Alfred Hitchcock And The Making Of Psycho (1998) - Plot & Excerpts
After three decades, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho still stands out as a masterpiece of suspense. June 16 marks the anniversary of the movie's 1960 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 FilmAlfred 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. Bloch's book was anonymously optioned by Hitchcock (as was his habit) for the paltry sum of $9000 and no percentage of the profits, which must have been a hard pill to swallow after seeing the film's eventual success. 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 FilmThe 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 Bass, the graphic designer famous for his work on The Man 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 responsible for directing the infamous shower scene with Janet Leigh, and the author's interviews with cast and crew sheds some interesting light on Bass' storyboards for this scene and his role as sometime assistant director. The Man Behind the FilmThough 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 Marnie, as 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.
The screaming blonde in the shower, the creepy hotel, the guy who keeps his mummified mom in the old family home... everybody knows about "Psycho," if only by cultural osmosis.But probably not as many people know about the history of the classic Alfred Hitchcock movie, and just how tough it was to bring it to the screen. Cue Stephen Rebello's "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho," which compellingly sketches out every single step of "Psycho" -- from the bizarre serial killer who inspired the book to the mysterious PR campaign.It begins with Ed Gein, a serial killer who inspired Richard Bloch's pulpy horror novel "Psycho." It was an unlikely choice for the great Alfred Hitchcock to adapt -- a small, gritty weird story with a shocking twist ending and two graphic stabbings. But it did appeal to his "fiendish" sense of humor, and gave the great filmmaker a chance to make what he wanted -- something fresh and "young," something in the "Les Diaboliques" mold.He then proceeded to make a movie that went against all the "rules" -- he ignored Paramount's horror and disgust, he hired a relatively inexperienced screenwriter, he used the crew from his hit TV show, and he cast the film's biggest star as the woman who is brutally stabbed after only forty minutes.Rebello goes through the production step-by-step, following every aspect of the casting, the props, the camera techniques, the infamous shower scene (the blood is actually chocolate syrup), the performances, the costumes -- just about every single aspect of the moviemaking process. And from there he follows the story of "Psycho" into the movie theatres, where Hitchcock's film disgusted critics, shocked audiences, and ended up becoming his magnum opus.I usually find highly "technical" books about moviemaking to be dull -- I've never made a movie, nor have I been on a movie set, so the behind-the-scenes descriptions of camera angles and lighting are simply something I can't visualize. Maybe it would be different if I were able to go onto a movie set and see these things personally, but currently they are as impenetrable to me as the inner workings of a space probe.But Rebello managed to make this interesting. In fact, he managed to make every step of the process fascinating -- which probably wasn't hurt by an entire chapter devoted to a grotesque serial killer, Ed Gein. His writing style is detailed and rich in details, letting you envision virtually everything he has to say.He also mines a LOT of interviews for information about the shoot, and not just the actors either. There are countless delightful anecdotes about making "Psycho," such as the way they tried to film the falling-down-the-stairs scene. Or Joseph Stefano talking about how, as he and Hitchcock were plotting out the shower scene, they were interrupted by the director's wife Alma -- and promptly started screaming. Some of this stuff is hilarious.It also gives a fascinating portrait of Hitchcock -- an accomplished artist who loved twisted, weird stories, with a wickedly mischievous sense of humor and a lot of eccentricities. Rebello doesn't delve too deep into Hitchcock's psychology (which is always a dangerous road for any nonfiction writer), but he lets the various anecdotes about the Master of Suspense form a portrait on their own.But while he gives a lot of attention to Hitchcock's personality, style and artistic contributions, he also makes it clear that the movie was the masterwork of many different people -- from actress Janet Leigh (who spent days seminaked in the shower) to the dude who butchered a bunch of melons to get the right "stab sound." Credit for the work is spread around liberally."Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho" is a fascinating, full-bodied look at the inner workings of a humble little movie... which just happened to be one of Hitchcock's greatest films ever. A must-read for any enthusiast for the medium of film, "Psycho" and/or Hitchcock.
What do You think about Alfred Hitchcock And The Making Of Psycho (1998)?
This book, originally published in 1990, was the credited inspiration for Sacha Gervasi's film Hitchcock. Reading it confirmed my original suspicion that that film was almost entirely a work of fiction. The film centres around Hitchcock's relationship with his wife Alma Reville. Whitfield Cook, the screenwriter who did the original adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train for Hitchcock, is also a major character. Alma is only referred to a handful of times in the book, and Cook isn't mentioned at all. Of course, some of the major cast and crew members from Psycho are present in the film, and the overall situation of Hitchcock becoming obsessed with the idea of filming Robert Bloch's novel, inspired loosely by the story of murderer and grave-robber Ed Gein, and having to fund the film himself and fight the censors to get it released, is true. The book is more about the film-making process than it is about Hitchcock the man. There are, however, plenty of amusing and illuminating anecdotes about him and his relationship with studio representatives, actors, writers, technicians, other filmmakers and fans. Rebello gives a portrait of a filmmaker at a crossroads - trying to break away from old formulas and compete with new rivals and, in the process, unwittingly creating a monster which threatened to overshadow him. Psycho is not Hitchcock's best film, but with it he created a powerful generator of cultural hysteria. The world went crazy for his movie. And it would prove to be a very hard act for him to follow.You'll find out pretty much everything you might want to know about how Psycho came to be. There is a glimpse into what might have been if alternative script ideas had been used or scenes filmed in different ways. Controversies are dissected with accounts provided by different witnesses. How much of the shower scene was the work of Saul Bass? Was Janet Leigh asked to work naked? Is it true that the knife never touches the torso? While Hitchcock brought his unique vision to the film, Rebello lets us see how important were the ideas which came from key collaborators such as original author Robert Bloch, scriptwriter Joseph Stephano, composer Bernard Herrmann and actor Anthony Perkins.Perhaps most interesting for those of us who were not yet born in 1960, is the account of audience and critical reaction to the film. Crowds went wild, people were traumatised, Hitchcock was blamed for murders and many critics savaged the film. Its enough to make any of us wish we lived in a time when a film could be that exciting.Meticulously researched as the book evidently is, I did pick up on one error. In his account of films which were influenced by Psycho, Rebello includes Michael Powell's very controversial film Peeping Tom, to which he gives a release date of 1962. But Peeping Tom was not influenced by Hitchcock's film. It was made around the same time and released, in England, before Psycho. It premiered in London on 7 April 1960. Psycho premiered in New York on 6 June 1960. But Peeping Tom was not released in the U.S. until 1962.
—Aussiescribbler Aussiescribbler
I started listening to this on my way to Brooklyn, while somewhat lost on the back roads of Pennsylvania. It was dark out, and the road was obstructed by a thick haze of mist. Every so often small rural houses were visible. It was the perfect atmosphere to begin an audiobook which opens with a detailed chapter on the murders and fetishes of Ed Gein. As the narrator told of Gein's grave robberies, lip collection, and skin suits, I felt more genuinely creeped out than I have been in years. It was glorious. The rest of the book chronicles the making of PSYCHO in a meticulously detailed, and endlessly fascinating fashion. It takes a pretty linear tone, moving from the true story of Gein, to Robert Bloch's pulpy novel, to screenplay, production, editing, release, reception, and legacy. Rebello takes an objective look at some of the more notorious controversies (Saul Bass' alleged direction of the shower scene) and layers anecdotal evidence of those involved against each other, in a way that gets as close to a truth as is possible in Hollywood lore.
—Kevin Cecil
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen RebelloOpen Road99 pagesNon-fiction; Hollywood4/5 starsSource: Received a free e-copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.Read: Today is Alfred Hitchcock Day and I recently rewatched Psycho so I thought this would be a good way to celebrate.This book is a good summation of the path Psycho took to becoming film. First a real-life crime inspired novelist Robert Bloch to write the novel that Hitchcock would end up optioning in order to create something new for audiences after the failure of Vertigo. He assembled a cast and crew and made the film in a manner more reminiscent of a television program than the usual lavish color films. And it was a huge success-audiences around the world loved it. But Hitchcock was never able to replicate that success in his other later films, instead struggling to find quality scripts and to keep the audience in suspense.As expected from the title, Hitchcock is the central figure. I was most intrigued by Saul Bass's claim to have directed the famous shower scene based on storyboards he created. I'm in the Hitchcock camp; he had his ideas and it was his picture, his set-no one but him would have final control.I would have liked to read more about Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh's careers after Psycho. As far as I know, neither worked with Hitchcock again and neither had such success. In fact, I've read that Perkins was typecast and struggled a lot with that post-Psycho.Overall: A fine work and good reading for those who would like to know more about this iconic film. If you haven't seen Pyscho, you should definitely check it out and then maybe give this book a read.
—Bookworm1858
