Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock’s classic era was probably the 1950s and early 1960s, when he controlled all the aspects of his movies, a true auteur.  He typically combined a loose plot, usually set off by a “Macguffin” (here, a theft), with a slightly ambiguous leading man (or woman, in this case) in a dangerous position not of his making, and lots of female sex appeal from his blonde leading ladies.

After the plush colours and production values of outings such as To Catch a Thief and North by Northwest, Hitchcock switched to black and white, and shot using essentially tv production techniques for this black comedy (as he always described it).  According to folklore, that was a decision based on economics because the studio didn’t want to finance a film version of Robert Bloch’s shocking novella.  Whether or not that’s the case, this was Hitchcock’s biggest hit, with a masterful marketing campaign (no-one was allowed in after the film started), and that shower scene, that reveal of Mother, that jangling score by Bernard Herrmann, and so much more.

It was successful enough that it received another full theatrical release in 1965, and the studio used the same artwork in its advertising materials, with the addition of the tagline proclaiming “It’s Back!”.

But this is Lobby Card #8 from the film’s first release, featuring John Gavin and Vera Miles at the Bates Motel.