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Motion Picture Daily (17/Jun/1960) - Psycho

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Psycho

A real chiller to freeze summer audiences, this latest Alfred Hitchcock production is full of the touches of the old master. Mainly they are the touches which brought him fame as an expert in suspense and horror, with less of the outright spoofing which marked his more recent efforts.

It has also to a greater degree even than is usual for the master a quality of performance and a tempo of rising suspense that puts it far above the ordinary mystery or horror story. Most notable in this area are the performances by Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh. Perkins, especially, in a most difficult role which requires him to conceal the key to the mystery until almost the end of the picture reveals depths of ability beyond anything he has shown. Miss Leigh, as the erring girl who steals for her lover, regrets it, and is murdered before she can make restitution, portrays nuances of character and interior motivation by facial expression and gesture to an extent worthy of an Academy Award.

Backing up these two in lesser roles but just as effective are Vera Miles as Miss Leigh's sister who almost meets the same fate while tracing her sisters's steps; John Gavin as Miss Leigh's lover; Martin Balsam as the private investigator who in a typical Hitchcock twist is murdered instead of finding the murderer; John McIntyre as the country sheriff who first reveals the depth of the mystery; and Simon Oakland as a psychiatrist who in somewhat extended epilogue explains how it all happened.

Most effective in furthering the suspense and in pacing the rhythm of the picture is the photography by John L. Russell. Many of the shots, including extreme close-ups and traveling boom shots are pure Hitchcock but some of the more bizarre sequences would seem to be the work of Saul Bass who is given credit as pictorial designer.

Contributing also to the horror atmosphere are the settings. Most of the action occurs at a dingy motel on a back road near a moldy Victorian mansion where the proprietor lives and a good deal of it at night or in the rain.

Sex is not the primary manifestation of the psychosis with which the plot is concerned but the picture opens nevertheless with a long and embarrassingly frank bedroom scene at mid-day in a dingy hotel where Miss Leigh and Gavin, her lover, discuss the impossibility of marriage after a lunch-hour meeting. This, two touches of voveurism, and two scarifying scenes of murders by stabbing as seen with the eyes of the murderer, mark the picture as definitely not for the young.

The policy, set by Hitchcock, of not allowing patrons to enter after the main title was enforced at the Broadway opening at the DeMille theatre and would seem to have definite exploitation advantages. Running time, 109 minutes. August release.

"Psycho" Admission [???] Successful

[???] "no one admitted after the [???] a performance" policy on [???] Hitchcock's "Psycho" met with [???] the public acceptance at the [???] of the Paramount suspense [???] at New York's DeMille and [???] Theatres yeterday, the company said.

[???] crowds had apparently been [???] conditioned to the policy by the huge newspaper and radio campaign which has been in progress for the past three weeks, for they were arriving at both theatres at approximately 15 to 20 minutes in advance of the advertised starting times of performances.

Observers noted that those people arriving at the theatres after commencement of a performance showed no disappointment at being turned away by the Pinker ton guards on duty. Rather, in most cases they accepted the policy as necessary to full enjoyment of the film and purchased tickets for the next performance. Acceptance of the policy was further testified to by the giant lines of 500 to 600 people waiting outside the DeMille throughout yesterday afternoon.

At both the DeMille and Baronet, public address systems were set up in front of the theatres to carry a personal message from Hitchcock to the huge street crowds, thanking them for making the "no admission" policy such a resounding success.

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