Psycho is a 1960 American psychological horror film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, and written by Joseph Stefano, starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, John Gavin, Vera Miles and Martin Balsam, and was based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The film centers on the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Leigh), who ends up at a secluded motel after stealing money from her employer, and the motel's disturbed owner-manager, Norman Bates (Perkins), and its aftermath.

Psycho was seen as a departure from Hitchcock's previous film North by Northwest, having been filmed on a low budget, with a television crew and in black and white. The film initially received mixed reviews, but outstanding box office returns prompted reconsideration which led to overwhelming critical acclaim and four Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Leigh and Best Director for Hitchcock.

Psycho is now considered one of Hitchcock's best films and praised as a major work of cinematic art by international film critics and scholars. Often ranked among the greatest films of all time, it set a new level of acceptability for violence, deviant behavior and sexuality in American films,[6] and is widely considered to be the earliest example of the slasher film genre.

After Hitchcock's death in 1980, Universal Studios began producing follow-ups: three sequels, a remake, a television film spin-off, and a contemporary prequel TV series. In 1992, the US Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Plot

During a lunchtime tryst in Phoenix, Arizona, a real estate secretary, Marion Crane and her boyfriend Sam Loomis discuss how they cannot afford to get married because of Sam's debts. After lunch, Marion returns to work, where a client drops off a $40,000 cash payment on a property. Her boss asks her to deposit the money in the bank, and she asks if she can take the rest of the afternoon off. Returning home, she begins to pack, deciding to steal the money and give it to Sam in Fairvale, California. She is seen by her boss on her way out of town, which makes her nervous. During the trip, she pulls over on the side of the road and falls asleep, and is woken by a state patrol officer. Suspicious about her nervous behavior, he notes her license plate number and follows her at a close distance. Hoping to shake his pursuit, Marion stops at an automobile dealership and trades in her Ford Mainline, with its Arizona license plates, for a Ford Custom 300 that has California tags.

Marion stops for the night at the Bates Motel. The proprietor, Norman Bates, invites her to a light dinner after she checks in. She accepts, but hears an argument between Norman and his mother about bringing a woman into her house. They eat in the motel parlor, where he tells her about his life with his mother, who is mentally ill and forbids him to have an independent life. Moved by Norman's story, Marion decides to go back to Phoenix in the morning to return the stolen money, and prepares for bed. As she showers, a shadowy figure stabs her to death with a chef's knife. Norman discovers the murder and assumes his mother is responsible. He cleans up the crime scene, putting Marion's corpse and her possessions—including the embezzled money—into the trunk of her car and sinking it in the swamps near the motel.

A week later, Marion's sister Lila arrives in Fairvale and confronts Sam about the whereabouts of her sister. Private investigator Milton Arbogast approaches them and confirms that Marion is wanted for stealing the $40,000. He checks the motels, and Norman's evasive and inconsistent answers arouse his suspicions. After hearing that Marion met Norman's mother, he asks to speak with her, but Norman refuses. Arbogast calls Lila and Sam to update them. He goes to the Bates' home in search of Norman's mother; as he reaches the top of the stairs, he is murdered. When Lila and Sam do not hear from Arbogast, Sam visits the motel. He finds only Mrs. Bates, who ignores his knocking. Lila and Sam go to the local sheriff, who informs them that Mrs. Bates killed herself ten years ago, and concludes that Arbogast lied to confuse them and made off with the $40,000. Convinced that some ill has befallen Arbogast, Lila and Sam make their way to the motel. Norman takes his unwilling mother from her room and hides her in the fruit cellar.

At the motel, Lila and Sam meet Norman. Sam distracts him by striking up conversation while Lila sneaks up to the house. When Sam tells Norman they have come to question his mother, he knocks Sam out and rushes to the house. Lila hides in the cellar, where she finds Mrs. Bates in a chair. Lila turns her around and discovers she is a mummified corpse. Lila screams as Norman runs into the cellar, holding a knife and wearing his mother's clothes and a wig. Before Norman can attack Lila, Sam, having regained consciousness, subdues him.

At the courthouse, a psychiatrist explains that Norman murdered Mrs. Bates and her lover ten years prior out of jealousy. Unable to bear the guilt, he exhumed her corpse and began to treat it as if she were still alive. He recreated his mother in his own mind as an alternate personality, dressing in her clothes and talking to himself in her voice. This "Mother" personality is jealous and possessive: whenever Norman feels attracted to a woman, "Mother" kills her. As "Mother", Norman killed two young girls prior to Marion, as well as Arbogast. The psychiatrist says the "Mother" personality has taken permanent hold of Norman's mind. While Norman sits in a holding cell, "Mother" protests that the murders were Norman's doing. Marion's car is pulled out of the swamp.

Cast

• Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates
• Vera Miles as Lila Crane
• John Gavin as Sam Loomis
• Janet Leigh as Marion Crane
• Martin Balsam as Detective Milton Arbogast
• John McIntire as Sheriff Al Chambers
• Simon Oakland as Dr. Fred Richman
• Frank Albertson as Tom Cassidy
• Pat Hitchcock as Caroline
• Vaughn Taylor as George Lowery
• Lurene Tuttle as Mrs. Chambers
• John Anderson as California Charlie
• Mort Mills as Highway Patrol Officer
• Francis De Sales as Deputy District Attorney Alan Deats (uncredited)
• George Eldredge as Police Chief James Mitchell (uncredited)
• Ted Knight as a policeman guarding Norman Bates (uncredited)
• Virginia Gregg, Paul Jasmin, and Jeanette Nolan as the voice of Norma "Mother" Bates (uncredited)

The success of Psycho jump-started Perkins' career, but he soon began to suffer from typecasting. However, when Perkins was asked whether he would have still taken the role knowing that he would be typecast afterwards, he replied with a definite "yes".

Until her death, Leigh continued to receive strange and sometimes threatening calls, letters, and even tapes detailing what they would like to do to Marion Crane. One letter was so "grotesque" that she passed it along to the FBI, two of whose agents visited Leigh and told her the culprits had been located and that she should notify the FBI if she received any more letters of that type.

Norman's mother was voiced by Virginia Gregg, Paul Jasmin, and Jeanette Nolan, who also provided some screams for Lila's discovery of the mother's corpse. The three voices were thoroughly mixed, except for the last speech, which is all Gregg's.

As Perkins was in New York working on a Broadway stage show when the shower sequence was filmed, actresses Anne Dore and Margo Epper stepped in as his body doubles for that scene.