfman.
A horror movie can come to life with it’s sets. The ones for Psycho, were designed by George Milo. This movie would lose something, if it weren’t for the creepy house on the hill. There is also the stuffed birds in Norman’s house. This brings out the feel of death in the movie. There is also the staircase in the house for Arbogast’s death scene. The fruit cellar in the house, helps to bring the film together.
It was helpful to Hitchcock, that Janet Leigh decided to star in this movie. She was a movie star who appeared in several successful films. She only appeared in the first half of the movie, but her character is very in depth. This became her most famous movie. Anthony Perkins had appeared in several movies before Psycho. He starred alongside veteran actors like Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck and Fred Astaire. He was Hitchcock’s first choice. He excels in this movie. He was typecast in the role of Norman Bates. Despite this, he goes down in history, with Karloff, Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr, in portraying a world famous horror film character. He even revived the character, many years later.
Alfred Hitchcock had to be proud of this film. He made it on a shoestring budget, did a great marketing campaign and most importantly made money on this movie. Psycho became a huge money maker. It was Hitchcock’s most profitable film. Although many of his films focus on murder, this was his first horror movie. His horror movie, created a sub genre, the slasher movie.
The movie is based on the novel by Robert Bloch. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Joseph Stefano. Bloch and Stefano wrote extensively for television. Robert Bloch wrote many episodes for Hitchcock’s two shows and a few of the original Star Trek shows. Joseph Stefano wrote for the original Outer Limits series, as well as the revival three decades later.
The interesting thing about Psycho is that Hitchcock was inspired by a similar french film Diabolique from 1955. It was a film that made money and was in black and white. The director, Henri-Georges Clouzot received world wide acclaim for it. Critics said it was better than Hitchcock’s films. This motivated the master of suspense. He went on to make his most famous film. It is a lesson in making a low budget film. It also is a classic among horror films.