Psycho - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Psycho or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Psycho

[jessie]

In the opening scene, Marion Crane is wearing a white bra because Sir 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.

[terry]

One of the reasons why Sir Alfred Hitchcock wanted to make this movie in black-and-white is because Hitchcock loved the French horror movie Diabolique (1955), which was made in black-and-white. Diabolique (1955) was based on Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac's novel "Celle qui n'était plus" (She Who Was No More). Hitchcock attempted to buy the rights to this novel in 1950s. But Director Henri-Georges Clouzot bought the movie rights to the original novel. Clouzot reportedly beat Hitchcock by only a matter of a few hours.

[eli]

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 movie have refuted this claim.

[wesley]

The novel "Psycho", written by Robert Bloch, was part of a series of pulp novels marketed in conjunction with the popular spooky radio show "Inner Sanctum".

[manuel]

This was the last movie Sir Alfred Hitchcock made for Paramount Pictures. To avoid interference by studio executives, he shot it on the Universal Pictures lot, where he had already moved his offices in order to produce Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955). Universal Pictures would later get the distribution rights to the movie as well.

[jesse]

This movie was first scheduled to air on U.S. network television in the fall of 1966. Just before it would have aired, however, Valerie Percy, the daughter of then-U.S. Senate candidate Charles H. Percy (U.S. Senator, R-Illinois: 1967 to 1985), was stabbed to death, apparently by an intruder, in a murder that, as of 2019, remains unsolved. It was deemed prudent, under the circumstances, to postpone the scheduled airing. Ultimately, this movie was not shown on U.S. network television until 1970, following a highly successful theatrical re-release in 1969. At that time, Universal Pictures released it on the syndication market, where it quickly became a popular staple on local late night horror movie showings.

[wallace]

Sir Alfred Hitchcock had previously cast Vera Miles in The Wrong Man (1956). He wanted to cast her in Vertigo (1958), but she had to turn it down due to pregnancy. Miles was not happy making this movie, and felt that Hitchcock was punishing her by giving her an unflattering wardrobe that made her look matronly, never mind that it was designed by the famous Hollywood designer Edith Head. For her work, Miles received $100,700 per week.

[maureen]

This movie made its American television debut on WABC in New York City on June 24, 1967.

[jamie]

This movie marked the fifth and final time that Sir Alfred Hitchcock earned an Oscar nomination for Best Director, though he never won.

[janice]

Norman's parlor features many stuffed birds, several of whom are associated with wisdom or intelligence, including an owl and a crow. Less noticed is a hoopoe, a striking striped bird native to Eurasia and Africa, that Norman rests his hand upon during the calm portion of his conversation with Marion. Hoopoes are common in Middle Eastern and African folklore, and are characterized as being wise, much like owls. On the other hand, pheasants like the one behind him in the same scene are thought to be fairly stupid, suggesting the split nature of Norman's personality. This seems intentional, given the recurring bird motifs throughout the movie.

[gerald]

It's just "Mrs. Bates" in this movie; her first name isn't specified until the sequels.

[frances]

This was Sir Alfred Hitchcock's last theatrical movie in black-and-white. It was filmed from November 30, 1959 to February 1, 1960.

[tamara]

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

[frederick]

Joseph Stefano was adamant about seeing a toilet on-screen to display realism. He also wanted to see it flush. Sir 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 movie (and possibly first fictional movie) ever to show a toilet flushing on-screen.

[amber]

Felicia Farr, Carolyn Jones, Caroline Korney, and Eleanor Parker were considered for the role of Lila Crane.

[mathew]

A false story has circulated that George Reeves was hired to play detective Milton Arbogast and filmed a few of his scenes with the rest of the cast just a week before his death. There is no truth to this rumor whatsoever. Reeves died on June 16, 1959, almost two months before Sir Alfred Hitchcock decided to make this movie, and exactly one year before the June 16, 1960 date when this movie had its world premiere in New York City. Work on the script began in October, 1959, four months after Reeves' death. Filming began in November, 1959, five months after Reeves' death. At the time of Reeves' death, Hitchcock was on a world tour promoting North by Northwest (1959). (Source: "The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock," by Donald Spoto.) George Reeves did not live long enough to even know a movie of "Psycho" was planned, much less appear in it.

[eli]

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." (This discarded dialogue was resurrected for the Gus Van Sant remake Psycho (1998), but was subsequently cut.)

[frances]

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.

[ronnie]

Hitchcock's earlier film Vertigo (1958) contains many "echoes" of this movie: prolonged sequences of sedately driving a car through the countryside; a receptionist gestures at some keys on a key rack, which indicates the empty rooms; the leading lady writes a note, only to rip the paper to pieces; a special sequence designed by Saul Bass features a huge close-up of a woman's eye, then zooms out again; the leading lady is killed about halfway through the movie; a detective and his female associate visit a local retail store to make inquiries; watched from above, the detective climbs a carpeted staircase up to a landing, to seek a lady who isn't there; a dead woman is dramatically revealed; and a doctor gives his expert opinion on the psychosis which ails the leading man.