Psycho / Психо 1960.

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ШЕДЕВР!

Решения Хичкока, как можно эффектнее представить историю, с точки зрения кинематографии, гениальны!



Alfred Hitchcock bought the rights to the novel anonymously from Robert Bloch for only US$9,000.
He then bought up as many copies of the novel as he could to keep the ending a secret.

One of the reasons Alfred Hitchcock shot the movie in black and white was he thought it would be too gory in color.
But the main reason was that he wanted to make the film as inexpensively as possible (under $1 million).
He also wondered if so many bad, inexpensively made, b/w "B" movies did so well at the box office,
what would happen if a really good, inexpensively made, b/w movie was made.

This was Alfred Hitchcock's last feature film in black and white, filmed November 30 1959-March 1 1960.

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

Alfred Hitchcock produced this film when plans to make a film starring Audrey Hepburn, called "No Bail for the Judge," fell through.

Walt Disney refused to allow Alfred Hitchcock to film at Disneyland in the early 1960s because Hitchcock had made "that disgusting movie, 'Psycho'."

This was Alfred Hitchcock's last film for Paramount.
By the time principal photography started, Hitchcock had moved his offices to Universal and the film was actually shot on Universal's back lot.
Universal owns the film today as well, even though the Paramount Pictures logo is still on the film.

According to Stephen Rebello, author of "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho",
Alfred Hitchcock was displeased with the performance of John Gavin who played Sam Loomis in the film and referred to the actor as 'the stiff'.

In the opening scene, Marion Crane is wearing a white bra because Alfred Hitchcock wanted to show her as being "angelic".
After she has taken the money, the following scene has her in a black bra because now she has done something wrong and evil.
Similarly, before she steals the money, she has a white purse; after she's stolen the money, her purse is black.

Vera Miles wore a wig for her role as she had to shave her head for a role in the film 5 Branded Women.

Joseph Stefano was adamant about seeing a toilet on-screen to display realism. He also wanted to see it flush.
Alfred Hitchcock told him he had to "make it so" through his writing if he wanted to see it.
Stefano wrote the scene in which Marion adds up the money, then flushes the paper down the toilet specifically so the toilet flushing was integral to the scene and therefore irremovable.
This was the first American film (and possibly first fictional film) ever to show a toilet flushing on screen.

The movie in large part was made because Alfred Hitchcock was fed up with the big-budget, star-studded movies he had recently been making and wanted to experiment with the more efficient, sparser style of television filmmaking.
Indeed, he ultimately used a crew consisting mostly of TV veterans and hired actors less well known than those he usually used.

This was voted the seventh scariest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #14 Greatest Movie of All Time.

In the novel, the character of "Marion" was "Mary" Crane. The name was changed because the studio legal department found that two real people named Mary Crane lived in Phoenix, Arizona.

According to Janet Leigh, wardrobe worn by her character Marion Crane was not custom made for her, but rather purchased "off the rack" from ordinary clothing stores.
Alfred Hitchcock wanted women viewers to identify with the character by having her wear clothes that an ordinary secretary could afford, and thus add to the mystique of realism.

When the cast and crew began work on the first day they had to raise their right hands and promise not to divulge one word of the story.
Alfred Hitchcock also withheld the ending part of the sсript from his cast until he needed to shoot it.

In order to implicate viewers as fellow voyeurs Alfred Hitchcock used a 50 mm lens on his 35 mm camera.
This gives the closest approximation to the human vision. In the scenes where Norman is spying on Marion this effect is felt.

To ensure the people were in the theaters at the start of the film (rather than walking in part way through) the studio provided a record to play in the foyer of the theaters.
The album featured background music, occasionally interrupted by a voice saying "Ten minutes to Psycho time," "Five minutes to Psycho time," and so on.

Anthony Perkins was paid US$40,000 dollars for his role, which is exactly the same amount of money that Marion Crane embezzles.

Alfred Hitchcock deferred his standard $250,000 salary in lieu of 60% of the film's net profits. His personal earnings from the film exceeded $15 million.
Adjusted for inflation, that amount would now top $150 million in 2006 dollars.

The movie's line "A boy's best friend is his mother." was voted as the #56 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

Every theater that showed the film had a cardboard cut-out installed in the lobby of Alfred Hitchcock pointing to his wristwatch with a note from the director saying
"The manager of this theatre has been instructed at the risk of his life, not to admit to the theatre any persons after the picture starts.
Any spurious attempts to enter by side doors, fire escapes or ventilating shafts will be met by force.
The entire objective of this extraordinary policy, of course, is to help you enjoy PSYCHO more. Alfred Hitchcock"

The shower scene has over 90 splices in it, and did not involve Anthony Perkins at all.
Contrary to popular belief it wasn't due to a scheduling conflict Perkins had for the Broadway musical 'Greenville' but actually a deliberate decision on Alfred Hitchcock's part.
On this subject Perkins states "Hitchcock was very worried that the dual role and nature of Norman Bates would be exposed if I were to appear in that scene.
I think it was the recognizability of my silhouette, which is rather slim and broad in the shoulder. That worried him."

Alfred Hitchcock originally envisioned the shower sequence as completely silent, but Bernard Herrmann went ahead and scored it anyway, and upon hearing it, Hitchcock immediately changed his mind.

Alfred Hitchcock and Joseph Stefano originally conceived the film with a jazz score instead of Bernard Herrmann's miniature string orchestra.

As part of publicity campaign prior to release of the film, Alfred Hitchcock said:
"It has been rumored that 'Psycho' is so terrifying that it will scare some people speechless.
Some of my men hopefully sent their wives to a screening. The women emerged badly shaken but still vigorously vocal."

Alfred Hitchcock was so pleased with the score written by Bernard Herrmann that he doubled the composer's salary to $34,501.
Hitchcock later said, "33% of the effect of Psycho was due to the music."

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.

The strings-only music by Bernard Herrmann is ranked #4 on AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.

There are several references to birds in this film : Marion's surname is Crane, Norman's hobby is stuffing birds and he states that Marion eats like a bird.
Coincidentally Alfred Hitchcock's next film was The Birds

On set, Alfred Hitchcock would always refer to Anthony Perkins as "Master Bates".

Although Janet Leigh was not bothered by the filming of the famous shower scene, seeing it on film profoundly moved her.
She later remarked that it made her realize how vulnerable a woman was in a shower. To the end of her life, she always took baths.

Although disputed, it is claimed that the graphic designer and title director Saul Bass directed the shower sequence.
Bass certainly story-boarded the scene, but there is disagreement about the level of direction by Alfred Hitchcock and how much credit can be afforded by Bass for the construction of this iconic scene.

The reason Hitchcock cameos so early in the film was because he knew people would be looking out for him, and he didn't want to divert their attention away from the plot.

Hitchcock always regarded Психо as a comedy. When asked why, he would only reply "Had to be."

After Психо was released, for years Anthony Perkins refused to talk about the part of Norman Bates, because everyone associated Perkins with the character.

Paramount gave Hitchcock a very small budget to work with, because of their distaste with the source material.
They also deferred most of the net profits to Hitchcock, thinking the film would fail. When it became a sleeper hit, Hitchcock made a fortune.

Although Norman Bates typecasted Anthony Perkins, he said he still would have taken the role, even if he knew the character would dog his career.

Janet Leigh received threatening letters after the film's release, detailing what they would like to do to Marion Crane.
One was so grotesque she passed it on to the FBI. The culprits were discovered, and the FBI said she should notify them again if she ever received anymore letters.

Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh were allowed to improvise their roles. E.g. Norman's habit of munching on candy corn.

The highest grossing film of Hitchcock's career.

Filmed in 30 days.

Hitchcock's first horror movie.

In the novel it is explained that Marion and Sam met on a cruise and fell in love which is how their relationship became a long distance one, with Marion in Phoenix and Sam in Fairvale.

Alfred Hitchcock: about four minutes in wearing a cowboy hat outside Marion's office.

The sound that the knife makes penetrating the flesh is actually the sound of a knife stabbing a casaba melon.

The blood was Bosco chocolate syrup.

Alfred Hitchcock tested the fear factor of Mother's corpse by placing it in Janet Leigh's dressing room and listening to how loud she screamed when she discovered it there.

The last shot of Norman Bates's face has a still frame of a human skull superimposed on it, almost subliminally. The skull is that of Mother.

Alfred Hitchcock strictly mandated, and even wrote into theater managers' contracts, that no one arriving after the start of each showing of "Psycho" would be admitted into the theater until the beginning of the next showing.
Newspaper advertisements cleverly piqued audience curiosity with such statements as "You MUST see "Psycho" from the very beginning.
No one - not even the President of the United States, not the theater manager's brother, not even the Queen of England (God bless her)
- will be allowed into the theater after the beginning of each showing of "Psycho".
This is to allow you to enjoy "Psycho" more. By the way, after you see the film, please do not give away the ending.
It's the only one we have". News cameras photographed audience members waiting in lines outside theaters to see "Psycho", creating tremendous curiosity about the film and adding extra publicity.

After the film's release Alfred Hitchcock received an angry letter from the father of a girl who refused to have a bath after seeing Les diaboliques and now refused to shower after seeing this film.
Hitchcock sent a note back simply saying, "Send her to the dry cleaners."

In Robert Bloch's novel, Norman Bates is short, fat, older, and very dislikable.
It was Alfred Hitchcock who decided to have him be young, handsome, and sympathetic.
Norman is also more of a main character in the novel. The story opens with him and Mother fighting rather than following Marion from the start.

The novel upon which the film is based was inspired by the true story of Ed Gein, a serial killer who was also the inspiration for Deranged, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Молчание ягнят.

The stabbing scene in the shower is reported to have taken seven days to shoot using 70 different camera angles but only lasts 45 seconds in the movie.

Controversy arose years later when Saul Bass made claims that he had done the complete planning, and even directed the famous shower scene. Those who worked on the film have refuted this claim.

Janet Leigh only had three weeks to work on the movie and spent the whole of one of those weeks filming the shower sequence.

Alfred Hitchcock even had a canvas chair with "Mrs. Bates" written on the back prominently placed and displayed on the set throughout shooting.
This further added to the enigma surrounding who was the actress playing Mrs. Bates.

Alfred Hitchcock received several letters from ophthalmologists who noted that Janet Leigh's eyes were still contracted during the extreme closeups after her character's death.
The pupils of a true corpse dilate after death. They told Hitchcock he could achieve a proper dead-eye effect by using belladonna drops. Hitchcock did so in all his later films.

At the end of the shower scene, the first few seconds of the camera pull-back from Janet Leigh's face is a freeze-frame.
Alfred Hitchcock did this because, while viewing the rushes, his wife noticed the pulse in Leigh's neck throbbing.

Norman Bates is ranked the second greatest villain on AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains.