Psycho (1960 film)
Alfred Hitchcock acquired the rights to Robert Bloch's 1959 novel for $9,500 in 1960. He faced a studio system that refused his usual budget and rejected his proposal to make another star-studded mystery thriller. Paramount Pictures executives claimed the book was too repulsive for film production. They demanded he deliver another of his famous suspense films instead. Hitchcock decided to finance the project himself through his Shamley Productions company. He chose to shoot the movie in black-and-white to keep costs under one million dollars. The final budget reached exactly $806,947 by the 11th of November 1959 when filming began. He hired his television crew from Alfred Hitchcock Presents to handle all technical aspects. This decision allowed him to pay stars like Janet Leigh only a quarter of her usual fee. She received just $25,000 for her role as Marion Crane. Anthony Perkins agreed to work for $40,000 despite being an experienced box-office draw. The entire production wrapped on the 1st of February 1960 after less than three months of shooting.
The pivotal murder sequence ran approximately three minutes but took six days to film between December 17 and 23, 1959. Janet Leigh postponed the schedule twice due to a cold and then her menstrual period before agreeing to shoot. Hitchcock used forty-five camera setups to capture the scene without showing actual blood or skin contact. He employed a chocolate syrup mixture to simulate blood flowing down the drain during the shower. The editing process involved seventy-two cuts made over five days by editor George Tomasini. Bernard Herrmann composed the famous score using only string instruments playing con sordini or muted techniques. The director insisted that no single shot could show more than one second of the knife entering flesh. This technique created the illusion of violence while satisfying censors who banned explicit gore. Leigh later recalled how water splashing in her eyes made blinking difficult during retakes. The final shot zooms into her eye from an extreme close-up position before fading out. Hitchcock forced multiple retakes until all technical elements met his exacting standards for the sequence.
The Production Code of the early 1960s considered unmarried couples sharing a bed as taboo material. Psycho showed Marion Crane wearing a bra while lying next to Sam Loomis in their hotel room. No flushing toilet had ever appeared in mainstream American cinema at that time. The film depicted torn-up note paper fully visible inside the bowl after being flushed away. British Board of Film Classification required cuts to stabbing sounds and visible nude shots upon release. New Zealand censors found Norman washing blood from his hands disgusting enough to demand removal. Ireland initially banned the entire picture when Gerry O'Hara viewed it in 1960. A highly edited version missing forty-seven feet of film was submitted the following year. O'Hara requested seven additional cuts including lines about shoes and trousers being removed. He also demanded removal of shots showing blood flowing down the shower drain repeatedly. Singapore removed the murder of Arbogast and a shot of Norman's mother's corpse entirely. Universal Pictures released the uncut version on Blu-ray for the first time in 2020 to coincide with its sixtieth anniversary. These changes reflected shifting attitudes toward violence and sexuality in mainstream films over decades.
Immediate reviews from critics were extremely polarized upon the 16th of June 1960 premiere. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it an obviously low-budget job lacking subtlety. C.A. Lejeune walked out before the end and permanently resigned her post as film critic for The Observer. Some reviewers described the film as merely one of those television shows padded out to two hours. British critics gave poor reviews questioning Hitchcock's taste and judgment while calling it his worst film ever. Pauline Kael wrote that the director showed cheerful complicity with the killer in borderline immoral fashion. Time magazine initially stated Hitchcock bore down too heavily but later switched to superlative and masterly praise. Bosley Crowther changed his opinion and included it in his Top Ten list of 1960 as a bold psychological mystery picture. Modern reviews have been overwhelmingly positive with Rotten Tomatoes showing ninety-seven percent approval based on one hundred eighteen reviews. Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of ninety-seven out of one hundred indicating universal acclaim. Roger Ebert summarized its enduring appeal by noting how Hitchcock validated modern horror through tact and grace. The film now ranks among the greatest movies of all time according to numerous critical polls.
Psycho grossed $46,500 at the DeMille Theatre during its opening week alone. It earned an additional record $19,500 at the Baronet Theatre in New York City simultaneously. Following expansion the next week it made $143,000 from just five theaters across America. The film became the second highest-grossing movie of 1960 behind Spartacus earning thirty-two million dollars total. North American theatrical rentals generated approximately nine point one million dollars for distributors worldwide. Hitchcock personally earned in excess of fifteen million dollars from the production profits. He swapped rights to Psycho and his television anthology for one hundred fifty thousand shares of MCA stock. This transaction made him the third largest shareholder in MCA Inc. and effectively his own boss at Universal Pictures. The film remains the most commercially successful project of Hitchcock's entire career despite its low budget. It set unprecedented financial success standards that established the modern horror genre as a viable commercial force. Subsequent slasher films drew heavily from this model of shocking content paired with massive box office returns.
Hitchcock subverted romantic elements seen in most of his previous work through ironic presentation. Marion Crane dies halfway through the film while her sister Lila develops an increasingly connubial relationship with Sam. Norman Bates displays stuffed birds frozen in time alongside childhood toys in his motel room. Shadows loom over characters from the first scene where blinds make bars on Marion and Sam. Mirrors reflect Marion packing her bags and checking her rear-view mirror throughout the narrative. Bright lights characterize danger rather than safety in scenes like the glaring white bathroom tiles where she dies. The heavy downpour foreshadows the shower sequence while its cessation symbolizes Marion making up her mind to return home. Norman comments that she eats like a bird during their conversation in the parlor. Brigitte Peucker suggests stuffing birds literalizes British slang for sex involving desirable women. Robert Allan interprets Norman's mother as his original stuffed bird representing incestuous emotional bonds preserved forever. These motifs create layers of meaning beyond surface-level suspense and violence within the story structure.
The Library of Congress deemed Psycho culturally historically or aesthetically significant in 1992. It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry that same year. The shower scene became one of the best-known moments in all of cinema history. Critics often rank it among the greatest films ever made by American directors. Some consider it the first film in the slasher genre though Michael Powell released Peeping Tom months earlier. Zachary Paul noted how subsequent horror films adopted gender bender reveals inspired by Psycho starting with Terror Train in 1980. Halloween starred Jamie Lee Curtis Janet Leigh's daughter and featured a character named Sam Loomis directly referencing the source material. Wes Craven included references in Scream while Mel Brooks paid tribute through High Anxiety. Bernard Herrmann's opening theme has been sampled by rappers and orchestras worldwide over decades. Universal Pictures produced three sequels after Hitchcock died in 1980 plus a remake and television series. The Bates Motel set remains standing at Universal Studios Hollywood as part of their regular tour attraction. Modern audiences continue to engage with its themes of madness family dynamics and psychological disturbance today.
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Common questions
How much did Alfred Hitchcock pay for the rights to Robert Bloch's 1959 novel?
Alfred Hitchcock acquired the rights to Robert Bloch's 1959 novel for $9,500 in 1960. He financed the project himself through his Shamley Productions company because Paramount Pictures executives refused his usual budget.
When did filming begin and end for the 1960 film Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock?
Filming began on the 11th of November 1959 when the final budget reached exactly $806,947. The entire production wrapped on the 1st of February 1960 after less than three months of shooting.
What specific techniques did Alfred Hitchcock use to create the shower scene without showing actual blood or skin contact?
Hitchcock employed a chocolate syrup mixture to simulate blood flowing down the drain during the shower sequence. He used forty-five camera setups and ensured no single shot showed more than one second of the knife entering flesh to satisfy censors who banned explicit gore.
Which countries initially banned or required cuts to the 1960 film Psycho due to violence and sexuality concerns?
The British Board of Film Classification required cuts to stabbing sounds and visible nude shots upon release while New Zealand censors demanded removal of Norman washing blood from his hands. Ireland initially banned the entire picture in 1960 and Singapore removed the murder of Arbogast and a shot of Norman's mother's corpse entirely.
How much money did Alfred Hitchcock earn personally from the profits of the 1960 film Psycho?
Alfred Hitchcock personally earned in excess of fifteen million dollars from the production profits. He swapped rights to Psycho and his television anthology for one hundred fifty thousand shares of MCA stock which made him the third largest shareholder in MCA Inc.