History Trivia / Psycho

* TheWikiRule: [[http://psycho.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page The Psycho Wiki]].

* TropeNamer: PsychoStrings for the film's famous score.

** Averted with Anthony Perkins. While acknowledging that starring in the film led to him being [[TypeCasting typecast]] as a maniac killer, when he was asked if he still would have taken the role knowing what it would do to his career, he replied with a definite "yes".

** The censors wanted to cut the shot of the toilet flushing. But Hitchcock insisted that it was important to the plot - the torn-up paper proving that Marion stayed in the motel. And so the film is the first to show a toilet flushing on screen.

* PlayingWithCharacterType: Bates initially appears to be the same sort of character Perkins was known for playing up to that time - a likeable, socially awkward supporting role. This makes the TwistEnding all the more shocking, especially since it was drastically different from how Norman was in Bloch's book.

* CreatorChosenCasting: Creator/AnthonyPerkins was Hitchcock's first and only choice for Norman Bates.

** Creator/AngieDickinson, Creator/PiperLaurie, Creator/EvaMarieSaint, Creator/LeeRemick, Creator/MarthaHyer and Creator/LanaTurner were among those considered for Marion Crane.

* ActorSharedBackground: Creator/AnthonyPerkins lost his father at the age of five and was raised by his mother, like his character Norman.

* ActingInTheDark: Alfred Hitchcock withheld the ending from the cast and crew until it was time to shoot it.
* ActorSharedBackground: Anthony Perkins lost his father at the age of five and was raised by his mother, like his character Norman.
* BillingDisplacement: Done deliberately by the advertising, which promoted Janet Leigh as the star of the film. Ironically in the credits she is given AndStarring - whereas she still has more screen time than Creator/VeraMiles and Creator/JohnGavin, who get second and third billing.

* NoBudget: Paramount studios had real distaste for the source material. Hitchcock agreed to make it on a low-budget and take a pay cut in exchange for a percentage of the film's gross (and given the phenomenal success and high profit margin, he was laughing all the way to the bank). The film is still a little more expensive than actual low-budget films of the time, such as Creator/WilliamCastle's films and [[BMovie B movies]] which inspired it, but at $800,000 it only cost about one-fifth the budget of ''Film/NorthByNorthwest'' the year before.

** Turkey: ''Pervert''

* QuoteSource:
** FalseInnocenceTrick
** SerialKiller

** It was also a BlackSheepHit for Hitchcock, whose movies before and after ''Psycho'' were sophisticated thrillers with high production values, crossing the line between action movie and drama. He was inspired to make this film as a result of his fondness for Creator/WilliamCastle's films. As such many who come to see ''Psycho'' (which is often the first, and in some cases only, Hitchcock film people see) can leave with an impression that Hitchcock made cheap slasher-film with shocking twists when in all of these cases, ''Psycho'' was an exception and Hitchcock generally disliked plot-twists and averted them for most his career.

** Averted with Anthony Perkins. While acknowledging that starring in the film led to him being [[TypeCasting typecast]] as a maniac killer, when he was asked if he still would have taken the role knowing what it would do to his career, he replied with a definite "yes."

* CreatorChosenCasting: Creator/AnthonyPerkins was Creator/AlfredHitchcock's first and only choice for Norman Bates.
* DistancedFromCurrentEvents: The first TV airing of the film was to have happened on September 23, 1966 as a Creator/{{CBS}} Friday Night Movie. Three days before, the daughter of Illinois senate candidate Charles H. Percy, Valerie Percy, was killed in a stabbing. CBS postponed the broadcast (already advertised in TV Guide) as a result, but eventually decided not to air the film. Creator/{{ABC}}'s New York affiliate WABC-TV ended up being the first U.S. TV station to air the movie on June 24, 1967.

** The censors wanted to cut the shot of the toilet flushing. But Hitchcock insisted that it was important to the plot - the torn up paper proving that Marion stayed in the motel. And so the film is the first to show a toilet flushing on screen.

* GenreKiller: Many film historians consider ''Psycho'', alongside ''Film/TouchOfEvil'' (which inspired it) to be the movie that killed FilmNoir. Others go further and insist that it ended UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood altogether, because the film's utter lack of idealization, the fact that characters are AntiHero at best, that the sympathetic male lead (played by Creator/JohnGavin) is himself a SympatheticAdulterer, that the villain Norman Bates is someone the audience is ''intended'' to identify with on some level, and the fact that the film's two distinct halves joined together by the famous shower-scene utterly shatters the Hollywood narrative and three-act structure. More to the point, the film did all this, and ''became a major global box-office hit''.

* NotScreenedForCritics: Alfred Hitchcock actually played this card and then some in order to conceal the film's classic plot twist. This makes ''Psycho'' a rare example of a film NotScreenedForCritics that is acclaimed by them later.

* OneTakeWonder: The speech by the psychiatrist at the end was considered an extremely important part of the film, since it provided the detailed {{exposition}} needed to understand everything that had happened up to that point. But since the speech was so long and full of nuance, by all expectations it should have been a struggle to film. Instead, actor Simon Oakland did it perfectly in the first take, leading Creator/AlfredHitchcock to stand up, shake his hand, and say "Thank you very much, Mr. Oakland. You've just saved my picture."

* RealitySubtext: Part of Creator/AlfredHitchcock's love for the story was because he sympathised with Norman - having also grown up with a rather domineering mother. Thankfully she was not as bad as Mrs Bates. Likewise the screenwriter Joseph Stefano, wrote the screenplay while he was in therapy, dealing with the troubled relationship with his own mother, and was drafted by Hitchcock to specifically highlight the Freudian nature of the story.

** The same applies to Janet Leigh. Although not subject to typecasting afterwards, pretty much all she is really remembered for was the shower scene. Movie buffs remember her as one of many promising actresses of the late fifties who appeared in films like ''Film/TheNakedSpur, Film/TheVikings'' and of course ''Film/TouchOfEvil'' (which is what inspired Hitchcock to cast her in this film) but none of them were as famous and culturally influential as this film (though of course there are very few films that are as famous and culturally influential as this one ''period'').

* TroubledProduction: More like troubled ''pre''-production. Hitchcock was repeatedly mocked by executives at Creator/{{Paramount}} who refused to fund the film because of its controversial subject matter, going as far as refusing to grant him access to their sound stages by ''falsely'' claiming they had all been taken up. This caused Hitchcock to take the bill for the movie himself and finance it through his company, Shamley Productions, and shoot the movie at the Universal lot. When the movie was finished, Paramount reluctantly agreed to distribute the film, but only for eight years since MCA had bought Hitchcock's stake in Shamley in 1964, allowing Paramount to clean their hands of the movie and pass it on to Universal four years later.

!!The remake
* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget, $60 million. Box office, $37,141,130, though Creator/GusVanSant claims the studio "broke even" financially. This film was heavily panned by critics for being a 90's shot-by-shot remake of the original classic '''IN COLOR!''' (this included copying the original script from Joseph Stefano, who was credited as the screenwriter on this one as well). This prompted Series/SiskelAndEbert to say, "Rent the Original".
* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/JulianneMoore had been considered for the role of Marion Crane before being cast as her sister Lila Crane.
* CreatorBacklash: Creator/GusVanSant has admitted he only directed the remake to show how pointless the idea of a shot by shot remake was.
* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/RobertLoggia was known for playing sleazy underworld figures and tough guys. Here he plays a mild-mannered and kind psychiatrist.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/ChristianBale, Creator/JeremyDavies, Creator/RobertSeanLeonard, Creator/TobeyMaguire, Creator/JoaquinPhoenix and Creator/HenryThomas were considered for Norman Bates.
** Creator/LauraLinney was offered the role of Marion Crane, but turned it down in favour of ''Film/TheTrumanShow''. Creator/DrewBarrymore was considered, but deemed too young next to Creator/VinceVaughn. Creator/ClaireDanes, Creator/NicoleKidman and Creator/WinonaRyder were also considered.

* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget, $60 million. Box office, $37,141,130, though Creator/GusVanSaint claims the studio "broke even" financially. This film was heavily panned by critics for being a 90's shot-by-shot remake of the original classic '''IN COLOR!''' (this included copying the original script from Joseph Stefano, who was credited as the screenwriter on this one as well). This prompted Series/SiskelAndEbert to say, "Rent the Original".

** Creator/RobertLoggia (who would later play Doctor Raymond in ''Film/PsychoII''), Creator/JackLord, Creator/LeslieNielsen and Creator/RodTaylor was among those considered for Sam Loomis.

* TheOtherMarty: There were rumours that George Reeves was originally cast as Arbogast and had already filmed some of his scenes by the time he died. As the script wasn't even started until four months after Reeves's death, this is quite unlikely.

* RealLifeWritesTheHairstyle

* StarDerailingRole: Creator/VeraMiles wore a wig for her role, as she had to shave her head for her role in ''Film/FiveBrandedWomen''.

* RealitySubtext: Part of Hitchcock's love for the story was because he sympathised with Norman - having also grown up with a rather domineering mother. Thankfully she was not as bad as Mrs Bates. Likewise the screenwriter Joseph Stefano, wrote the screenplay while he was in therapy, dealing with the troubled relationship with his own mother, and was drafted by Hitchcock to specifically highlight the Freudian nature of the story.

* StarDerailingRole:
** Subverted yet played straight: History will tell you that ''Psycho'' was not a box-office nor a critical failure, and it's obviously considered one of the best films ever made. However, many consider it to be the film that simultaneously heightened and ruined Creator/AnthonyPerkins' career as an actor because he was subject to typecasting afterwards, and most moviegoers [[IAmNotSpock only knew him as Norman Bates]]. Perkins never had any [[CreatorBacklash backlash]] because of it, but plenty of his fans will vouch Perkins was one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood history, and ''Psycho'' is to blame. Ironically enough, at the time ''Psycho'' was Perkins PlayingAgainstType. After ''Psycho,'' if there was a movie where he wasn't playing a "psycho," it was him playing against type again. Especially notable is ''Film/MurderOnTheOrientExpress1974'', in which his character is given serious issues with his mother which aren't present at all in the book.

** Subverted yet played straight: History will tell you that ''Psycho'' was not a box-office nor a critical failure, and it's obviously considered one of the best films ever made. However, many consider it to be the film that simultaneously heightened and ruined Creator/AnthonyPerkins' career as an actor because he was subject to typecasting afterwards, and most moviegoers [[IAmNotSpock only knew him as Norman Bates]]. Perkins never had any [[CreatorBacklash backlash]] because of it, but plenty of his fans will vouch Perkins was one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood history, and ''Psycho'' is to blame. Ironically enough, at the time ''Psycho'' was Perkins PlayingAgainstType. After ''Psycho,'' if there was a movie where he wasn't playing a "psycho," it was him playing against type again. Especially notable is ''Film/MurderOnTheOrientExpress1974'', in which his his character is given serious issues with his mother which aren't present at all in the book.

** Subverted yet played straight: History will tell you that ''Psycho'' was not a box-office nor a critical failure, and it's obviously considered one of the best films ever made. However, many consider it to be the film that simultaneously heightened and ruined Creator/AnthonyPerkins' career as an actor because he was subject to typecasting afterwards, and most moviegoers [[IAmNotSpock only knew him as Norman Bates]]. Perkins never had any [[CreatorBacklash backlash]] because of it, but plenty of his fans will vouch Perkins was one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood history, and ''Psycho'' is to blame. Ironically enough, at the time ''Psycho'' was Perkins PlayingAgainstType. After ''Psycho,'' if there was a movie where he wasn't playing a "psycho," it was him playing against type again.

** Creator/AngieDickinson, Creator/PiperLaurie, Creator/EvaMarieSaint, Creator/LeeRemick and Creator/LanaTurner were among those considered for Marion Crane.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The way everyone treats $40,000 as such a huge deal very much dates it to the economic status of 1960. It's quite telling that the remake felt the need to add an extra zero so that this would still make sense.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Thanks to the only new line of dialogue van Sant put in the script. Creator/JulianneMoore as Lila is listening to a Sony Walkman when she's introduced, and she says "Let me get my Walkman" when she and Sam are leaving his hardware store.

* UsefulNotes/AFIS100YearsSeries:
** AFIS100Years100Movies: #18
** AFIS100Years100Thrills: #1
** AFIS100Years100HeroesAndVillains:
*** #2 Villain, Norman Bates
** AFIS100Years100MovieQuotes:
*** #56, "A boy's best friend is his mother."
** AFIS100YearsOfFilmScores: #4
** AFIS100Years100Movies10THAnniversaryEdition: #14

** Creator/LauraLinney was offered the role of Marion Crane, but turned it down in favour of ''Film/TheTrumanShow''. Creator/DrewBarrymore was considered, but deemed too young next to Creator/VinceVaughn. Creator/NicoleKidman was also considered.

** Creator/AngieDickinson, Creator/PiperLaurie, Creator/EvaMarieSaint and Creator/LanaTurner were among those considered for Marion Crane.

* AFIS100YearsSeries:

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Among the many taboo-breakers that Hitchcock accomplished in ''Psycho'', completely overlooked and unacknowledged today is the quick glimpse of Marion's navel during the shower stabbings. The showing of women's navels was still absolutely forbidden in American films and television at the time, so Janet Leigh's was still covered in all her lingerie scenes and the film's promotional images. In a short few years this taboo was gone from American films, but remained on American television until the 1970s.