Even when the filmmaker offered to shoot the film in black and white and hire his Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV crew to lower the overall expenses, Paramount held their ground, finally agreeing when Hitchcock offered to personally finance Psycho if the studio agreed to distribute it. Trying to appease the stubborn people at Paramount, Hitchcock exchanged his usual directing fee for a 60 percent stake in the film negative, a risky move that eventually made him millions.
A master of marketing and promotion, Hitchcock went to great lengths to attract the audience to the theater, but in fear of ruining their surprise and shock, he forbade his actors from promoting the movie on talk shows and TV. Russell, first assistant director, set designer and script supervisor. Due to his reputation, he managed to get actresses and actors for much less than their usual fees.
The legend has it Janet Leigh agreed to make the picture without even inquiring about her potential salary. Leigh, along with Anthony Perkins, was a proven box-office draw and practically secured a wide audience for the movie. The legendary artist was hired to design the title sequence, but allegedly had a vital role in the most famous of all Hitchcock scenes: the shower murder.
The impact Psycho made on the filmmaking and filmgoing world of the sixties should be a topic for a completely separate article. In short, the most direct consequences would be the following. Hitchcock, on the other hand, suddenly became known as a masterful horror director, even though Psycho was practically his first true effort in the genre.
NOTE: For educational and research purposes only. Absolutely our highest recommendation. Reload document Open in new tab Joseph Stefano has a long list of credits of various shapes and sizes including his work as a songwriter , but he will always be fondly remembered by genre fans for two outstanding projects: he produced and wrote many episodes of the original version of the television show The Outer Limits , and he adapted the screenplay for the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho from the novel by Robert Bloch.
Some of them start out with an act of violence; others simply indicate the locale. It all depends on what the purpose is. You show the city, then a building in the city, a room in that building. In the opening of Psycho I wanted to say that we were in Phoenix, and we even spelled out the day and the time, but I only did that to lead up to a very important fact: that it was two-forty-three in the afternoon and this is the only time the poor girl has to go to bed with her lover.
It also allows the viewer to become a Peeping Tom. Jean Douchet, a French film critic, made a witty comment on that scene. He wrote that since John Gavin is stripped to his waist, but Janet Leigh wears a brassiere, the scene is only satisfying to one half of the audience. In truth, Janet Leigh should not have been wearing a brassiere. The sex angle was raised so that later on the audience would think that Anthony Perkins is merely a voyeur. Well, one of the reasons for which I wanted to do the scene in that way was that the audiences are changing.
I know that they themselves behave as John Gavin and Janet Leigh did. I think that nowadays you have to show them the way they themselves behave most of the time. Yes, it occurred to me that Psycho was oriented toward a new generation of filmgoers. What was it that attracted you to the novel? I think that the thing that appealed to me and made me decide to do the picture was the suddenness of the murder in the shower, coming, as it were, out of the blue.
That was about all. The killing is pretty much like a rape. I believe the novel was based on a newspaper story.
The mysterious atmosphere is, to some extent, quite accidental. In fact, the first part of the story was a red herring. We purposely made that beginning on the long side, with the bit about the theft and her escape, in order to get the audience absorbed with the question of whether she would or would not be caught.
So you deliberately play upon this fact to control their thoughts. In the average production, Janet Leigh would have been given the other role. More From Our Brands. Expand the sub menu Film. Expand the sub menu TV. Expand the sub menu What To Watch. Expand the sub menu Music. Expand the sub menu Awards.
Expand the sub menu Video. Expand the sub menu What to Hear. Expand the sub menu Digital. Hitchcock sets up Psycho as a crime picture, with Marion Crane embezzling money from her boss and going on the run, then turns it into a grisly horror movie somewhere in the middle. Every expectation that the audience has throughout the movie is subverted at some point.
Plot twists are tricky, and successfully pulling off just one is a huge cinematic accomplishment, but Psycho has two. And it was even more shocking back in Janet Leigh was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood at the time. Her character was set up as the protagonist. However, when Psycho came out in theaters, people lost their damn minds. The movie made millions over its budget and solidified Hitch's place in Hollywood history.
So much has been written about the impact of Psycho , and it's impossible to negate the movie's ongoing relevance. It has influenced filmmakers of every generation and spawned sequels, imitators, and the fear of showers and peeping toms all over the world.
But the real impact of the movie has less to do with what came on screen and more to do with the audience Theaters opened in the morning and started the showing. You could arrive at the beginning, the middle or the end, and if you missed some, just sit through the next showing to fill in the blanks. He knew that movies were bigger than people had anticipated, that they drove culture, and he wouldn't have something he loved ruined by people walking in and out or spoiling the ending.
Hitchcock sent his assistant all over to buy as many copies of the Psycho novel as possible and he refused to screen the film in advance for critics. If you know Psycho , then you know the whole movie circles around the twist that Marion Crane is murdered at the end of act one, and the whole movie then twists as her sister and love come looking for her at the Bates Motel.
This twist leads to the even more shocking reveal that Norman Bates dresses like his mother and is the one doing the actual killing. Even worse, if you were a movie talker, you'd be asking questions while the real fans sat enraptured.
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