Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates is one of the most famous villains in horror cinema — or is he? After all, technically it was his mother Norma who murdered Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), Arbogast (Martin Balsam), and other offscreen victims. Or rather, it was the version of his mother who lived in Norman's head. Norman may have murdered his mother years ago, but her grip on him endured post-mortem.
How fitting that a character with multiple personalities was voiced by more than one person. "Psycho" conceals this twist by featuring "mother" only as a voice. We only hear her speak to Norman and the conversations always happen offscreen. For these moments, Hitchcock took three voices, those belonging to Paul Jasmin, Virginia Gregg, and Jeanette Nolan, and mixed them together into the voice of "Mother."
All three actors were uncredited, with their names nowhere to be seen in Paul Bass's legendary title sequence.
How fitting that a character with multiple personalities was voiced by more than one person. "Psycho" conceals this twist by featuring "mother" only as a voice. We only hear her speak to Norman and the conversations always happen offscreen. For these moments, Hitchcock took three voices, those belonging to Paul Jasmin, Virginia Gregg, and Jeanette Nolan, and mixed them together into the voice of "Mother."
All three actors were uncredited, with their names nowhere to be seen in Paul Bass's legendary title sequence.
- 12/1/2022
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Besides making people forever afraid of motel-room showers, Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" continues to have an incalculable impact on popular culture. Though it was released 55 years ago this week (on June 16, 1960), it continues to inspire filmmakers and TV producers. In just the last three years, we've seen the 2012 film "Hitchcock" (based on Stephen Rebello's book "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of 'Psycho,'" and starring Anthony Hopkins as the director and Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh) and the ongoing A&E TV prequel drama series, "Bates Motel."
Still, for all of the "Psycho" trivia revealed in "Hitchcock," the biopic barely scratches the surface of how the film got made, from the men who inspired the invention of Norman Bates, to the trickery Hitchcock used to tease the press while keeping the film's convention-shredding narrative twists a secret, to the film's unlikely connection to "Leave It to Beaver." Here,...
Still, for all of the "Psycho" trivia revealed in "Hitchcock," the biopic barely scratches the surface of how the film got made, from the men who inspired the invention of Norman Bates, to the trickery Hitchcock used to tease the press while keeping the film's convention-shredding narrative twists a secret, to the film's unlikely connection to "Leave It to Beaver." Here,...
- 6/16/2015
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
For some of the oldsters out there they may recall the 1973 Gamble & Huff-produced R&B hit single “I’ll Always Love My Mama” by the musical group The Intruders. This musical anthem was certainly a lyrical tribute to caring mothers and how their sacrifices shaped our childhood and adulthood. This finger-snapping song definitely captured the spirit of motherly guidance.
Naturally film has had its share of depicting motherhood over the decades. In fact, mothers of all types are presented before our eyes in packages of being nurturing, notorious, nutty, naive and nonsensical. However, there is something so special about the mother-son relationship that rivals the father-daughter dynamic. We have our share of proud Mama’s boys out there roaming about in society.
In Mama’s Boy: The Top 10 Mother-Son Combos in Movies we will examine some of the big screen bonds that have been celebrated between the Mommy Dearests...
Naturally film has had its share of depicting motherhood over the decades. In fact, mothers of all types are presented before our eyes in packages of being nurturing, notorious, nutty, naive and nonsensical. However, there is something so special about the mother-son relationship that rivals the father-daughter dynamic. We have our share of proud Mama’s boys out there roaming about in society.
In Mama’s Boy: The Top 10 Mother-Son Combos in Movies we will examine some of the big screen bonds that have been celebrated between the Mommy Dearests...
- 7/7/2014
- by Frank Ochieng
- SoundOnSight
Her new film "The Bling Ring" recently hit the big screen, and now Sofia Coppola chats about directing the controversial flick in Vogue Australia magazine's Love issue.
While donning designer duds from Giorgio Armani and Louis Vuitton for the Paul Jasmin-shot spread, the 42-year-old director/producer revealed the way she approached the drama and discussed her childhood in Los Angeles.
Check out a few highlights from Miss Coppola's interview below. For more, be sure to visit Vogue Australia!
On directing a film about stealing:
"Based on a true story, it's totally different to anything else I've done. But I like a challenge. The business of stealing labels becomes [the thieves] equivalent of eating candy all the time. Way out of balance, it quickly turns bad. Throughout the film, I was trying hard not to be judgmental because i wanted the audience to react and make their own decision. I do think...
While donning designer duds from Giorgio Armani and Louis Vuitton for the Paul Jasmin-shot spread, the 42-year-old director/producer revealed the way she approached the drama and discussed her childhood in Los Angeles.
Check out a few highlights from Miss Coppola's interview below. For more, be sure to visit Vogue Australia!
On directing a film about stealing:
"Based on a true story, it's totally different to anything else I've done. But I like a challenge. The business of stealing labels becomes [the thieves] equivalent of eating candy all the time. Way out of balance, it quickly turns bad. Throughout the film, I was trying hard not to be judgmental because i wanted the audience to react and make their own decision. I do think...
- 7/16/2013
- GossipCenter
Vera Farmiga has landed a leading role on A&E's upcoming Psycho prequel television series, "Bates Motel." She'll play Norma Louise Bates, the mother of Norman Bates in the small screen project, officially described as follows: "Bates Motel" gives viewers an intimate understanding of how Norman Bates' psyche developed from his childhood through his teen years. Fans will have access to the dark, twisted backstory and learn first hand how his mother, Norma, and her love damaged Norman, helped forge the most well-known serial killing motel owner in history. Norma Bates was originally voiced by Virginia Gregg, Jeanette Nolan, and Paul Jasmin in Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 original film. Gregg reprised the voice role for Psycho II and Pyscho III and in...
- 8/27/2012
- Comingsoon.net
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