In 1959, Alfred Hitchcock signed a contract with Universal Studios that allowed him to make any movie he wanted, as long as the budget was less than $3 million. He still owed Paramount Pictures a movie under contract, so, inspired by the box-office success of maverick B-movie producer/director Roger Corman, he decided to make a very low-budget black-and-white film with the team of television that worked on his film. popular series Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
Psycho: 50th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray is very impressive both in terms of picture and sound quality as well as a feast of bonus material. The video is presented in a 1080p/VC-1 transfer with a lossless DTS-HD 5.1 master audio soundtrack, both radically improved on the previous DVD version. Equally improved is print quality, blacks are extremely deep and all the flaws that marred the DVD release are gone, leaving a pristine, pristine image as good as any release today, which is quite remarkable for a film. which is half a century old. .
It’s hard to imagine now how much of an impact Psycho must have had on its early audiences, the marketing campaign that denied admission to the theater after the show had started, and Hitch’s personalized call not to reveal the surprise ending really paid off. These days, Norman Bates’ name is synonymous with serial murder, matricide, and schizophrenia, but in 1960 audiences were completely absorbed by Anthony Perkins, a stammering but endearingly charming motel owner.
Considered by many to be the archetypal Hitchcock thriller, Psycho actually bears little resemblance to any of the director’s earlier thrillers which had in common big budgets, lavish Technicolor photography of tourist spots and grand interiors, glamorous male and female leads with designer clothes that, as they courted danger, the audience knew they would live to tell about; Marion Crane’s fate would be completely different.
In casting Janet Leigh as Marion Crane Hitchcock played a very clever trick on his audience, he knew they would totally sympathize with Marion’s doomed romantic interludes with a married man who couldn’t afford to leave his wife and fully support his dubious decision to leave. with $40,000 of company funds from him instead of depositing it in the bank. Even though I’ve seen the movie countless times, I’m still enthralled by the setting and I totally believe this is going to be Marion’s story and it’s a testament to Leigh and Perkins’ performance that it’s still a shock when you realize that it’s not it’s about her, it’s actually about him.
This pivotal turning point is driven home by the unforgettable shower scene, a montage of 50 individual shots, intricately cut together with the opening sounds of Bernard Herrmann’s string motif creating one of the most iconic moments in cinema history. . From here, the audience, who have placed all their emotional support on Marion, now transfers these feelings to Norman, believing him to be an innocent and bullied mother’s son who is simply trying to cover up his jealous crimes of passion.
It’s fair to say that Psycho is somewhat uneven and I don’t enjoy the scenes with Marion’s sister (Vera Miles) and her boyfriend (John Gavin), although the moment Miles discovers Mrs. Bates’ mummified skeleton in the basement is visually stunning; however, for the most part, his scenes feel prescribed and a bit stiff. Similarly, the added scene at the end with the psychoanalyst might have felt necessary in 1960, but by today’s standards it seems like a trite and prosaic explanation of Norman’s condition. These minor criticisms do not detract from the overall power the film still has to captivate and shock modern audiences.
I was pleased to find among the many extras the ‘Making Of’ documentary on the US Collector’s Edition DVD; This full-length feature film written and directed by Laurent Bouzereau is packed with interviews with the cast, including Janet Leigh and Hitchcock’s daughter Patricia, along with contributions from screenwriter Joseph Stefano. I hope this series appears in subsequent Universal releases as I have yet to see them improved and many of the key creative and technical staff who regularly worked with Hitchcock are no longer alive to comment. I can’t conceive of Psycho looking any better than in this hidden showing and I hope Rear Window, Vertigo, The Birds and Marnie will follow without an unnecessary pause.