Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho Free

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Macy and Anne Heche in leading and supporting roles. It is a modern remake of the film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcockin which an embezzler arrives at an old motel run by an insane killer named Norman Bates. Both films are adapted from Robert Bloch 's novel of the same name. Although this version is in color, features a different cast, and is set init is closer to a shot-for-shot remake than most remakes, often copying Hitchcock's camera movements and editing, and Joseph Stefano 's script is mostly carried over. Bernard Herrmann 's musical score is reused as well, though with a Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho arrangement by Danny Elfman and Steve Bartekrecorded in stereo. Some changes are introduced to account for advances in technology since the original film and to make the content more explicit. Murder sequences are also intercut with surreal dream images. The film was both a critical and commercial failure. Heche was nominated for Worst Actress. She flees Phoenix, Arizonaby car. While en route to Sam's California home, she parks along the road to sleep. A highway patrol trooper awakens her and, suspicious of her agitated state, begins to follow her. When she trades her car for another one at a dealership, he notes the new vehicle's details. Marion returns to the road but, rather than drive in a heavy storm, decides to spend the night at the Bates Motel. Owner Norman Bates tells Marion he rarely has customers because of a new interstate highway nearby and mentions he lives with his mother Norma in the house overlooking the motel. He invites Marion to have supper with him. She overhears Norman arguing with his mother about letting Marion in the house; and, during the meal, she angers him by suggesting he institutionalize his mother. He admits he would like to do so, but he does not want to abandon her. Later that Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, while Marion is changing, Norman secretly watches her from a peephole in his office and masturbates before heading back to the house. Marion resolves to return to Phoenix to return the money. After calculating how she can repay the money she has spent, Marion dumps her notes down the toilet and begins to shower. An unidentified female figure, presumed to be Norman's mother, enters the bathroom and stabs Marion to death. Later, finding the corpse, Norman is horrified. He cleans the bathroom and places Marion's body, wrapped in the shower curtain, and all her possessions—including the money—in the trunk of her car and sinks it in a nearby swamp. Sam is contacted by both Marion's sister, Lilaand private detective Milton Arbogast, who has Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho hired by Marion's employer to find her and recover the money. Arbogast traces Marion to the motel and questions Norman, who lies unconvincingly that Marion stayed for one night and left the following morning. He refuses to let Arbogast talk to his mother, claiming she is ill. Arbogast calls Lila to update her and tells her he will contact her again in an hour after he questions Norman's mother. Arbogast enters Norman's house and, at the top of the stairs, is attacked and murdered by the Mother figure. When Arbogast does not call Lila, she and Sam contact the local police. Bates had been dead for ten years. Norman confronts his mother and urges her to hide in the cellar. She rejects the idea and orders him out of her room, but Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho carries her to the cellar against her will. Posing as a married couple, Sam and Lila check into the motel and search the room Marion had occupied. While Sam distracts Norman, Lila sneaks into the house to search for his mother. Sam suggests to Norman that he killed Marion for the money so he could buy a new motel. Realizing Lila is not around, Norman knocks Sam unconscious with a golf club and rushes to the house. Lila sees him and hides in the cellar where she discovers the mummified body of Norman's mother. Wearing his mother's clothes and a wig and carrying a knife, Norman enters and tries to attack Lila. But Sam, having regained consciousness, subdues Norman with Lila's help. After Norman's arrest, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Simon Richmond tells Sam and Lila that Norman's dead mother is living in Norman's psyche as an alternate personality. After the death of Norman's father, his mother found a lover. Norman went over the Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho with jealousy and murdered both of them. He stole her corpse and preserved the body. When he is Mother, he acts, talks and dresses as she would. Norman imagined his mother would be as jealous of a woman to whom he might be attracted just as he was of his mother's lover, and so Mother kills any woman for whom Norman has feelings. When Norman regains consciousness, he believes that his mother has committed the crime and covers up for her. Richmond concludes that the Mother personality has now taken complete control of Norman's mind, erasing his existence. In the final scene, Norman sits in a cell, thinking in Mother's voice. In a voice-over, Mother explains that she plans to prove to the authorities she is incapable of violence by refusing to swat a fly that has landed on her hand. Marion's car is shown being recovered from the swamp and is followed by the ending credits. The first name of Dr. Richmond was changed from "Fred" to "Simon" while Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho wife of Al Chambers was given the first name "Eliza". Director Gus Van Santemulating Hitchcock's practice of making cameo appearances in his films, appears as "Man talking to man in cowboy hat" at the same point in his film when Hitchcock made his appearance in the original. The audio commentary track that accompanies the DVD release of the film, and the making-of documentary Psycho Path that the DVD includes, provide numerous details about where the film strove to remain faithful to the original, and where it diverged. Some changes are pervasive: as the film opens, it is made clear that it is set in the late s, so minor changes are made throughout the dialogue to reflect the new timeframe. For example, all the references to money are updated how much Marion Crane steals, how much a car costs, how much a hotel room costsas are references to terms from the original script that would seem anachronistic in the new setting. According to Van Sant, in the original the only fully fleshed out character was Norman Bates ; the other major characters were more iconic, purposely written and portrayed to advance the plot. Van Sant relied upon his main cast members more to flesh out and make consistent their characters' motivations, and worked with them to determine to what degree their characters were similar to the originals. According to the commentary by Van Sant, Vaughn, and Heche, some actors, such as Macy, chose to stay true to the original, while others, such as Vaughn and Moore, interpreted the dialogue and scenes Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho the original film differently; Moore's version of Lila Crane, for example, was much more aggressive [ citation needed ] [ who? The cinematography and the cinematic techniques were consistent between the two films in many of the most memorable scenes, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho the shower scene, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho of the mother, scenes of the swamp, and the scene of Arbogast on the staircase, but other scenes changed significantly, particularly the climax, and the Dr. Simon monologue at the end, which was much shorter in the remake. Van Sant's comments from the commentary track attribute many of the updates to the need to make the film more accessible to a new audience. The Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho shower scene was filmed in the same way; the stabbing sound effects were produced by stabbing a melon. Fake blood was used instead of chocolate syrup. Bates dummy. The new film heightened the violence to the levels of depictions of violence in films made circa by portraying two knife wounds in her back and blood on the wall in the shower scene. It also shows the buttocks of the Marion character when she dies, an aspect cut from the original film. The costume designer, Beatrix Aruna Pasztor, originally thought that the film was going to be a period piece, so she bought period clothing for the cast. The website's critics consensus reads. Literary critic Camille Paglia commented that the only reason to watch it was "to see Anne Heche being assassinated," and that "it should have been a much more important work and event than it was. Universal Pictures received the Founders Award "for even thinking the moviegoing public would line up and pay to see a shot-for-shot remake of Psycho. Film critic Roger Ebertwho gave the film one-and-a-half Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, noted that the addition of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho masturbation scene was "appropriate, because this new Psycho evokes the real thing in an attempt to re-create remembered passion. Leonard Maltin 's Movie Guide classified the film as a "bomb," compared to the four-out-of-four stars Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho gave the original. He describes it as a "Slow, stilted, completely pointless scene-for-scene remake of the Hitchcock classic with a few awkward new touches to taint its claim as an exact replica. Quentin Tarantino has gone on record stating that he preferred Van Sant's remake to the original film, saying that the remake Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho "more real". Screenwriter Joseph Stefanowho wrote the original script, thought that although she spoke the same lines, Anne Heche portrays Marion Crane as an entirely different character. Even Van Sant admitted that it was an experiment that proved that no one can really copy a film exactly the same way as the original. Retitled Psychos and featuring no explanatory text, the recut appears to be a fan edit of the two films by Soderbergh. Reaction to the mashup appears to reinforce the prejudice against the film. The opening credits intermingle names from both the and versions, and all color has been removed from Van Sant's scenes. The film's soundtrack, Psycho: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Pictureincluded Danny Elfman's re-recordings of some of Bernard Herrmann 's score for the original film, along with a collection of songs in genres from country to drum and bassconnected mainly by titles containing "psycho" or other death or insanity-related words. Many of the songs were recorded specifically for the soundtrack, and included a sampling of Bernard Herrmann's score composed by Danny Elfman. The soundtrack also includes the track "Living Dead Girl" by Rob Zombiewhich can be heard during the film when Marion trades in her old car for a new one. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the film by Gus Van Sant. For the Hitchcock film, see Psycho film. Theatrical release poster. Gus Van Sant Brian Grazer. Macy Anne Heche. Imagine Entertainment. Release date. Running time. This section needs additional citations Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Main article: Psycho soundtrack. British Board of Film Classification. CNN - 'Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho' - August 13,

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Stephen Rebello's groundbreaking book offers the complete inside story on the making of Alfred Hitchcock's original Psycho, now seen as the forerunner of all modern horror thrillers. Rebello takes us behind the scenes for every step in the creation of this cinematic masterpiece-from the story's original inspiration to the controversy surrounding the creation of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho famous Stephen Rebello's groundbreaking book offers the complete inside story on the making of Alfred Hitchcock's original Psycho, now seen as the forerunner of all modern horror thrillers. Rebello takes us behind the scenes for every step in the creation of this cinematic masterpiece-from the story's original inspiration to the controversy surrounding the creation of the famous shower scene. Drawing on new in-depth interviews as well as Hitchcock's private files, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psych o is an eye-opening portrait of the Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho at work. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published December 15th by St. Martin's Press first published More Details Original Title. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psychoplease sign up. Be the first to ask a question about Alfred Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho and the Making of Psycho. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. Nov 27, lucky little cat rated it liked it. It'd definitely have been a four-star read if I'd read it pre-internet, before Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho many behind-the-scenes details were posted. I'm sorry Mr. Rebello, life is unfair. Even so, the book has a few surprises Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. Who knew that Anthony Perkins gladly accepted the Norman Bates role because he wanted to shake that pesky teen-idol image. By May,it still hadn't worked. Shelves: favoritesadulttough-subjectsreadpublicationnon-fiction. After three decades, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho still stands out as a masterpiece of suspense. June 16 marks the anniversary of the movie's release and it's a good opportunity to dive into the impressive story behind the film. I don't always have the patience to sit down and read an entire exhaustive biography, so I really enjoyed reading this fairly short, focused piece on one particular project. The Crime Behind the Film Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho traces the origin of the story to the infamous body snatcher and murderer Ed Gein, upon whom the fictional novel by Robert Bloch was based. It's interesting that the book's prologue delves right into the gruesome details of Gein's crimes, for although the facts of the case will not be news to anyone who has dipped a toe into his history, the ghastly details may be somewhat repugnant to the casual reader. The Making of the Film The book quickly moves onto Hitchcock's deal-making, pre-production work, and casting, however. Hitchcock personally financed Psycho and deferred his usual director's fee in exchange for majority ownership of the negative, so he enjoyed a fair amount of autonomy with his choices. The author goes into great detail about the hiring and firing of screenwriters, crew members, and various other below-the-line negotiations that might be a little on the dry side for some readers. I personally enjoy learning about budget details for these kinds of projects, however, so the author kept my attention with his meticulously researched facts and figures, many of which were uncovered in discussions with Hitchcock himself during a series of interviews shortly before the director's death. It was particularly interesting to read about Hitch's relationship with Saul Bassthe graphic designer famous for his work on The Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho with the Golden Gun, Vertigo, and West Side Story, and the man who designed Psycho 's simple but evocative title treatment. There has been much debate over the years over who actually was Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho for directing the infamous shower scene with Janet Leigh, and the author's interviews with cast and Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho sheds some interesting light on Bass' storyboards for this scene and his role as sometime assistant director. The Man Behind the Film Though this book is primarily a fairly objective documentation of how a film project came to be, the portrait it also sketches of the man behind the film is fascinating. You expect a man with his talent and showmanship to be shrewd and exacting and stubborn and clear-sighted, but it is a pleasure to discover that Hitchcock also placed a huge amount of trust in many of his collaborators, that he seemed to delight in surprising those who caught his fancy, and was a skilled trouble-shooter who found ingenious technical solutions to the innovative shots he was undertaking. It's easy to praise the film now with the benefit of modern perspective, but back then, Hitchcock really had to push to get this project made the way he wanted to. This ranged from using voyeuristic camera angles, suggestive lack of clothing, and of course, shocking murder scenes that had viewers fainting in the aisles. The film caused a sensation when it was released, and it's funny to hear that even then, directors had to include more violence than they intended to keep in order to play the ratings game with the MPAA. Hitchcock's influence on the filmmakers who followed him cannot be overstated, and it's intriguing to read the play-by-play details for one of his most well-known films. All in all, this was a very enjoyable read and is recommended for any Hitchcock fan or student of film history. The book has apparently already been optioned for a feature film. I'd love to see a similar treatment someday for my personal Hitchcock favorite Marnieas it would be great to gain some insight into what Hitchcock went through to get a film about a frigid kleptomaniac made. Right now, however, you'll have to excuse me while I go watch Psycho again. Read an excerpt from the book: If you'd like a sneak peek at the book, the publishers have made an excerpt from the book available which describes the crime upon which Psycho was based. Warning: the content of the preview is not explicit, but it is also not for the faint of heart. An advance copy was provided by the publisher for this review. Jul 17, Oscar rated it it was amazing. I am a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock and the film "Psycho. Honestly, I was aware of much of what was discussed in this book, but what made this book such a great reading experience for me was the fact that it brought together all the different aspects that went into the making of the film together in one place in a way that allows Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho to truly appreciate Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho am a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock and the film "Psycho. Honestly, I was aware of much of what was discussed in this book, but what made this book such a great reading experience for me was the fact that it brought together all the different aspects that went into the making of the film together in one place in a way that allows one to truly appreciate the depth of the film and its creation. While I was reading this book, I was able to revisit certain aspects of the film in new ways and compare those aspects with other related factors that I had not considered before, which deepened my appreciation for a film that I have loved and analyzed so much over the years. Oct 18, Ed rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: all Alfred Hitchcock fans. Sir Alfred's droll wit and dark sense of humor shine through the best. View all 6 comments. May 06, Emmett rated it it was amazing Shelves: film. It is appalling that, a Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho Psycho fan as I am, this book would have escaped my notice if not for the movie Hitchcock The movie which centres around the brilliant Mr and Mrs Hitchcock played by the equally brilliantly matched Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren is based on Rebello's very book. And Scarlett Johansson did a wonderful job being Janet Leigh Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho book is less fiction and more documentation. It is a meticulous but very readable piece of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, following It is appalling that, a self- regarded Psycho fan as I am, this book would have escaped my notice if not for the movie Hitchcock It is a meticulous but very readable piece of journalism, following the director closely through all the stages of the making of this iconic film from the beginning to the end, almost like a camera in a documentary. There is a great deal for ardent fans to be delighted over: firsthand interviews with the crew, producers, director and individual stars, various film reviews, insightful opinions, the entirely of the process from inception to aftermath laid out in chapters. Reading this is as close to the possibility of reliving the Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho process as one will ever be able to get. The author's good sense of organisation brings everything together without the constant quotation becoming too dull. Rather, it's Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho these sentences bounded by quotation marks that one gets the strongest sense of the individual stories behind the film - whether it be Janet Leigh's, Anthony Perkins's or Saul Bass's, or anyone else involved in that arduous process. Detailing even the most minor of considerations makes one aware of how much painstaking work, effort and care went into even something as innocuous as the credit sequence: 'The production team for the Psycho credit sequence settled on a configuration of over thirty parallel bars for each field. We worked on a large white-painted plywood board with push-pins to guide the bars. The bars had to follow a straight line and couldn't wriggle. Paul [Stolerodd] and I [Harold Adler] manually pushed in each bar at predetermined Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho for each exposure. The bars came in at different positions and speeds. Each bar was precisely timed by numbers of frames per second, called 'counts. Once a bar had gone across the screen, it was tied down. There were lots of retakes because they'd come in crooked or something. It all goes to show how much thought and care went into every scene, and that unfortunately not all of this can be appreciated solely on the side of the screen that faces the audience. Reading about Hitchcock agonising over the technical difficulties of the opening sequence over Phoenix, his pedantry for getting everything right to the point of obsession, amusing and annoying his stars and co-workers and the strange aura that surrounded him and his circle, is a remarkable, humbling encounter with a remarkable director. A director who cared too much but was never comfortable with the fickle public and press to ever reveal that other than in deadpan statements or airy pronouncements. A personality and brand crafted for mass consumption which hid a very real person indeed. The work was not always smooth, he did not always know what to do, but there was devotion, and the unprecedented impact Psycho would have transformed the trajectory of his career significantly but also, as Rebello conjectures, made surpassing himself and outsmarting his audience more demanding and tricky. Rebello crafts an intrusive look, as looks are, to satiate curiosity, but it is also respectful. Hitchcock's Psycho Uncut Version Coming to US Home Video – /Film

It details the creation of director Alfred Hitchcock 's thriller Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. The American biographical drama film directed by Sacha Gervasibased on this non-fiction book is titled Hitchcock. The film was released on November 23, The book was first published on April 15,by Dembner Books, and distributed by W. Stephen Rebello researched the film thoroughly through Hitchcock's personal records and archives and he interviewed virtually every surviving cast and crew member. Prior to the book's publication, Rebello's initial research appeared as a page article in the April issue of Cinefantastique magazine entitled "Psycho: The Making of Alfred Hitchcock's Masterpiece". The book details Hitchcock's acquisition of the original novel by Robert Bloch to his work with two different screenwriters, casting, filming, editing, scoring, and promotion. Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho shows the daily lives of the filmmakers, who believed they were making a modestly budgeted, black-and-white shocker, representing a radical departure from the elegant, suspenseful films that had made director Hitchcock's reputation, including RopeRear WindowTo Catch a ThiefThe Man Who Knew Too Muchand North by Northwest. The project, which Hitchcock tackled in part to compete with financially successful, low-budget, youth-oriented horror movies, went on to astound many by becoming a cultural watershed, an international box-office success, a film classic, and a forerunner of the violent, disorienting films and real-events of the turbulent s and '70s. Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho was initially distributed in hardcover print by W. A trade paperback edition was released in the United States in by St. Martin's Griffin. Subsequently, the book has been published in hardcover and paperback by Marion Boyars Limited in Great Britain and Australia. The book has since become a standard and continues to be used in film studies classes on director Alfred Hitchcock. InOpen Road Media launched the first e-book version of the book, which in was re-published in a motion picture tie-in edition in the U. Blackstone Audio in released an unabridged audiobook narrated by Paul Michael Garcia and, subsequently, by Richard Powers. The book received considerable praise upon its publication as well as in subsequent years for reprints. On the publication of the hardcover first edition incritic Richard Schickel called the book "indispensable and marvelously readable" and "one of the best accounts of the making of an individual movie we've ever had. The author has conducted interviews with all those involved in the making of Psycho — its casting, scripting, art design, lighting, editing, selling — in the course of it, we inch closer to the bizarre, unpredictable quality of its director. The critic for Newsweek called the Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho "wonderful" and observed, "Stephen Rebello makes reading about Psycho almost as much fun as watching it. Required reading not only for Psycho -philes, but for anyone interested in the backstage world of movie-creation. Entertainment Weekly, referring to Rebello's revealing how Hitchcock arrived at the sound of the knife stabbing the heroine in the Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, opined "the melon tale alone is worth the price of [the book]. In a January 6, Newsweek story called "The Mother of All Horror Films," Malcolm Jones called Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho book "fascinating" and Robert Graysmithtrue crime author of the non-fiction book Zodiactermed the book "groundbreaking. A wonderful, absolutely essential book. Production commenced on April 13, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, of a film based upon the book. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Book by Stephen Rebello. Main article: Hitchcock film. Cinefantastique Online. Retrieved September 18, New York Times. Retrieved September 17, Images Journal. Entertainment Weekly. The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on March 6, The Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles Times. Huffington Post. Retrieved September 20, Robert Bloch 's Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho Motel — Book Category. Alfred Hitchcock. Filmography Unproduced projects Themes and plot devices Cameos Awards and honors. Blackmail Juno and the Paycock Murder! Rebecca Foreign Correspondent Mr. Alma Reville wife Pat Hitchcock daughter. Categories : non-fiction books American non-fiction books Books adapted into films Psycho franchise Works about Alfred Hitchcock W. Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Use mdy dates from April Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Add links.