Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho
by Stephen Rebello

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Book Summary Information

Author: Stephen Rebello
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-01
ISBN: 0714530034
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Marion Boyars

Book Reviews of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho

Book Review: Very Interesting
Summary: 4 Stars

Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello
Open Road
99 pages
Non-fiction; Hollywood
4/5 stars

Source: Received a free e-copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Read: Today is Alfred Hitchcock Day and I recently rewatched Psycho so I thought this would be a good way to celebrate.

This book is a good summation of the path Psycho took to becoming film. First a real-life crime inspired novelist Robert Bloch to write the novel that Hitchcock would end up optioning in order to create something new for audiences after the failure of Vertigo. He assembled a cast and crew and made the film in a manner more reminiscent of a television program than the usual lavish color films. And it was a huge success-audiences around the world loved it. But Hitchcock was never able to replicate that success in his other later films, instead struggling to find quality scripts and to keep the audience in suspense.

As expected from the title, Hitchcock is the central figure. I was most intrigued by Saul Bass's claim to have directed the famous shower scene based on storyboards he created. I'm in the Hitchcock camp; he had his ideas and it was his picture, his set-no one but him would have final control.

I would have liked to read more about Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh's careers after Psycho. As far as I know, neither worked with Hitchcock again and neither had such success. In fact, I've read that Perkins was typecast and struggled a lot with that post-Psycho.

Overall: A fine work and good reading for those who would like to know more about this iconic film. If you haven't seen Pyscho, you should definitely check it out and then maybe give this book a read.

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Summary of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho

A gripping behind-the-scenes look inside the classic suspense shocker?and the creative genius who revolutionized filmmaking

First released in June 1960, Psycho altered the landscape of horror films forever. But just as compelling as the movie itself is the story behind it.

Stephen Rebello brings to life the creation of one of Hollywood?s most iconic films, from the story of Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein, the real-life inspiration for the character of Norman Bates, to Hitchcock?s groundbreaking achievements in cinematography, sound, editing, and promotion. Packed with captivating insights from the film?s stars, writers, and crewmembers, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho is a riveting and definitive history of a signature Hitchcock cinematic masterpiece.

If you don't believe us when we say that Stephen Rebello's Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho is a killer book concerning the killer movie of all time, then why don't you listen to Tony Perkins, the star? Perkins called this scholarly yet super-readable volume "marvelously researched and irresistible ... required reading not only for Psycho-philes, but also for anyone interested in the backstage world of movie creation." And Time critic Richard Schickel (biographer of Clint Eastwood) calls Rebello's book "one of the best accounts of the making of an individual movie we've ever had."

It's even more reliable than Francois Truffaut's magisterial interview book Hitchcock, because Rebello interviewed the fat master himself, plus many Psycho insiders less cagey and truth-dodging than he.

At last, thanks to Rebello, we know all about the celebrated shower murder scene and all that swirls around it. Like Ernst Lubitsch, who conveyed the thrill of adultery by having the lovers open a door and cast their shadows on a bed, Hitchcock knew that, in film, artful discretion can be the most shocking effect of all. --Tim Appelo

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