Alfred Hitchcock's landmark masterpiece of the macabre stars Anthony Perkins as the troubled Norman Bates, whose old dark house and adjoining motel are not the place to spend a quiet evening. No one knows that better than Marion Crane(Janet Leigh), the ill-fated traveler whose journey ends in the notorious "shower scene." First a private detective, then Marion's sister (Vera Miles) searches for her, the horror and the suspense mount to a terrifying climax where the mysterious killer is finally revealed.
| Norman Bates |
Anthony Perkins |
| Marion Crane |
Janet Leigh |
| Lila Crane |
Vera Miles |
| Sam Loomis |
John Gavin |
| Detective Milton Arbogast |
Martin Balsam |
| Sheriff Al Chambers |
John McIntire |
| Dr. Fred Richmond |
Simon Oakland |
| George Lowery |
Vaughn Taylor |
| Tom Cassidy |
Frank Albertson |
| Eliza Chambers |
Lurene Turtle |
| Caroline |
Patricia Hitchcock |
| Charlie |
John Anderson |
| Norma Bates (Voice) |
Virgina Gregg |
| Man in Cowboy Hat |
Alfred Hitchcock |
| The inside of the bathtub is virtually blood-free during the shower, as the water washes the blood down the drain. But when Norman cleans up, the tub is practically covered in blood. |
| In the shower, Marion's hand changes from thumb down to thumb up when she grabs the shower curtain and then pulls it down. |
| When Norman is making his way from the house to the hotel office to greet Marion, it is pouring rain outside. However, in the next shot when he's in the hotel office his suit is completely dry. |
| When Lila enters Norman's house she leaves the door open when she goes upstairs. When she runs back downstairs, the front door is closed. |
| The shower scene has over 90 splices in it, and did not involve Anthony Perkins at all. The scene was filmed between 17 December 1959 and 23 December 1959 while Perkins was in New York preparing for a play. |
| The blood was Bosco chocolate syrup |
| After the film's release Alfred Hitchcock received an angry letter from the father of a girl who refused to have a bath after seeing Diaboliques, Les (1955) and now refused to shower after seeing this film. Hitchcock sent a note back simply saying, "Send her to the dry cleaners." |
| Alfred Hitchcock received several letters from ophthalmologists who noted that Janet Leigh's eyes were still contracted during the extreme closeups after her character's death. The pupils of a true corpse dilate after death. They told Hitchcock he could achieve a proper dead-eye effect by using belladonna drops. Hitchcock did so in all his later films. |
| The novel upon which the film is based was inspired by the true story of Ed Gein, a serial killer who was also the inspiration for Deranged (1974), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). |
