PSYCHO - A

Alfred Hitchcock’s trend-setting film Psycho was released in 1960 and terrorized many theater-goers with its (surprisingly sparse) violent shower scene.  I recommend the movie Hitchcock (2012, starring Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock, Helen Mirren as Alma Reville, Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh and Danny Huston as Whitfield Cook) which tells the story of the development and making of the film Psycho.  It puts into proper perspective how Psycho as a new kind of horror movie was a practically necessary deviation to (or perhaps evolution of) Hitchcock’s existing suspense thriller genre.  As I mentioned before, I am not going to go into Hitchcock too much until my list of top ten movies of all time alphabetically is finished.  (This is because I still have one more Hitchcock film in my top ten to discuss.)

The screenplay was written by Joseph Stefano, based upon the novel by Robert Bloch which was inspired by the actual murderous crimes of Ed Gein.  As in all of Hitchcock’s films, the writing is worthy of study; however, in this film it is more understated as compared to, for example, Notorious [see my review on this blog], which makes perfect sense because a) there is no living or growing romantic relationship between the male and female stars in the movie and b) the film’s gothic visuals speak more appropriately to the themes of killing and death.  It is well known that Hitchcock as a Producer-Director was a ‘control-freak’ and therefore it is appropriate to give Hitchcock credit within the context of the writing as he approved every word.

Starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin and Martin Balsam, the film received four Academy Award nominations including Best Director for Hitchcock, Best Supporting Actress for Leigh, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White for John L. Russell and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White for Joseph Hurley, Robert Clatworthy and George Milo. Janet Leigh was in many movies; however, at this time I can only recommend The Manchurian Candidate (1962, starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey and Janet Leigh).  Vera Miles starred in many movies and series for TV for which I will refer you to the awesome www.imdb.com website; however, in terms of notable films of hers, I recommend two:  The Searchers (1956, starring John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond and Natalie Wood) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (1962, starring James Stewart, John Wayne and Vera Miles).

John Gavin played Julius Caesar in Spartacus (1960, starring Kirk Douglas) which is one of the few ‘sword and sandal’ movies I can recommend with a straight face.  Martin Balsam was a popular character actor in many critically acclaimed and/or popular films including On the Waterfront (1954, starring Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden and Rod Steiger); 12 Angry Men (1954, starring Henry Fonda along with a whole host of fabulous character actors); Cape Fear(1962, starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum); Seven Days in May (1964, starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas); Catch-22 (1970, Starring Alan Arkin); Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970, starring Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotton, So Yamamura, E. G. Marshall, James Whitmore and Jason Robards); Little Big Man (1970, starring Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway and Chief Dan George);The Taking of Pelham One Two Three(1974, starring Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam and Hector Elizondo); Murder on the Orient Express (1974, starring Albert Finney); All the President’s Men (1975, starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman); and Cape Fear (1991, starring Robert De Niro; Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange; Juliette Lewis with cameos by the original stars Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Martin Balsam).

A Famous Quote:  ‘A boy’s best friend is his mother.’ (Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates)

Genre:  Horror

Running Time:  109 Minutes

The next installment of my top ten films of all time alphabetically is Pulp Fiction!