A Scene Study from "Psycho"

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Psycho Scene Study – Suspicious Officer In the film Psycho, (1960) directed by Alfred Hitchcock, there is a continual sense of something disturbing or illicit from the opening shots. Hitchcock preferred that his world be an orderly and logical place. (Kolker, 2004 p. 5) In Psycho, he takes his sense of order, proper values and moral rectitude and turns it over to reveal the dark underside that was emergent in society in the 1960’s and beyond. Psycho was an unpleasant wake-up call from the seemingly innocuous motel manager that revealed the desire of Americans for sex and violence in films. Hitchcock understood this desire and re-defined how America watched movies. (Thomson, 2009 p. 14) From the illicit opening scene in the seedy hotel room between Marian Crane and Sam Loomis, there is already a sense of disorder. After Marian crosses the line from illicit to illegal by stealing $40,000 from her employer and fleeing Arizona by driving to Sam, she is assailed by guilt and paranoia. Marian’s theft is a crime of opportunity born of desperation. The $40,000 was conveniently left in her care to be banked, her sister is away from home for the weekend, she is already upset, and disturbed that her lover’s dismal financial state has kept him from being able to openly declare their relationship. (Hitchcock, 1960) From the start, Marian knows what she has done is wrong and during her drive towards Sam and freedom she hears voices in her head admonishing her for her actions. Marian is the girl-next-door type and these actions have taken her far off course. (Thomson, 2009 p 16) When she pulls over to sleep, that is her only escape from the reality of what she has done. It must not be a very restful sleep, as she is found at the beginning of the “suspicious officer” scene to be slumped down across the front seat of her car. Marian is awakened by an anonymous California

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