Hitchcock (2012, Sacha Gervasi)

Basicly, this is the story of the man behind Psycho but also what happened before and during the shooting of the movie. If most of the scenes refer to the famous shower scene, other elements are to be noted also: the battle against Paramount over the financing of the film, the relationship between Hitch and his wife Alma, his personality, etc. The acting from all was great but in my opinion, James D’Arcy as Anthony Perkins steals the show.
 

Anthony Hopkins, Scarlett Johansson and James D'Arcy on the set of Psycho

Memorable Quotes

• About Norman Bates

Ed Gein: Ma, aren't you cold? (He covered her with a blanket and put his arms around her) Don't be afraid, Ma

Hitch: Norman Bates is the logical extension of those two characters in that movie. Appealing, sensitive, suffering the terrible burden of being forced to pretend to be something he is not 

Anthony Perkins: I’m sick of all these romantic crap the studios keep shutting me into. But my only worry is we’re playing Norman like cut to close to home

Hitch: How so?

Anthony Perkins: When I was younger, I was incredibly close to my mother, so close that I remember wishing my father would drop dead and when I was five, he did just that, kill over from a heart-attack

• The bathroom scene

Hitch: I just want you to read this little bit here. It takes place at a hotel bathroom

Alma (reading Robert Bloch): "Mary started to scream, and then the curtains parted further and a hand appeared, holding a butcher’s knife. It was the knife that, a moment later, cut off her scream. And her head."

Shurlock (Production Code Administration - PCA chief) : The court will absolutely not permit you to show a knife penetrating a woman’s flesh
Hitch: I assure you Geoffrey, my murders are always models of taste and discretion

Shurlock: Is there any improper suggestion of nudity in this murder scene in the shower
Hitch: She won’t be nude. She’ll be wearing a shower cap

• The oath

Hitch: Good morning everyone. Would you all raise your right hands, that includes you Vera Miles. I do solemnly promise that I will not divulge the plot nor the many secrets of Psycho to friends, relatives, trade reporters, nor to the outgoing President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Thank you all very much

• About Hitch

Vera Miles: Well it starts with him wanting to choose your hairstyle, then he wants to choose your clothes, and your friends and how many children you should have. You know that poor tortured soul Jimmy Stewart played in Vertigo, that’s Hitch. Only younger and slimmer and better looking 

Janet Leigh: Compared to Orson Welles, he’s a sweetheart  

SEE ALSO: 
Psycho (1960, Alfred Hitchcock)