Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho

I found this book to be just wonderful from start to finish. The research is painstaking, the writing smart and lively, the degree of film industry know-how is evident on every page. In fact, the book strikes me as one of the few I've read on Hollywood to suggest that the writer actually knows his way around movie sets and knows how films get made. This book has none of the absurd (and insulting) armchair psychologizing that mars other Hitchcock books and there isn't a dry or pedantic paragraph in it from start to finish. I thought I knew a lot about Hitchcock and Psycho until I read this book. A job obviously undertaken with love and wisdom, superlatively done by Mr. Rebello. I had the pleasure of hearing the author lecture on Hitchcock on TV in London and in Tokyo and he was the standout of the whole affair!

"A boy's best friend is his mother" - Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins)."Psycho" is one of Hitchcock's most famous films and this book is a fascinating account of how the film was made and some of the problems that had to be overcome before the film could be completed. Author Stephen Rebello has done an excellent job and describes in detail how Hitchcock chose his screenwriter, his crew and the actors. It is interesting to discover how little some of these people were paid for what turned out to be a classic money making Hitchcock film."A man should have a hobby" - Marion Crane (Janet Leigh).Following the enormous success of his latest film "North by Northwest" Hitchcock was looking for something different - but interesting. When the "Psycho" book by Robert Bloch came to his attention he realised that this could be just what he wanted but he was unsure how the censors would react to the gruesome storyline. He decided to purchase the screen rights to the book and very cleverly did so for a bargain price. The authors agents had no idea who was after the rights to the book and thought they had a good deal when $9,000 was agreed upon. However, after Robert Bloch had paid commission to the publishers, his agents fees and the tax he was left with approx $5,000. It was at this point that he discovered the buyer was a certain Mr Alfred Hitchcock!! Joseph Stefano was hired to write the screenplay after many others had been under consideration. Hitchcock's main concern was to keep the plot twists under wraps during filming and did not release any advance information about the film to the Press. He also had an unusual advertising campaign insisting that no-one was admitted to the theatre once the film had started."12 cabins - 12 vacancies" - Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins).Hitchcock wanted a famous actress for the role of Marion Crane and Lana Turner, Shirley Jones, Hope Lange, Piper Laurie, Martha Hyer and Eva Marie Saint were all considered before the part eventually went to Janet Leigh. Anthony Perkins was the only choice for Norman Bates but several actors were in line to play Sam Loomis (Marion Crane's boy friend). These included Stuart Whitman, Cliff Robertson, Leslie Neilsen, Brian Keith, Jack Lord, Rod Taylor and Robert Loggia. The role of Sam Loomis was played in the film by John Gavin. Alfred Hitchcock's daughter Patricia also had a small role in the film. The music by Bernard Hermann was a major contribution to the success of the film and Hitchcock was so pleased with the result that he doubled the composer's salary. Hermann has written the music for several other Hitchcock films including "The Trouble With Harry", "The Man Who Knew Too Much", "The Wrong Man", "Vertigo", "North by Northwest" and "Marnie"."Well, if the woman up there is Mrs Bates - who's that woman buried out in Greenlawn Cemetery?" - Sheriff Chambers (John McIntire).The book explains how certain scenes were filmed but later disregarded by Hitchcock and deleted from the film as they

Of all the film books I have ever (yes, EVER) purchased, this book goes into the greatest possible detail about the making of a film. It is extremely well-written, obviously well-researched and is as hard to put down as it is to stop watching "Psycho" itself. From the opening chapter about Ed Gein, through all the minute detail about casting, filming, promotion, etc. to the conclusion, the book left no questions unanswered. Just a few tiny errors stung, though -- which always raises the question, are there other errors as well? Example: It is first stated that Joe Stefano turned in his First Draft of the Psycho script in December 1959. Two pages later it states Stefano turned in his SECOND DRAFT of the script in NOVEMBER 1959 (Either a typo or we're going back in time ...?). Also, the book relates that former Mary Tyler Moore Show star Ted Knight brings "Mother" (Perkins) a blanket at the end of the film. This is not so. If you watch the sequence, you'll see that another actor actually brings "Mother" the blanket -- Knight is simply the guard who opens the door for the other guard as the blanket is brought in. Picky? Yes. Nit-picky? Yes. Necessary for me to even mention? YES, because Rebello has done such a masterful job at compiling a great book, that a few errors like this stand out like a 14-inch steel butcher blade in a drawer full of wooden butter knives. Overall, I LOVED this book and consider it a prized addition to my film book collection. Thanks for the effort, Stephen. GREAT book.

Believe it or not, the reputation of the film Psycho is not that high among Hitchcock scholars. Most of them prefer the 50s films (Vertigo and Rear Window), or 30s films (The Thirty-Nine Steps and The Lady Vanishes). Reviewers also disliked this film upon its release, although as Rebello notes, that had a lot to do with Hitchcock's unwillingness to let them see it before its release to the public. (He wanted no advance word on its shocking contents.) Psycho has always been a success with its audience, and the viewers are the ones who keep its reputation as one of Hitchcock's greatest films alive. This book starts with the actual serial killer that Robert Bloch based his novel on, proceeds to the optioning of the novel (Bloch had no idea who bought it and sold it for very little, but his reputation was made for life), the preproduction problems (the studio didn't want it made, so it was done as a low-budget quickie), its scripting and filming, postproduction, release, and unexpected success. An irony of the film, according to Rebello, is that Hitchcock never quite got over its success. His later films were seen as letdowns after this one (although I put two of them, The Birds and Marnie, among his 15 best). Anyone who cares about this film will devour this book as I did. I recommend it unequivocally.

An outstanding book about the making of one of the best movies of all time! An easily readable and well-researched offering from someone who obviously loves what they do. Cannot wait for Rebello and Auiler's upcoming book on the making of "North by Northwest".