Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho

Last updated

Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho (book).jpg
Author Stephen Rebello
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreNon-fiction
Publisher St. Martin's Griffin
Publication date
April 15, 1990
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages224 (first edition, hardback)
ISBN 0-312-20785-9
OCLC 40395537

Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho is a 1990 non-fiction book by Stephen Rebello. It details the creation of director Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 thriller Psycho . The 2012 American biographical drama film directed by Sacha Gervasi, based on this non-fiction book is titled Hitchcock . The film was released on November 23, 2012.

Contents

The book was first published on April 15, 1990, by Dembner Books, and distributed by W. W. Norton & Company. Stephen Rebello researched the film thoroughly through Hitchcock's personal records and archives and he interviewed virtually every surviving cast and crew member. Prior to the book's publication, Rebello's initial research appeared as a 22-page article in the April 1986 issue of Cinefantastique entitled "Psycho: The Making of Alfred Hitchcock's Masterpiece". [1] That research was expanded for the book version.

Synopsis

The book details Hitchcock's acquisition of the original novel by Robert Bloch to his work with two different screenwriters, casting, filming, editing, scoring, and promotion. Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho shows the daily lives of the filmmakers, who believed they were making a modestly budgeted, black-and-white shocker, representing a radical departure from the elegant, suspenseful films that had made director Hitchcock's reputation, including Rope , Rear Window , To Catch a Thief , The Man Who Knew Too Much and North by Northwest .

The project, which Hitchcock tackled in part to compete with financially successful, low-budget, youth-oriented horror movies, went on to astound many by becoming a cultural watershed, an international box-office success, a film classic and a forerunner of the violent, disorienting films and real-events of the turbulent 1960s and '70s.

Publication history

Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho was initially distributed in hardcover print by W.W. Norton for Dembner Books on April 15, 1990, in the United States. A trade paperback edition was released in the United States in 1998 by St. Martin's Griffin. Subsequently, the book has been published in hardcover and paperback by Marion Boyars Limited in Great Britain and Australia. It has also been published in translated international editions in Japan by Byakuya Shobo, France, Germany and in Italy by Il Castoro. The book has since become a standard, and continues to be used in film studies classes on Hitchcock.

In 2010, Open Road Media launched the first e-book version of the book, which in 2013 was re-published in a motion picture tie-in edition in the U.S.. The book has been re-published in early 2013 in the England, Italy and Japan, as well as published for the first time in Brazil, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Korea and China. The same year, Blackstone Audio released an unabridged audiobook narrated by Paul Michael Garcia and, subsequently, by Richard Powers.

Critical reception

The book received considerable praise upon its publication as well as in subsequent years for reprints.

On the publication of the hardcover first edition in 1990, critic Richard Schickel called the book "indispensable and marvelously readable" and "one of the best accounts of the making of an individual movie we've ever had". Christopher Lehmann-Haupt of The New York Times declared it a "meticulous history of a single film production". [2] Anthony Quinn in The Sunday Times wrote that "[the book] combines a gossipy retrospective with a serious work of criticism, presenting an articulate guide to Hitchcock's idiosyncratic approach to film-making and the collaborative efforts that underpinned it. The author has conducted interviews with all those involved in the making of Psycho – its casting, scripting, art design, lighting, editing, selling – in the course of it, we inch closer to the bizarre, unpredictable quality of its director".

The critic for Newsweek called the book "wonderful" and observed, "Stephen Rebello makes reading about Psycho almost as much fun as watching it". Psycho star Anthony Perkins called the book a "meticulously researched and irresistible ... Required reading not only for Psycho-philes, but for anyone interested in the backstage world of movie-creation". [3] Images Journal reviewer Gary Johnson called it "one of the best books ever written about the making of a movie". [4] Gerald Kaufman of The Sunday Telegraph found it "joyously entertaining".

Entertainment Weekly, referring to Rebello's revealing how Hitchcock arrived at the sound of the knife stabbing the heroine in the shower, opined "the melon tale alone is worth the price of [the book]". [5] Another top critic wrote that, unlike other books about films and filmmakers, it "reads more like a gripping novel than detached intellectualism".

In a January 6, 2010 Newsweek story called "The Mother of All Horror Films", Malcolm Jones called the book "fascinating". Robert Graysmith, true crime author of the non-fiction book Zodiac described the book as "groundbreaking ... the most faithful, comprehensive and first book on the filming of Hitchcock’s masterpiece, the bedrock upon which all Psycho mansions are erected".

Leonard Maltin, in his "Movie Crazy" blog entry of October 29, 2010, called the book a "landmark". [6] In 2012, a writer for The Hollywood Reporter declared the book "a masterpiece about a masterpiece". The Guardian critic John Patterson called the book "enthralling" and, on February 1, 2013, in The Guardian described the book as "revelatory". David Pitt of Booklist wrote: "There are a handful of Hitchcock biographies—Donald Spoto's The Dark Side of Genius and Patrick McGilligan's Alfred Hitchcock, among them—but here, though focusing on a single film, Rebello offers a close-up look at the director that is perhaps more revelatory about the man's character and working style than any full-length biography. A wonderful, absolutely essential book".

Table of contents

Film adaptation

A film adaptation based upon the book was made. [7] The film is directed by Sacha Gervasi and stars Anthony Hopkins as director Alfred Hitchcock, Helen Mirren as his wife Alma Reville, Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, Jessica Biel as Vera Miles and James D'Arcy as Anthony Perkins. [8] [9] [10] Produced by The Montecito Picture Company and distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures, the film was released in 17 U.S. cities on November 23, 2012. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred Hitchcock</span> English filmmaker (1899–1980)

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was an English film director, screenwriter, producer and editor. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films, many of which are still widely watched and studied today. Known as the "Master of Suspense", he became as well known as any of his actors thanks to his many interviews, his cameo roles in most of his films, and his hosting and producing the television anthology Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–65). His films garnered 46 Academy Award nominations, including six wins, although he never won the award for Best Director, despite five nominations.

<i>Psycho</i> (1960 film) 1960 film by Alfred Hitchcock

Psycho is a 1960 American horror film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The screenplay, written by Joseph Stefano, was based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The film stars Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin and Martin Balsam. The plot centers on an encounter between on-the-run embezzler Marion Crane (Leigh) and shy motel proprietor Norman Bates (Perkins) and its aftermath, in which a private investigator (Balsam), Marion's lover Sam Loomis (Gavin), and her sister Lila (Miles) investigate her disappearance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alma Reville</span> English film editor and screenwriter (1899–1982)

Alma Lucy Reville, Lady Hitchcock was an English screenwriter and film editor. She was the wife of film director Alfred Hitchcock. She collaborated on scripts for her husband's films, including Shadow of a Doubt, Suspicion, and The Lady Vanishes, as well as scripts for other directors, including Henrik Galeen, Maurice Elvey, and Berthold Viertel.

<i>Frenzy</i> 1972 British film by Alfred Hitchcock

Frenzy is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer was based on the 1966 novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern. The film stars Jon Finch, Alec McCowen and Barry Foster and features Billie Whitelaw, Anna Massey, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Bernard Cribbins and Vivien Merchant. The original music score was composed by Ron Goodwin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vera Miles</span> American actress (born 1929)

Vera June Miles is an American retired actress, best known for playing Lila Crane in the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, later reprising the role in its sequel, Psycho II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Stefano</span> American screenwriter

Joseph William Stefano was an American screenwriter, known for adapting Robert Bloch's novel as the script for Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho, and for being the producer and co-writer of the original The Outer Limits television series.

<i>Psycho II</i> (film) 1983 film by Richard Franklin

Psycho II is a 1983 American psychological slasher film directed by Richard Franklin, written by Tom Holland, and starring Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Robert Loggia, and Meg Tilly. It is the first sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho and the second film in the Psycho franchise. Set 22 years after the first film, it follows Norman Bates after he is released from the mental institution and returns to the house and Bates Motel to continue a normal life. However, his troubled past continues to haunt him as someone begins to murder the people around him. The film is unrelated to the 1982 novel Psycho II by Robert Bloch, which he wrote as a sequel to his original 1959 novel Psycho.

<i>Cinefantastique</i> American film magazine

Cinefantastique is an American horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacha Gervasi</span> British writer and director

Alexander Simon "Sacha" Gervasi is a British director, screenwriter and former journalist.

Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting.

<i>Psycho</i> (franchise) American horror franchise

Psycho is an American horror franchise consisting of six films loosely based on the Psycho novels by Robert Bloch: Psycho, Psycho II, Psycho III, Bates Motel, Psycho IV: The Beginning, the 1998 remake of the original film, and additional merchandise spanning various media. The first film, Psycho, was directed by filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. Subsequently, another film related to the series was made: an Alfred Hitchcock biopic, and two new novels, by Takekuni Kitayama and Chet Williamson, were released. Also, an independent documentary called The Psycho Legacy was released on October 19, 2010, mostly focusing on Psycho II, Psycho III and Psycho IV: The Beginning, while covering the impact and legacy of the original film.

<i>Greenwillow</i> Musical with a book by Lesser Samuels and Frank Loesser

Greenwillow is a musical with a book by Lesser Samuels and Frank Loesser and music and lyrics by Loesser. The musical is set in the magical town of Greenwillow. It ran on Broadway in 1960.

Stephen Rebello is an American writer, screenwriter, journalist and former clinical therapist.

Marli Renfro is an American former showgirl, model, Playboy cover girl and actress.

<i>Hitchcock</i> (film) 2012 film by Sacha Gervasi

Hitchcock is a 2012 American biographical romantic drama film directed by Sacha Gervasi and based on Stephen Rebello's 1990 non-fiction book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. Hitchcock tells the story of the relationship between Alfred Hitchcock and his wife, Alma Reville, during the filming of Psycho in 1959. Hitchcock premiered at the AFI Fest on November 1, 2012 and was released in the United States on November 23 by Fox Searchlight Pictures. It grossed $27 million against a $15 million budget.

<i>The Girl</i> (2012 TV film) 2012 British television film by Julian Jarrold

The Girl is a 2012 British television film directed by Julian Jarrold, written by Gwyneth Hughes and produced by the BBC and HBO Films. The film stars Sienna Miller as Tippi Hedren and Toby Jones as Alfred Hitchcock. It is based on Donald Spoto's 2009 book Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies, which discusses the English film director Hitchcock and the women who played leading roles in his films. The Girl's title was inspired by Hitchcock's alleged nickname for Hedren.

A list of books and essays about Alfred Hitchcock:

<i>Hitchcock/Truffaut</i> 1966 book by François Truffaut about Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock/Truffaut is a 1966 book by François Truffaut about Alfred Hitchcock, originally released in French as Le Cinéma selon Alfred Hitchcock.

Margaret Robertson was a British script supervisor and personal assistant to Alfred Hitchcock from the 1940s to the 1970s during which time she worked on his early films Under Capricorn (1948) and Stage Fright (1950), before joining his team permanently on Vertigo (1958), working thereafter on all of the director's remaining films.

References

  1. ↑ Biodrowski, Steve (October 28, 2010). "Stephen Rebello on PSYCHO: A Celebration of 1960 Retrospective". Cinefantastique Online. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  2. ↑ Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (May 7, 1990). "Books of The Times; 'Casaba', He Intoned, and a Nightmare Was Born". New York Times. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  3. ↑ Shoard, Catherine (December 8, 2011). "Helen Mirren in talks to play Mrs Hitchcock opposite Anthony Hopkins". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  4. ↑ Johnson, Gary. "Everything You Wanted to Know About Psycho". Images Journal. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  5. ↑ Burr, Ty (March 22, 1991). "Book Review: Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  6. ↑ Jones, Malcolm (January 6, 2010). "The Mother of All Horror Films". The Daily Beast. Newsweek. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
  7. ↑ Savage, Sophia (April 12, 2012). "Gervasi's 'Hitchcock' Shortens Title & Calls Itself A Love Story; Shoots April 13 in LA with Hopkins, Mirren & Johansson". Indiewire. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  8. ↑ Kit, Borys (December 7, 2012). "Helen Mirren Circling 'Alfred Hitchcock' as Project Moves From Paramount to Fox Searchlight (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  9. ↑ Trumbore, Dave (March 1, 2012). "Scarlett Johansson and James D'Arcy Join ALFRED HITCHCOCK AND THE MAKING OF PSYCHO". Collider.com. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  10. ↑ Donnelly, Matt (March 21, 2012). "Jessica Biel nabs coveted 'Hitchcock' role as Vera Miles". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  11. ↑ Rosen, Christopher (September 20, 2012). "'Hitchcock' Release Date: Anthony Hopkins Drama Set For Nov. 23, 2012". Huffington Post. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.