Hello good people. I hope you are all doing well. I’m enjoying this whole blogging thing and decided I’m going to start a couple of series on here…something people can read for educational purposes on a topic that can’t really help them in the real world I suppose, but doesn’t make it any less interesting to me. That is, Little Known facts about awesome films.
Today, I will be writing about Psycho and some little tidbits of information that went into the making of this awesome, hugely influential film. So? Ready? Here…we…go!
Little known #1:
The movie was based upon the Robert Bloch novel titled, you guessed it, Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock paid $10,000 for the rights and then sent people out running to buy up all the copies to make sure the twist wasn’t prematurely revealed. The book was based upon the real-life serial killer, Ed Gein. A man with serious mommy issues and a penchant for making furniture out of human skin and, yup, skin suits. And he also liked to dress up as his mother. Sounds like that book pretty much wrote itself, wouldn’t you agree? You think this guy may have influenced the Buffalo Bill character in Silence of the Lambs? Yeah. Me too.
Little known #2:
Psycho was given an R-rating 24 years after its release. The movie was released in 1960. The MPAA rating system wasn’t created until 1968 and it took them all that time to get around to rating this classic.
Little known #3:
Paramount Pictures wasn’t a big fan of the idea for Psycho. They gave Alfred Hitchcock a limited budget and he financed the rest. They thought the film would be a failure and deferred most of the profits (60%) to Alfred Hitchcock. The film cost roughly $800,000 to make. It grossed close to 40 million. In 1960. Yeah. Paramount really misjudged that one…suckas!
Little known #4:
The incredible, iconic shower scene took seven days to shoot. It featured 77 different camera angles and 50 cuts for that one scene. It was worth it. There was a rumour that the water was kept cold for discomfort, to add realism to the acting but that wasn’t true. Because it took seven days to film, they made sure to keep it warm, otherwise, that would be just mean.
Little known #5:
There was a flushing toilet in the movie. Big deal, right? Well, back in those times it was a big deal apparently. Psycho was the first movie to ever have a scene with a flushing toilet. It was filmed in such a way to prevent the censors from removing the scene.
Little known #6:
Hitchcock really didn’t want anyone to spoil the movie. He made it a point that once the doors of the theatre doors were closed and the movie started, no one could enter. This was enforced by the theatre employees and a stern placard of Hitchcock himself (see below).
Little Known #7:
Everyone knows that sound adds to any movie. Whether it be the music or the sound effects, they both deeply add to any movie. To make the shower scene more realistic and increase the audience’s terror, they needed to get the sound of stabbing into flesh just right. In this case, they lined up a bunch of melons and recorded the sound of stabbing them. They ended up using the sound produced by the casaba melon (shown below).
Little Known Fact #8:
Alfred Hitchcock was nominated for an Academy Award for this film. It was the fifth time he had been nominated for an Oscar. He had never won an award. Yeah. Alfred Hitchcock, one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, did not win an Oscar. That must be some kind of crime right there.
There are plenty of other interesting facts for this film. I included the ones I thought were interesting to me. If you want to know a little more, check out the below links. They are where I found some of my information.
Please like, share and all that. And remember, be kind to each other. Have a great day!
Sources:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/68248/14-crazy-facts-about-psycho
http://tonsoffacts.com/30-interesting-and-fascinating-facts-about-the-psycho-movie/
https://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/films/20-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-psycho/86786
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/trivia
https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/interviews/psycho-shower-scene-alfred-hitchcock
https://listverse.com/2011/09/22/top-10-interesting-facts-about-psycho/
John Hunt Fiction 