Psycho (1960) MOVIE REACTION & COMMENTARY!!

[@jamesa.romano8500]

The real tragedy at the end is that Norman is the only one Marion told about her intention to return to Phoenix and give back the money. And since Norman in his final state is unlikely to have remembered this conversation, no one in the film proper will ever know

[@latenightswithsammy]

Very good point here!

[@brandonflorida1092]

Vera Miles (Lila) said in an interview: "He was very specific about everything he wanted. He was in complete control of everything, but he was always very cordial and very pleasant and never rude or dictatorial in his behavior." (from a "Film Comment" interview)

[@latenightswithsammy]

True visionary

[@jeffbassin630]

"Psycho" is truly a classic film that will remain as such forever. No film will ever top it's ground-breaking elements!

[@latenightswithsammy]

Agreed!

[@BigGator5]

"She needs ME. It's not as if she were a maniac, a raving thing. She just goes - a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?" "Yes. Sometimes just one time can be enough." Fun Fact: This was the highest-grossing movie of Sir Alfred Hitchcock's career. Music Enthusiast Fact: The score is played entirely by stringed instruments. Director Sir Alfred Hitchcock was so pleased with the score written by Bernard Herrmann that he doubled the composer's salary. Up Close And Personal Fact: In order to implicate viewers as fellow voyeurs, Sir Alfred Hitchcock used a 50 mm lens on his 35 mm camera. This gives the closest approximation to the human vision. In the scenes where Norman (Anthony Perkins) is spying on Marion (Janet Leigh), this effect is felt. Subtle Visual Cues Fact: In the opening scene, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is wearing a white bra and has a white purse 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 and black purse because now she has done something wrong and evil.

[@paulklenknyc]

Very interesting you pointed out there are three conspicuous references to marriage in the first few minutes. i never heard anyone mention that before. Already watching a second time. You're one of my favorite reactors. Love you, man!

[@latenightswithsammy]

Hey! Thank you so much for writing and tuning in :) Glad you're enjoying it!

[@paulklenknyc]

The only reason Hitch included the date and time in the opening was in case later people asked why there were Christmas decorations in Phoenix as Lowry crossed in front of her car. The second unit screwed up when they got those street shots.

[@latenightswithsammy]

Ahh, that seems like a legitimate reason for the information 😆

[@carlopanno6307]

They didn't screw up, exactly. They were told to get second-unit atmospherics, and they did. The Christmas decorations were just tgere.

[@paulklenknyc]

@@carlopanno6307 Oh, no: “As the camera pans a city skyline, the documentary-like titles appear: PHOENIX, ARIZONA … FRIDAY, DECEMBER THE ELEVENTH … TWO FORTY-THREE P.M. Hitchcock frequently established a precise time and place in the opening shots of his films, but Psycho was different. “Hitchcock was mad as hell because he had sent out a second-unit crew to shoot process plates of the city streets,” set designer Robert Clatworthy said. “When he saw what they’d shot, he noticed that Christmas decorations were hung over the street. He didn’t approve of that at all and said, ‘Hmmm. That will take some explaining.’ He was always thinking about the audience trying to outsmart him. You can see the decorations in the shots when Janet Leigh’s boss walks past her car and peers in the window. There wasn’t time to reshoot. So he added the date in the titles at the beginning and hoped some wiseacre wouldn’t wonder why there was no other reference to the holidays anywhere else in the picture.” - Chapter 7, “Shooting.” , “Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho” by Stephen Rebello

[@carolinea6769]

I really enjoyed your insights about the film. I like how you pointed out that with the taxidermy and paintings in the lobby, it's like eyes are everywhere in the parlor. I loved your observation that Marion's boyfriend Sam is bogged down by obligations and responsibilities to pay off his debts and alimony and how this contrasts with Norman's situation in which he's unattached and has way too much free time on his hands. I never considered this before or how Sam and Norman are foils of each other in that respect. There's a line early in the film in which Sam asks Marion if she'll leave him for someone available and she jokingly replies "I'm thinking about it." It's like, in a weird way, Norman represents Marion's desires for respectability and compliance with parental authority taken to an unhealthy extreme.

[@latenightswithsammy]

A brilliant film, directed by an outstanding Director, so much to admire in this picture. Thank you for the kind words, and for writing in :)

[@thunderstruck5484]

All time classic! Thanks Sammy this movie used to scare the crap outta me when it was on tv in the sixties!

[@latenightswithsammy]

Could only imagine seeing this when it just came out, would scare me too 😅

[@carlopanno6307]

OF COURSE the dialogue is in her head. It's Sunday, nobody is going to notice the missing money (and the missing Marion) until Monday.

[@rnw2739]

Absolutely! It annoys me that divs always think these conversations are being had as we hear them. One thing though, it's Saturday when Marion hears them, not Sunday.😊

[@ElliotNesterman]

Very good commentary on the film. I just noticed that the policeman in the hallway at the end was played by Ted Knight.

[@thunderstruck5484]

WoW never noticed that thanks!

[@TTM9691]

Never noticed that either in all these years! Thanks, Elliot!

[@ericodionneviglione9426]

Sammy pointed out many great things I never noticed and thought of before in this film, making it even more awesome. I also liked Sammy looking scared watching--it's always fun to see! Heehee! :)

[@latenightswithsammy]

Thank you so much for writing and tuning in 😆 It is always fun to re-visit Hitchcock pictures, so much to unpack and learn :)

[@rayname908]

Anthony Perkins wanted Norman to eat candy corn like a bird.

[@latenightswithsammy]

😅 Indeed!

[@TTM9691]

What a pleasant surprise!! Thanks, Sammy!!

[@latenightswithsammy]

HEYY! Thanks :) Can't wait to share 'Psycho 2!'

[@thunderstruck5484]

Simon Oakland played the psychiatrist at the end, was in so many movies and mainly every tv shows we watched back then , had some real screen presence along with Martin Balsam who is always so great! Martin was a radio operator on a B24 in Ww2 , ! Thanks again!

[@TTM9691]

Love Martin Balsam. One of the most dependable actors in all of movies. Did not know he was a radio operator in WW2! I can totally see it! That voice is what you want on the other end of your radio in the heat of battle.

[@ericjanssen394]

And most of my childhood, I on.y knew Oakland as Carl Kolchak’s hot-tempered newspaper editor….

[@thunderstruck5484]

@@ericjanssen394 haha that’s right forgot about that, good show, only one season, only thing I remember is something about a zombie, but can’t remember to much so long ago, thanks

[@reverts3031]

For a fun movie about how the film Psycho was filmed I recommend watching "Hitchcock" - 2012 starring Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren.

[@latenightswithsammy]

Fantastic! That'd be a fun watch 😆

[@michiganjfrog366]

Did you know that the other secretary is Alfred Hitchcock's real daughter Patricia

[@latenightswithsammy]

No kidding?!? Interesting!

[@donatogressbautista4843]

Good reaction. Did you know there’s a “Psycho 2” and “Psycho 3”? You should react to them, since they’re underrated movies.

[@latenightswithsammy]

Thank you for tuning in :) Yup, and 'Psycho 2' episode coming soon 😆

[@GarthKlein]

The point about killing off Janet Leigh's character is not that you don't kill off the lead. That was done quite frequently. John Wayne dies in many of his pictures; it is unusual for Greta Garbo not to be killed. But they all die at the end of the movie. Janet Leigh dies halfway through the film. That is the shock.

[@latenightswithsammy]

Completely agree! And I really enjoyed that the decision to kill off her character came before we knew as an audience whether or not she would go back and return the money ...

[@carlopanno6307]

Tee hee that's cute. John Wayne got killed in ONE movie after decades of being a star. People flipped out. Garbo died in CAMILLE but often...?

[@robertjewell9727]

.My friend Dorothy's father composed the music for this film.

[@latenightswithsammy]

Now THAT is awesome!

[@cjmacq-vg8um]

martin balsam, who played P. I. arbogast, is one of my favorite character actors along with john qualen and elisha cook. balsam has a credit list on both tv and film a mile long. it includes the classic films "on the waterfront" (1954), "12 angry men" (1957), "psycho" (1960), "cape fear" (1962 and the 1991 remake), "catch-22" (1970), "little big man" (1970), "the taking of pelham one two three" (1974), "all the president's men" (1976) and "raid on entebbe" (1976). as well as appearing in "the twilight zone" tv show and movie and "alfred hitchcock presents..." tv show.

[@rnw2739]

I agree. His interrogation of Norman in the office is my favourite scene out of the whole film, yet whenever 'Psycho' is mentioned or referenced, Martin Balsam is never even acknowledged nor his performance, which is criminal.

[@cjmacq-vg8um]

@@rnw2739 ... its not only criminal... its PSYCHO!

[@Phillyd0gg]

Give this amazing reactor to 3K :)

[@TTM9691]

Agreed!

[@latenightswithsammy]

😊

[@oneironaut420]

The sequels are okay, but the TV show Bates Motel is amazing. Such good acting, great atmosphere and it really expands on the lore of that world.

[@rnw2739]

You must be joking!! 'Psycho II' is absolutely brilliant and turns the audiences opinion of Norman totally on its head, making him the victim. The 'Bates Motel' series was utter crap, Freddie Highmore isn't fit to wipe Anthony Perkins' arsehole.

[@ericjanssen394]

Psycho III was Perkins’ attempt to vanity-direct Norman himself, and he does a….good enough job, but meh. Psycho IV was a cable TV -movie that was basically a two-hour first draft of what the Bates Motel stretched out into several seasons.

[@oneironaut420]

@@rnw2739 Psycho II was fine but a little underwhelming as a sequel. Bates Motel is not supposed to be exactly like the movies so you can’t really compare the two. Freddie Highmore’s Norman is a lot more realistic depiction of mental illness because there is more time to explore that aspect of the character. He is just as sympathetic as movie Norman.

[@Phillyd0gg]

This is my favorite movie of all time. Has one of the best scenes, shots, and score of all time, the shower scene. Anthony Perkins STEALS this movie! I love his character and performance so much! I would recommend those sequels! DON"T DO THE REMAKE! IT COPIES SHOT TO SHOT FROM THE ORIGINAL!

[@BlueShadow777]

I agree that Perkins is brilliant in this. However, I always take more than a step back when people says hyperbolic things like “This is my favourite movie of all time”. 🙄

[@QueensLadyDay]

It's my favorite movie also! 😊

[@TTM9691]

@@BlueShadow777 Obviously you don't know what hyperbolic means. Declaring something as "the greatest movie ever made" - and it's, like, "Speed 2".....that's being over-hyperbolic. Stating something is your favorite is not. If I say autumn is my favorite season, there's nothing hyperbolic about that. If I say Beethoven is my favorite composer or The Beatles my favorite band, that's stating a fact. People have favorite movies, and it's not outside the realm of possibility that someone would cite Psycho as their favorite film, for all kinds of reasons. That's what you come out of the shadows to say? Being arbitrary just to be arbitrary? Who CARES what you think about people who......what?.....have favorite movies? You can't win, no matter how innocuous a comment (like "this is my favorite movie!") there will be ALWAYS be an asshole to piss all over it.

[@Mike-rk8px]

Psycho was remade in color in 1998 with Vince Vaughn as Norman and Anne Heche as Marion. It was an exact scene by scene recreation of the 1960 movie, just in color.

[@TTM9691]

@@Mike-rk8px .....and it was an absolute pointless piece of crap.

[@denisletourneau9750]

Great Review as always Sammy "Norman Bates."

[@latenightswithsammy]

Thank you as always for tuning in 😊

[@ericjanssen394]

If you haven’t seen the Psycho II sequel, it’s pretty darn good-No patch on the original Hitchcock, but director Richard Franklin used to work for Hitch and picked up some of his style. Not to mention a script by Tom “Fright Night” Holland, a plot that echoes William Castle, and a spookily time-preserved Tony Perkins who still knows how to play Norman as a sympathetic character.

[@latenightswithsammy]

Psycho 2 Episode is up :) Really fun watch

[@brandonflorida1092]

One minute she's blissfully showering and the next she's dying. Did she have a heart attack?

[@Mike-rk8px]

The first time I saw the infamous shower scene I was a 10 year old boy home alone watching tv during a thunderstorm, and it totally freaked me out. From then on the bathroom door had to be locked if I was in the shower. Janet Leigh said she only took baths after starring in Psycho.

[@brandonflorida1092]

@@Mike-rk8px I understand he also has some movie where someone dies in a bath. Obviously, my question is sarcastic. One must expect some continuity in the editing.

[@paulklenknyc]

oh my a new psycho reaction -- i love these!

[@rnw2739]

Me too - I only wish everyone who has reacted to this, did a reaction to the fantastic 'Psycho II' as well.

[@paulklenknyc]

@@rnw2739 I haven’t been able to get interested in Psy2. Haven’t heard anyone rave about it, or even talk about it.

[@latenightswithsammy]

'Psycho 2' episode coming soon! 😊

[@rnw2739]

@@latenightswithsammy Oh wicked!!!! Thank you very much!!! Can't wait to watch it.

[@noelleparris9451]

There is nothing "infamous" about Hitchcock's cameos. Famous perhaps. Expected certainly. A staple sure. But "infamous" is negative...which his cameos never are.

[@latenightswithsammy]

Thank you for that correction, miss use of word 😅

[@carlopanno6307]

Exactly. "Infamous" means "shameful." It is not interchangeable with "famous."

[@amyjordan195]

It was a bit disappointing that you already knew the twist and were commenting on it throughout. Otherwise, I did enjoy your reaction.

[@Steve-gx9ot]

Too Bad Sammy knew Norman dressed as mother. Ruins the plot....😢

[@latenightswithsammy]

Indeed, but even with that revealed on a re-watch, it's still a treat to keep discovering new things :)