Psycho is the first picture in the United States to feature a toilet flushing scene. Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is a 1960 American psychological horror-thriller film that he produced and directed. Joseph Stefano wrote the script, which was based on Robert Bloch’s 1959 novel of the same name. Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Martin Balsam star in the picture.
The story revolves around an encounter between on-the-run embezzler Marion Crane (Leigh) and shy motel proprietor Norman Bates (Perkins) and the events that follow, in which a private investigator (Balsam), Marion’s lover Sam Loomis (Gavin), and Marion’s sister Lila (Miles) investigate Marion’s elimination.
Psycho was a departure from Hitchcock’s previous picture North by Northwest in that it was shot in black-and-white on a smaller budget by the crew of his television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
The picture was initially contentious and got mixed reviews, but public interest and strong box-office revenues spurred a major re-evaluation by critics. Four Academy Awards were nominated for Psycho, including Best Supporting Actress for Janet Leigh and Best Director for Alfred Hitchcock.
Psycho is now widely regarded as one of Hitchcock’s best films, if not his most renowned. International film critics and scholars have lauded it for its slick direction, tight atmosphere, excellent camerawork, memorable score, and iconic performances, hailing it as a monumental work of cinematic art.
Universal Pictures created three sequels, a remake, a made-for-television spin-off, and a prequel television series set in the 2010s after Hitchcock’s death in 1980. The picture was considered “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important” by the Library of Congress in 1992, and it was chosen for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
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