EXT. THE MOTEL - (DAY)
ANGLE CLOSE on cabin one as Lila comes out, turns to her
left, goes along porch toward cabin twelve. Sam remains at
the door, then turns right, heading for the path. As he passes
the office, he is shocked to see Norman standing just inside
the open door.
NORMAN
Looking for me?
SAM
(Recovering)
Yes, matter of fact.
(The friendly grin)
The wife's taking a nap and... I can
never keep quiet enough for her...
so I thought I'd look you up and...
talk.
NORMAN
Satisfied with your cabin?
SAM
Fine.
Sam starts into the office. Just before going in, he glances
down the long porch, sees Lila standing outside the door of
cabin twelve, waves her a tiny "all clear" signal.
LILA
CAMERA ANGLES to include Lila and her point of view.
She watches Sam disappear into the office, waits until she
hears the door close, then looks about for another way to
reach the house. She sees the small alley at the end of this
L of cabins, starts toward it.
EXT. REAR OF MOTEL - S.C.U. LILA - (DAY)
Behind the motel Lila hesitates. She looks ahead.
LONG SHOT - (DAY)
The old house standing against the sky.
CLOSE UP - (DAY)
Lila moves forward.
LONG SHOT - (DAY)
The CAMERA approaching the house.
CLOSE UP - (DAY)
Lila glances toward the back of Norman's parlor. She moves
on.
LONG SHOT - (DAY)
The house coming nearer.
CLOSE UP - (DAY)
Lila looks up at the house. She moves forward purposefully.
S.L.S. - (DAY)
The house and the porch.
CLOSE UP - (DAY)
Lila stops at the house and looks up. She glances back.
She turns to the house again.
S.L.S. - (DAY)
The CAMERA MOUNTS the steps to the porch.
C.U. - (DAY)
Lila puts out her hand.
S.C.U. - (DAY)
Lila's hand pushes the door open. We see the hallway.
Lila ENTERS PAST CAMERA.
INT. DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY OF OLD HOUSE - (DAY)
Lila closes the door, remains by it for a moment, quiet,
listening. Her eyes scan the layout, the closed door which
leads off the hallway, to the dining room on the right and
the parlor on the left. Down at the end of the hall is the
kitchen, the door wide open, the room beyond dim and silent.
She notices the stairs leading down to the basement, stares
at them, then back to the stairs leading to the second floor.
She starts forward, and seems about to investigate the parlor
and dining room.
INT. THE MOTEL OFFICE - (DAY)
Norman is behind the counter, standing, staring at Sam who
is sitting relaxedly on a small sofa. Norman has the look of
one who is protecting himself, as if the counter were a
protective wall against the threatening world across it.
SAM
(Cheerfully, as if
after a self-conscious
pause)
I've been doing all the talking so
far, haven't I?
NORMAN
Yes.
SAM
I always thought it was the people
who are alone so much who do all the
talking when they get the chance.
Yet there you are, doing all the
listening!
(A pause)
You are alone here, aren't you?
(As Norman does not
reply)
It would drive me crazy.
NORMAN
That would be a rather extreme
reaction, wouldn't it?
SAM
(Lightly)
Just an expression...
(More seriously)
What I meant was... I'd do just about
anything... to get away. Wouldn't
you?
INT. DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY AND STAIRS OF OLD HOUSE - (DAY)
Lila is halfway up the stairs. As she climbs she is startled
by the creaks and groans of the old wood of the steps. She
steps more carefully. CAMERA remains at foot of stair, TILTING
UP as Lila climbs. She pauses at the head of the stair. The
door on her right, which opens into the mother's room, is
closed. To her left is another door, half-open. Directly
before her is a third door, closed. She holds a long moment,
trying to picture in her mind which room would look out on
the front of the house, decides, chooses the correct door,
the one on her right. She goes to it, knocks lightly.
INT. THE MOTHER'S ROOM (DAY) - CLOSE ANGLE ON DOOR
We hear Lila's second knock, then, faintly, her soft call.
LILA'S VOICE (O.S.)
Mrs. Bates?
There is quiet for a moment, then the door begins to open,
and we see Lila. She stands on the threshold, looking in at
the room, instantly disturbed by it, almost chilled, her
expression indicating an impulse to close the door and go
away from this room forever.
After a moment, she enters, leaving the door open behind
her. CAMERA PULLS BACK AND AWAY and we now see the room as
Lila sees it.
It is ornate, damask-and-mahogany, thick and warm and ripe,
an olla podrida of mismated furnishings and bric-a-brac of
the last century. The bed is four poster, but uncanoped; the
dressing table is fancy and flounced with satin; there is a
great chiffonier, a big-doored wardrobe, a large, oval, full-
length pier-glass (this against the wall directly opposite
the door), a satin recamier, an upholstered armchair by the
window, a white marble fireplace, its grate cold but piled
with ashes.
And there is in the room an unmistakably live quality, as if
even though it is presently unoccupied, it has not been long
vacated by some musty presence.
Lila glances at the bed. The damask coverlet is thrown over
it, but it is not neat, there is the imprint of a body on
it, a body which obviously has slept in a curled-up, womb-
like position. Lila stares at it for a moment, up, then goes
to the dressing table. Its top is scattered with boxes and
jars of cosmetics and creams, traces of fresh powder, an
opened bottle or perfume, a comb, and a brush with traces of
hair in its bristles. Lila moves on, catches a glimpse of
herself in the pier-glass, is startled, turns away, goes to
the chiffonier, is about to open a drawer, sees the high
wardrobe out of the corner of her eyes, goes to it,
hesitantly. She opens one door. Fresh, clean, well pressed
dresses hang neatly. Lila opens the other door. The sweaters
and dresses and robes hang freely, none in moth-proof, storage-
type bags. There is even a well-brushed collar of foxes.
Along the floor of the wardrobe is a line of clean, polished
shoes. Lila stares, then closes the door, turns, looks once
again over the whole room, starts out,
INT. THE UPSTAIRS HALLWAY OF THE OLD HOUSE - (DAY)
Lila comes out of the mother's room, closes the door behind
her, looks down the stairs, then starts across the hall to
the room whose door is half-open. The room within is dark,
the shades drawn full.
Lila pauses on the threshold, reaches in, feels the wall,
throws on a switch.
INT. MOTEL OFFICE - (DAY)
Sam has risen, is standing by the counter now.
SAM
I'm not saying you shouldn't be
contented here, I'm just doubting
that you are. I think if you saw a
chance to get out from under...
you'd unload this place...
NORMAN
(Angrily)
This place! This isn't 'a place.'
It's my only world. I grew up in
that house back there. I was a happy
child. My mother and I... we were
more than happy.
SAM
And now that your mother's dead?
Norman snaps a sharp, fast, ugly look at him.
NORMAN
My mother is not dead!
SAM
(Softly)
I didn't think so.
INT. NORMAN'S ROOM IN THE OLD HOUSE - (DAY)
Lila is standing in the doorway, staring at the room in sick
dismay. The room is grotesque, a horrible, ludicrous fantasy
of childhood held beyond the point of decency.
It is a small room. The walls are fancied with romping
silhouettes of teddy-bears and sailboats and carousels and
fat cows jumping over aghast moons. The bed is small, far
too short for a man of Norman's height. And yet the rumpled
covers indicate that it is in this bed that Norman sleeps.
Next to the bed is an old-fashioned toy chest. On its top
there are a bird-in-a-cage lamp, a plain-bound book, and an
ash tray filled with ashes and cigarette stubs. A grown man's
shirt hangs on a child's clothes tree.
Against one wall there is a narrow, high bookcase filled
with thick, unchildish-looking books. On the small, white
chest of drawers there is an old, child's victrola. The record
on the turntable is discovered, on close inspection, to be
Beethoven's Eroica Symphony.
Lila studies the room, fascinated and repelled. She glances
at the bookcase, comes into the room, goes to the bookcase
and pulls out a thick, large, plain-bound book. She opens
it. Her eyes go wide in shock. And then there is disgust.
She slams the book closed, drops it.
INT. THE MOTEL OFFICE - (DAY)
Norman, behind the counter, has moved back against the wall.
Sam is still on the other side of the counter, but is leaning
forward, his eyes hard on Norman's face.
Norman's face is no longer expressionless. It has the stark,
high sheen of a cornered animal.
SAM
(Pressing)
You look frightened. Have I been
saying something frightening?
NORMAN
I don't know what you've been saying.
SAM
I've been talking about your mother...
about your motel. How are you going
to do it?
NORMAN
Do what?
SAM
Buy a new one! In a new town!
Where you won't have to hide your
mother!
NORMAN
Shut up!
SAM
Where will you get the money to do
that, Bates... or do you already
have it... socked away... a lot of
it...
NORMAN
Leave me alone!
SAM
...Forty thousand dollars!
NORMAN
Leave me alone!
He is close to panic now. He turns, swiftly, dashes back
into his private parlor. Sam goes quickly around the counter,
follows.
INT. NORMAN'S PRIVATE PARLOR - (DAY)
Norman hears Sam following, wants to run, to never be reached
by this man. He crosses the small room, drawn to the rear
window, as if he might fly through it. Sam enters, pauses.
Norman turns, back against the window, as unable to fly away
as are the many still, stuffed birds. Sam registers a brief
flicker of reaction when he sees the birds, but continues to
gaze at Norman, hard.
SAM
I bet your mother knows where the
money is. And what you did to get
it. And I think she'll tell us.
Something self-assured and confident in Sam's tone gives
Norman a new, more terrified alarm. He turns his head, glances
out the window at the old house. He looks back at Sam and
there is terror in his voice.
NORMAN
Where's that girl? The girl you came
with! Where is she?
Sam does not respond, smiles a half-smile, turns to examine
a stuffed owl. Norman looks back at the house.
NORMAN
(A horrible groan)
Oh, God!
INT. UPSTAIRS HALL OF THE OLD HOUSE - (DAY)
Lila, shaken and disturbed, almost sickened, is coming out
of Norman's room. She has left the light on. She pauses in
the middle of the landing, looks at the closed door opposite
the stairs, goes to it, opens it, sees that it is the
bathroom, pulls the door to, turns, starts toward the stairs.
INT. NORMAN'S PRIVATE PARLOR - (DAY)
Sam is lying on the floor, face downward, unmoving. A
candlestick is on the floor, close by his head, still rocking
as if just dropped. OVER SHOT comes the SOUND of Norman's
footsteps and CAMERA TURNS in time to catch a brief glimpse
of him going out into the office, almost at a run.
INT. STAIRWAY OF THE OLD HOUSE - (DAY)
Lila is on the top step, looking down toward CAMERA.
She is listening, hoping to hear some human sound, some sound
she might follow, pursue. She hears nothing. She starts down
the stairs. Just below the halfway step, she looks at the
front door, sees out through the door window:
LILA'S VIEWPOINT - (DAY)
Norman coming.
INT. STAIRWAY OF THE OLD HOUSE - (DAY)
For a moment Lila panics, then she hurries down the steps,
cannot go in the direction of the front door, remembers the
stairway behind her, turns and runs in that direction. The
SOUND of Norman bounding up the porch steps can be heard.
Lila turns and dashes down the stairs which lead to the
basement, going down far enough to conceal herself, crouching
there.
Norman enters the hallway, closes the door softly, listens.
He glances once in the direction of the basement stairs. He
seems about to smile, when suddenly all expression vanishes
from his face, and he appears to enter a no-place, no-time
state. He crosses to the stairway, goes up.
Lila remains crouched on the basement stairs, listening to
the SOUNDS of Norman. His footsteps on the stairs followed
by the fast noises of doors opening, of fast moving about an
upstairs room. Convinced that he is searching the upstairs
for her, she decides to chance an escape. She starts up the
steps, is about to turn into the hallway when her eye is
caught by a glimmer of light down in the basement. She pauses,
looks down, sees the crack of light coming from behind the
not entirely closed door to the fruit cellar. The swift moving
SOUNDS of Norman continue to come from upstairs.
Lila is torn, knows she should get out of the house while
she has the chance, is unable to resist the impulse to check
that hidden-looking room down below, a room in which, she
desperately believes, there must lie some answer to what
happened to Mary. She turns and goes softly and quickly down
the stairs.
INT. THE BASEMENT OF THE OLD HOUSE - (DAY)
Lila reaches the bottom, stops, listens, hears the stairboards
creaking as footsteps fall hard and measured upon them. She
turns, pulls open the fruit cellar door, looks in. The woman
is sitting in a comfortable chair, the back of the chair,
and the woman, turned to the door. Lila calls a harsh,
frightened whisper.
LILA
Mrs. Bates...?
Lila goes into the room.
INT. THE FRUIT CELLAR
Lila goes to the chair, touches it. The touch disturbs the
figure. It starts to turn, slowly, stiffly, a clock-wise
movement. Lila looks at it in horror. It is the body of a
woman long dead. The skin is dry and pulled away from the
mouth and the teeth are revealed as in the skeleton's smile.
The eyes are gone from their sockets, the bridge of the nose
has collapsed, the hair is dry and wild, the cheeks are
sunken, the leathery-brown skin is powdered and rouged and
flaky. The body is dressed in a high-neck, clean, well-pressed
dress, obviously recently laundered and hand-ironed.
The movement of this stuffed, ill-preserved cadaver, turning
as if in response to Lila's call and touch, is actually
graceful, ballet-like, and the effect is terrible and obscene.
Lila gazes for one flicker of a deathly moment, then begins
to scream, a high, piercing, dreadful scream.
And Lila's scream is joined by another scream, a more
dreadful, horrifying scream which comes from the door behind
her.
NORMAN'S VOICE (O.S.)
(screaming)
Ayeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Am Norma
Bates!
Lila turns.
NORMAN
His face is contorted. He wears a wild wig, a mockery of a
woman's hair. He is dressed in a high-neck dress which is
similar to that worn by the corpse of his mother. His hand
is raised high, poised to strike at Lila. There is a long
breadknife in it.
LILA
Close on her face. She is dumb-struck. Her eyes are screaming.
BACK TO NORMAN
As he is about to start forward, a man's hand reaches in
from the doorway behind, grabs Norman's wrist. Sam comes
through the door, still holding tight to the wrist, pulling
back the arm and at the same time throwing himself at Norman,
football tackle style.
SERIES OF CUTS - THE FIGHT
Norman and Sam, struggling. The wild fury in Norman's face,
the mad noise of his screams and vile curses. The terrified,
fight-to-the-death look of Sam. The still, staring Lila.
MRS. BATES
A close of her face, She appears to be watching and enjoying
the fight. Over the shot, the SOUNDS of the struggle, the
screams of Norman.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. COURTHOUSE AT READING - (NIGHT)
There are many people gathered about the steps, the curious
and the concerned and the morbid. At the curb, a couple of
newspaper cars, two or three police cars, and a mobile unit
truck from the local television outlet. There is noise, and
chattering as questions are asked and answers given, and the
sounds of traffic, and of the television equipment being
moved into the courthouse, for on-the-scene reporting, and
the stern voices of policemen trying to keep people back.
The scene has a bright glare about it, that quality of sudden
light thrown on a fearful darkness.
CLOSER ANGLE ON STEPS OF COURTHOUSE
A POLICEMAN trying to make way for the television men,
muttering "keep back," etc., to the spectators. A TELEVISION
MAN, carrying a piece of equipment goes through door, and
CAMERA FOLLOWS him into the courthouse vestibule.
Here, too, there is a crowd, composed of Policemen, Reporters,
Television Men. The Television Men we have been following
stops beside a Policeman.
TELEVISION MAN
(Indicating the front
door he has just
come in through)
You think they'll take him out that
way?
POLICEMAN
(Looking at waiting
crowd, shrugging)
Probably have to.
(A rueful smile)
Besides, the taxpayers hate it when
something gets slipped out the back
door on them!
Over this exchange, the buzz of other voices, the movement
of men. CAMERA MOVES ON, down the corridor, gets to the door
of the office of the Chief of Police just as a young fellow
with a carton box filled with paper containers of sent-out-
for coffee reaches this door. CAMERA HOLDS as the COFFEE BOY
pauses a moment, then goes into the room.
CUT TO:
INT. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE - (NIGHT)
Lila is seated in a chair, Sam standing close by. A bit apart
from them, we see Sheriff Chambers, in quiet conference with
the CHIEF OF POLICE, the COUNTY SHERIFF, the DISTRICT
ATTORNEY.
The Coffee Boy stands in the doorway. Sam goes to him, takes
a container of coffee from the box, carries it to Lila,
checking the notation on the lid as he goes.
MED. CLOSE ON SAM AND LILA
SAM
(quietly)
It's regular. Okay?
LILA
(ruefully)
I could stand something regular.
Sam smiles encouragingly, hands her the coffee. Sheriff
Chambers ENTERS SHOT, gives Sam a container of coffee he has
brought for him. Sam takes it, nods a thank you.
For a moment no one speaks. Lila looks badly shaken, Sam
disheveled, but contained.
CHAMBERS
You two can go on home if you like.
(a sympathetic look
at Lila)
Making that statement was enough for
one night.
SAM
(to Lila)
Want to?
LILA
No. I'm all right. I'll feel better
when all this is explained... if it
can be.
Sam looks a question at Sheriff Chambers. Chambers shrugs
doubtfully.
CHAMBERS
If anybody gets any answers, it'll
be the fellow talking to him now...
the Psychiatrist. Even I couldn't
reach Norman... and he knows me.
(to Lila)
You warm enough, Miss?
Lila is about to answer, when she sees someone come into the
room and rises anxiously. Sam and Sheriff Chambers turn,
follow her gaze.
INT. OFFICE OF CHIEF OF POLICE - FULL SHOT
A young man with a serious, frowning face has just come into
the room. He is DR. SIMON, the Psychiatrist.
He goes to the desk where the box of coffee containers has
been placed, takes up a container.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Did he talk to you?
SIMON
No. I got the whole story... but not
from Norman. I got it from... his
mother.
Everyone gazes at him, mystified. He speaks as he removes
lid from coffee container.
SIMON
Norman Bates no longer exists. He
only half-existed to begin with...
now, the other half has taken over.
Probably for all time.
LILA
(With difficulty)
Did he kill my sister?
SIMON
Yes... and no.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Look, if you're trying to lay a lot
of psychiatric groundwork for some
sort of plea this fellow would like
to cop...
SIMON
A psychiatrist doesn't lay the
groundwork .. he merely tries to
explain it.
LILA
But my sister is...
SIMON
Yes. I'm sorry.
(to Chambers)
The Private Investigator, too. If
you drag that swamp somewhere in the
vicinity of the motel...
(To the Chief of Police)
Have you any unsolved missing persons
cases on your books?
CHIEF OF POLICE
Yes. Two.
SIMON
Young girls?
CHIEF OF POLICE
(nods, astounded,
then:)
Did he confess to...
SIMON
(interrupting)
As I said, the mother...
(Pauses, goes on afresh)
To understand it, as I understood it
hearing it from the mother... That
is, from the mother-half of Norman's
mind, you have to go back ten years...
to the time when Norman murdered his
mother and her lover.
(A pause, then as no
one interrupts)
He was already dangerously disturbed,
had been ever since his father died.
His mother was a clinging, demanding
woman... and for years the two of
them lived as if there was no one
else in the world. Then she met a
man and it seemed to Norman she "threw
him over" for this man. That pushed
him over the thin line... and he
killed them both. Matricide is
probably the most unbearable crime
of all... and most unbearable to the
son who commit it. So he had to erase
the crime, at least in his own mind.
(A pause)
He stole her corpse... and a weighted
coffin was buried. He hid the body
in the fruit cellar, even "treated"
it to keep it as well as it would
keep. And that still wasn't enough.
She was there, but she was a corpse.
So he began to think and speak for
her, gave her half his life, so to
speak. At times he could be both
personalities, carry on
conversations... at other times, the
mother-half took over completely. He
was never all Norman, but he was
often only mother. And because he
was so pathologically jealous of
her, he assumed she was as jealous
of him. Therefore, if he felt a strong
attraction to any other woman, the
mother side of him would go wild.
(To Lila)
When Norman met your sister, he was
touched by her... and aroused by
her. He wanted her. And this set off
his "jealous mother" and... "mother
killed the girl." After the murder,
Norman returned as if from a deep
sleep... and like a dutiful son,
covered up all traces of the crime
he was convinced his mother had
committed.
SAM
Why was he... dressed like that?
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
He's a transvestite!
SIMON
Not exactly. A man who dresses in
woman's clothing in order to achieve
a sexual change... or satisfaction...
is a transvestite. But in Norman's
case, he was simply doing everything
possible to keep alive the illusion
of his mother being alive. And
whenever reality came too close,
when danger or desire threatened
that illusion, he'd dress up, even
to a cheap wig he brought, and he'd
walk about the house, sit in her
chair, speak in her voice... He tried
to be his mother.
(A sad smile)
And now he is.
(A pause)
That's what I meant when I said I
got the story from the mother. She
thinks Norman has been taken away...
because of his crimes. She insists
she did nothing, that Norman committed
all the murders just to keep her
from being discovered. She even smiled
a bit coquettishly as she said that.
Of course, she feels badly about
it... but also somewhat relieved to
be, as she put it, free of Norman,
at last.
(A pause)
When the mind houses two
personalities, there is always a
battle. In Norman's case, the battle
is over... and the dominant
personality has won.
Lila begins to weep softly, for Mary, for Arbogast, for
Norman, for all the destroyed human beings of this world.
Sam bends beside her, puts his arm about her, comforts her.
CHAMBERS
(To Simon)
And the forty thousand dollars? Who
got that?
SIMON
The swamp. These were murders of
passion, not profit.
A POLICE GUARD puts his head in the door, speaks, in a near-
whisper, to the Chief of Police. The Guard is carrying a
folded blanket over his arm.
POLICE GUARD
He feels a little chill... can I
bring him this blanket?
The Chief of Police nods. The Guard goes away, and CAMERA
FOLLOWS him out of the room and out into the hallway. Guard
moves through the waiting men, heading down the corridor.
CUT TO:
INT. ANOTHER CORRIDOR IN COURTHOUSE
A narrower corridor in the rear of the building. In f.g. of
shot, we see a door, the top half of which is wire-covered
glass. A GUARD in uniform is posted by the door, looking
reprovingly at the two or three people trying to get a glance
into the room.
The Police Guard, carrying the blanket, comes down this
corridor, goes to the door. CAMERA MOVES CLOSE. The uniformed
Guard opens the door, allows the man to go in.
Shot is RAKED so that we can not see into the room.
After a moment, the Guard comes out and the uniformed Guard
closes and locks the door and we
CUT TO:
INT. NORMAN'S DETENTION ROOM - (NIGHT)
The walls are white and plain. There is no window.
There is no furniture except the straight-back chair in which
Norman sits, in the center of the room. The room has a quality
of no-whereness, of calm separation from the world.
The Police Guard has placed the blanket on Norman's knees.
Norman, as we come upon him, is lifting the blanket, unfolding
it. His face, although without makeup and without the
surrounding softness of the wig, has a certain femininity
about it, a softness about the mouth and a kind of arch
womanliness about the brows.
Calmly, Norman places the blanket about his shoulders, as if
it were a cashmere shawl. CAMERA REMAINS in a position so
that our view of Norman is a FULL ONE. When the shawl is in
position, and Norman is settled, we HEAR, OVER SHOT, the
voice of his mother, coming from the calm of his thoughts.
MOTHER'S VOICE (O.S.)
It's sad... when a mother has to
speak the words that condemn her own
son... but I couldn't allow them to
believe that I would commit murder.
(A pause)
They'll put him away now... as I
should have... years ago. He was
always... bad. And in the end, he
intended to tell them I killed those
girls... and that man. As if I could
do anything except just sit and
stare... like one of his stuffed
birds.
(A pause)
Well, they know I can't even move a
finger. And I won't. I'll just sit
here and be quiet. Just in case they
do... suspect me.
A fly buzzes close, and then continues buzzing and flying
about Norman's face.
MOTHER'S VOICE (V.O.)
They're probably watching me. Well,
let them. Let them see what kind of
a person I am.
(A pause, as the fly
lights on Norman's hand)
I'm not going to swat that fly. I
hope they are watching. They'll see...
they'll see... and they'll know...
and they'll say... 'why, she wouldn't
even harm a fly...'
Norman continues to gaze ahead into nothing.
SCENE BEGINS TO DISSOLVE SLOWLY TO:
THE SWAMP
As END TITLES FADE IN, we see the swamp, the chain of a tow-
truck. The chain is attached to Mary's car. The car is coming
out of the swamp.
FADE OUT
THE END
