Of all the classic films made at the beginning of the end of Hollywood’s most glamorous period in films, none proved more shocking than Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho."
This was clearly a film that had no interest in blending in with typical films of the era; for starters it was in black and white and had a budget under $1 million. Films presented in color were already a commonplace, and Hitchcock rarely made a film for under a million dollars at that time.
Rather than the usual glamorous setting with rich and well to do people, “Psycho” was cheap and sleazy looking. The characters were struggling and all had conflicts that crept deep beneath their surfaces. It was made in a time where people wanted to appear normal and without problems, these characters were no exception to that.
Janet Leigh portrayed Marion Crane. Her characters lives in Phoenix, Arizona and works as a secretary to a real estate agent. Marion is a fascinatingly eclectic portrait in the sense that she too wants to hide the problems that she is having, while at the same time publicly airing them out by committing a heinously sloppy crime. She is desperate to marry her boyfriend Sam Loomis, portrayed by John Gavin. Sam is a hard luck case. He owns a hardware shop in a small town in Central California. Sam is in debt up to his teeth; he is paying his wife’s alimony while she is living it up on the other side of the world, and paying what is remaining of his dead father’s old debts.
Marion is hopelessly in love with him and will lower herself to even the level of meeting him in secret at cheap and sleazy hotels during her lunch hour. Sam enjoys their relationship as it is; he drives to see her from California so that they can have their time. Since the kind of affair they were having was considered disrespectful at the time, they are not actually far from what would be considered today as a friend with benefits. The difference between Sam and Marion is very simple. She is an idealist, and he is a realist. There is no way that he can afford to support her, nor can she support him since this was a time where the man worked and was the breadwinner. The wife would stay home and tend to house and the children if any.
Then the day comes… Emotion takes over completely. In a fit of blind desperation, Marion steals $40,000 from her employer with the intent of taking it to Sam in California, but she never makes it.
The Bates Motel is along her route to Sam. She stops and meets one of the creepiest and most mentally disturbed characters in movie history, Norman Bates, portrayed by Anthony Perkins.
During the conversation between Marion and Norman, there is evidently a sexual tension and a curiosity that is never acted upon. The reason being is that Norman is the one who is feeling it; Marion is merely unsettled by how much of a hermit he is.
Norman has a mother that doesn’t like the fact that he has warmed up to this woman, so the only way to end it is for her to kill Marion. The famed and historic shower scene takes place in which Marion is stabbed a dozen and a half times by Mother Bates aka Norman Bates.
That’s right! If you’ve seen this, you already know that Norman is his own mother. Is this guy a psycho or what???
Delving deeper into the themes of “Psycho,” one can clearly see that the director Alfred Hitchcock has his own obsessions.
Here is a short list:
1. Blondes
2. Murder
3. Sex
4. Food
The way that all these tie together is they all are forced to become an integral part of the story. Blondes are supposed to have more fun which would explain why everyone wants Marion. Murder is the theme behind the jealousy embedded in the schizophrenia that Norman has. Sex is one of the driving emotions why everyone is so reactive in the film. Norman’s Mother personality kills Marion because he lusted after her and wanted her badly. Sam drives all the way to Arizona often to have their relationship which is nothing more than sexual on his part.
I can go on and on about any Hitchcock film, I love them! They are excellent examples of what Hollywood used to put out. The stuff now just doesn’t make sense.
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