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I just finished watching "Psycho" for the third or fourth time - enough so that I was able to study details instead of worrying about the plot. People can talk about "Citizen Kane," or "Vertigo," or <pick your choice> as "Best Ever," but for me, personally, since "Psycho" scared the holy hell out of me when I was about twelve-years old (introduced by, of all people, Count Gore de Vol - I guess I first saw it in 1973), this is a film that has appealed to my most basal childhood terrors, and also still resonates with me as a 57-year-old man. I suppose the ending is now dated, since *everyone* knows about "what happened," and also the concepts are no longer novel with the audience - in that respect, I can see "Vertigo" remaining fresher in the public eye - but for me, I might have to pick "Psycho" as my all-time favorite movie. Maybe.

Here are a couple of interesting details that are in no way spoilers:

In Norman's bedroom, there sits on the turntable, of all things, Beethoven's Eroica Symphony. Why? Maybe the proximity of the word, which actually means "Hero" and not "Erotica," but if anyone knows for sure, please chime in.

When Norman first realizes "what happened," he recoils in horror, knocking a picture of a stuffed bird off the wall and onto the floor.

The penultimate person you see in the film, opening and closing the door, is an uncredited Ted Knight: Blink, and you'll miss him:

TedKnight.jpeg

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10 hours ago, DonRocks said:

I just finished watching "Psycho" for the third or fourth time - enough so that I was able to study details instead of worrying about the plot. People can talk about "Citizen Kane," or "Vertigo," or <pick your choice> as "Best Ever," but for me, personally, since "Psycho" scared the holy hell out of me when I was about twelve-years old (introduced by, of all people, Count Gore de Vol - I guess I first saw it in 1973), this is a film that has appealed to my most basal childhood terrors, and also still resonates with me as a 57-year-old man. I suppose the ending is now dated, since *everyone* knows about "what happened," and also the concepts are no longer novel with the audience - in that respect, I can see "Vertigo" remaining fresher in the public eye - but for me, I might have to pick "Psycho" as my all-time favorite movie. Maybe.

I took a film class in college and we were told to watch Psycho several times. One thing that we immediately noticed was how long the shots were.

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14 minutes ago, Mark Slater said:

I took a film class in college and we were told to watch Psycho several times. One thing that we immediately noticed was how long the shots were.

That's interesting, but I don't think it's entirely true. The shower scene, for example, took 45 seconds, and included 52 cuts - it showed *no* violence; only implied violence (*). These short, exchange shots are co-mingled with long, drawn-out scenes (remember the detective entering the house and ascending the stairs) that seem almost endless, although thinking back, there are multiple perspectives (including a shot from the ceiling). Maybe the initial Leigh-Gavin hotel scene was a good example of a long, long scene - that starts with the brilliant, "Peeping Tom" camera scene coming in from the side of the hotel to look through the window.

Oh, Mark, I could discuss this film all day. Please watch it again and chime in!

(*) Interestingly, Janet Leigh said that, while she was filming it, she didn't see the big deal, but when she watched it, she realized just how vulnerable women were in the shower, and only took baths from that point foward.

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