A young woman (Janet Leigh) embezzles $40,000 from a wealthy
client (Frank Albertson) at the bank where she works and takes off for
California to live with her still-married boyfriend (Gavin). During her long
travels, she stops off at the obscure Bates Motel, run by the brow-beaten and
oddly mild-mannered Norman Bates (Perkins). Is Norman all that he seems?
Already having established himself as a film legend and a
personality all unto himself (Hitchcock by this stage presented his own TV show
and also appeared in trailers to promote his films, Psycho being no exception)
Psycho showed audiences he was still able to shock. This included shocking by
the use of George Tomasini’s editing and Bernard Hermann’s music, subverting
what those expected at the time from a “Hitchcock film” and indeed rather edgy
subject matter for the time. Now one of Hitchcock’s most famous films, its
revelations have been dulled by pop-culture familiarity, but it’s still a
technically accomplished piece and Anthony Perkins’ performance is one of the
best the screen has to offer.
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