Psycho (1960)

A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run, and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Joseph Stefano (screenplay by), Robert Bloch (based on the novel by)

Stars:

Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles

Top Rated Movies #34 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Anthony Perkins	...	Norman Bates
Vera Miles	...	Lila Crane
John Gavin	...	Sam Loomis
Janet Leigh	...	Marion Crane
Martin Balsam	...	Det. Milton Arbogast
John McIntire	...	Sheriff Al Chambers
Simon Oakland	...	Dr. Fred Richman
Frank Albertson	...	Tom Cassidy
Patricia Hitchcock	...	Caroline (as Pat Hitchcock)
Vaughn Taylor	...	George Lowery
Lurene Tuttle	...	Mrs. Chambers
John Anderson	...	California Charlie
Mort Mills	...	Highway Patrol Officer

Storyline

Phoenix officeworker Marion Crane is fed up with the way life has treated her. She has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they cannot get married because Sam has to give most of his money away in alimony. One Friday Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards Sam's California store. Tired after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be dominated by his mother.

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Plot Keywords:

motel | money | shower | theft | secretary | 

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Taglines:

An Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 September 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho

Filming Locations:

Title and Trust Building, 114 West Adams Street, downtown Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$806,947 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$32,000,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$50,000,000, 31 January 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shamley Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min 108 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The theatrical trailer shows Alfred Hitchcock giving a partial tour of the set located on the Universal Studios back-lot. It ends with a tour of the famous bathroom and Alfred Hitchcock pulling the shower curtain revealing the screaming Vera Miles. (Vera Miles was the stand-in for Janet Leigh because Janet Leigh was not available.

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Goofs

When Norman first meets Marion his first words to her were an apology for not hearing her on account of the rain. He then asks her to accompany him into the office. His lips don't even move during this scene and he gestures with a hand signal for her to go inside instead; the audio must have been added later in post-production.

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Quotes

Norman Bates: Hate the smell of dampness, don't you? It's such a, I don't know, creepy smell.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: PHOENIX, ARIZONA

FRIDAY, DECEMBER THE ELEVENTH

TWO FORTY-THREE P.M.

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Connections

Featured in A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009)

User Reviews

Hitchcock and Herrmann

Robert Bloch wrote the original work, Joseph Stefano adapted it into a tight screenplay but it was Alfred Hitchcock with the extraordinary complicity of Bernard Herrmann who transformed this lurid tale into a classic, horror masterpiece. The score propels us into the moment before the moment arrives provoking the sort of anticipation that verges on the unbearable. The fact that the key scenes have become iconic film moments: copied, imitated, emulated and parodied, have not diminished its impact, not really. The anticipation, underlined by Herrmann's strings, creates a sort of craving for the moment to arrive. That doesn't happen very often. No amount of planning can produce it or re-produce it - otherwise how do you explain the Gus Van Sant version - so, the only possible explanation is an accident, a miraculous film accident and those do happen. Everything falls into place so perfectly that even the things that one may argue are below the smart standard of the film, are needed, the film without every frame is not quite the film. Try to turn away after the climax during Simon Oakland's long explanation. You can't. I couldn't. Partly because you know you'll soon be confronting those eyes, that fly, the car...