Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho: A Casebook (Casebooks in Criticism)

272 Pages·2004·1.97 MB·English

by  Robert Kolker

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho:
A Casebook
Robert Kolker,
Editor
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Alfred Hitchcock’s
Psycho
A CAS E BOOK
CASEBOOKS IN CRITICISM
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Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho: A Casebook
Edited by Robert Kolker
ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S
Psycho
J J J
A C A S E B O O K
Edited by
Robert Kolker
1
2004
1
Oxford NewYork
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Copyright(cid:1) 2004 by OxfordUniversityPress,Inc.
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
AlfredHitchcock’spsycho:acasebook/editedbyRobertKolker.
p.cm.—(Casebooksincriticism)
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN0-19-516919-0;0-19-516920-4(pbk.)
1. Psycho(Motionpicture)I.Kolker,RobertPhillip.II.Series.
PN1997.P79P782004
791.43'72—dc22 2003016992
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
onacid-freepaper
Acknowledgments
J J J
Many thanks to Steven Schneider and Jay Telotte for making the
bibliography better than it would have been without them.Linda
Williams was helpful in supplying material for her essay. At Ox-
ford University Press, Elissa Morris supported the project with
humor and a strong sense of what a book should look like. Jer-
emy Lewis was tireless in helping me hack through the thickets
of permissions and the myriad of details of putting the book
together. William Smith demonstrated a saint’s patience. Stacey
HamiltonandRobinMiurawereofgreatassistancewiththecom-
plicated job of copy editing. My special thanks to Katherine Cal-
houn, head of the Information DeliveryDepartmentoftheGeor-
gia Institute of Technology Library, whose assistance was nothing
short of amazing.
This page intentionally left blank
Credits
J J J
RoyalS.Brown,“Herrman,Hitchcock,andtheMusicoftheIrrational.”
OvertonesandUndertones:ReadingFilmMusic.Berkeley:UniversityofCalifornia
Press, 1994. Copyright (cid:1) 1994 The Regents of the University of Califor-
nia. Permission granted by the Regents of the University of California
Press and the University of California Press.
Bosley Crowther, “Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ Bows at 2 Houses,” “The Year’s
Best Films.” New York Times, June 17, 1960; Dec. 24, 1960. Copyright (cid:1)
1960 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with permission.
Jean Douchet, “Hitch and His Audience.” First published in Jim Hiller
(ed.),Cahiersducin´ema,Vol.2:1960–1968:NewWave,NewCinema,Re-evaluating
Hollywood (BFI, 1986).
Raymond Durgnat, “Psycho,” from The Strange CaseofAlfredHitchcock,orthe
PoorMan’sHitchcock.Cambridge,Mass.:MITPress,1974.Copyright(cid:1)Ray-
mond Durgnat, 1974. Originally published by Faber and Faber Limited,
1974.
viii Credits
Robert Kolker, “The Man Who Knew More Than Too Much.” Sections
from “Algebraic Figures: Recalculating the Hitchcock Formula,” in Play
It Again, Sam: Retakes on Remakes, ed. Andy Horton and Stuart McDougal.
Copyright(cid:1)1998TheRegentsoftheUniversityofCalifornia.Reprinted
with permission of the University of California Press.
StephenRebello,AlfredHitchcockandtheMakingofPsycho.Copyright(cid:1)1989
byStephenRebellofromAlfredHitchcockandtheMakingofPsychobyStephen
Rebello. Reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Press, LLC.
Robert Samuels, “Epilogue: Psycho and the Horrorof theBi-TextualUn-
conscious.” Reprinted by permission from Hitchcock’s Bi-Textuality: Lacan,
Feminisms,andQueerTheorybyRobertSamuels,theStateUniversityofNew
York Press. (cid:1) 1998 State University of New York. All rights reserved.
George Toles, “‘If Thine Eye Offend Thee...’: Psycho and the Art of
Infection.” New Literary History 15 (1984). (cid:1) New Literary History, Uni-
versity of Virginia. Reprinted with permission of The Johns Hopkins
University Press.
Franc¸ois Truffaut, Hitchcock/Truffaut. Reprinted with the permission of
Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group from Hitchcock by Franc¸ois
Truffaut. Copyright (cid:1) English language translation copyright (cid:1) 1984
by Franc¸ois Truffaut; copyright (cid:1) renewed 1995 by Eva Truffaut, Jose-
phine Truffaut, and Laura Truffaut-Wong.
Linda Williams, “Discipline and Fun: Psycho and Postmodern Cinema.”
Reinventing Film Studies, ed. Cristine Gledhill and Linda Willams. London:
Arnold, 2000. pp. 351–76. (cid:1) Arnold, 2000. Originally published as “Dis-
cipline and Distraction: Psycho, Visual Culture, and Postmodern Cin-
ema.” From Culture and the Problem of the Disciplines, ed. John Carlos Rowe.
NewYork:ColumbiaUniversityPress,1998.(cid:1)1998,ColumbiaUniversity
Press. Reprinted with permission of the publisher.
“Psycho,” from Hitchcock’s FilmsRevisitedbyRobinWood.(cid:1)1989,Columbia
University Press. Reprinted with the permission of the publisher.
Contents
J J J
1
“Good Evening...”: Alfred Hitchcock Talks to Franc¸ois Truffaut
about “Pure Cinema,” Playing His Audience Like an Organ,
and Psycho 3
2
Introduction 23
robert kolker
3
The Inception 29
stephen rebello From Alfred Hitchcock
and the Making of Psycho 30
4
Early Reception 57
bosley crowther Hitchcock’s‘Psycho’ Bows at 2 Houses 57
Psycho Entry for “Ten Best Films” 59