A+

DIRECTOR: Alfred Hitchcock

BOTTOM LINE: One of Hitchcock’s seven masterpieces.

Anthony Perkins’ Norman Bates made him immortal while, at the same, time, ending his career in Hollywood. He had crossed a line with this incredibly brave performance, and there was no way back.

Hitchcock used a small crew, assembled from his TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, to film the movie. The most notable change was cinematographer John L. Russell replacing Hitchcock regular John Burks for the film’s striking black-and-white lensing.

However, in post-production, Hitchcock regulars George Tomasini, Bernard Herrmann, and Saul Bass all remained. Their contributions to the editing, score, and title sequence are all essential to the film’s huge success.

Never was Hitchcock’s ability to manipulate an audience’s sympathies more evident than in the “car in the pond” scene. Within just a few minutes of her horrific death, we have forgotten about Janet Leigh. We are now rooting for her killer Anthony Perkins and we all breathe a huge sigh of relief when, after a gut-wrenching pause, the car, containing Janet’s body, finally goes under the water.

Yes, I agree. Norman Bates had Multiple Personality Disorder. Norman and his mother were just two of them. I always felt that there was a gay Norman in the mix!

POST TITLE: Hitchcock made seven perfect films  55 Queer Films Made Under the Hays Code (1934-1967) (Part 2)

CATEGORY: My Favorites

SUBCATEGORY: Queer Film

STREAMING: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and YOUTUBE