Above:
The Crow by Frisky Frolic
Saturday, October 29, 2022
Hitchcockian
'There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it'
Alfred Hitchcock
Hitch & Anthony Perkins
There has been a lot written about Hitchcock's relationships and directing style with his female co-stars, there have been movies and books written about. In particular, his treatment of Tippi Hedren has been well documented. Not nearly as much however, about the many male stars and matinee idols he cast as his male leads.
I'm guessing it was a little better as some, like James Stewart and Farley Granger, worked with Hitchcock on multiple films. I can say, the famed director chose some great actors, both talented and good looking to co-star with the many blonde actress's he hired in the role of his female leading lady.
Over the years, I've featured several Hitchcockian hunks including pieces on Farley Granger, Paul Newman, Rod Taylor James Stewart, (HERE) and Norman Bates himself, Anthony Perkins. (HERE:)
In addition to the two links above, I've compiled all my favorite Hitchcock hunks onto one page with a couple of new pieces including my new favorite hottie from a recent viewing of a Hitchcock film I'd not seen before. Check them all out HERE:
Psycho-Sexual
Sam Loomis:
Well, we could laze around here a while longer.
Marion Crane:
Checking out time is 3 P.M. Hotels of this sort are interested in you when you come in, but when your time is up... oh Sam, I hate having to be with you in a place like this.
Psycho (1960)
I couldn't do a series on Alfred Hitchcock without including the opening scene from Psycho. Although Hitchcock's films are filled with sexual themes, sexual innuendo and issues of sexual power, (usually with women) there are very few actual love or sexy scenes.
The 'after-sex' scene with Sam Loomis and Marion Crane sets the tone, and reveals the motive, for what's about to come. The delicious John Gavin is the perfect Sam Loomis. You and completely understand why Marion went to the lengths she did in order to be with him.
Although there is no actual nudity, thanks to the actors, the scene is incredibly intimate and erotic. I certainly haven't seen all of Hitchcock's films, but I know it's rare to see such intimacy so sensually presented.
Hitchcock has many scenes of passion and longing, but it's usually done through close-ups of the actor's faces, music and even locations. An actual love scene is quite rare in his works. The love scene was controversial at the time, as was another odd face and moment in the film.
Yahoo News
Although not nearly as controversial, the same scene from the 1998 re-make did have it's moments. In the Gus Van Sant modern retelling, the director has a shot-by-shot vision he moves away from as little as possible. In this version, Anne Heche plays Marion with Viggo Mortensen as Sam.
As you can see briefly, very briefly, Van Sant does have Mortensen's Sam nude in the motel room scene. Although in the released versions of the film we get a brief blurry view of Sam's ass, and a clearer view of the top of his butt, there was a version at one point that gave a more complete viewing of Viggo.
Back in 2012, I did a piece featuring some caps someone did of the VHS version that showed Sam's butt in it's entirety. (HERE:) Given how often Viggo has been nude in film, and given it was just his butt, it's a Hitchcockian mystery as to why someone would remove Viggo's full butt shot from future releases...
Shampoo & Creamed Rinse by Studio1x
'I Won’t Have You Bringing Some Young Girl In For Supper!'
Norma Bates
Do you ever wonder about your last time? Your last day, your last shower, your last time having sex. Most of us, below the age of 80, don't necessarily think anything is our last, but for some of us, it is. Marion Crane never thought her last shower would be the final rinse, but as we all know, that's exactly what it ended up being.
One of the reasons Marian's murder was so shocking went beyond just the brutality of the murder itself. The blood and mystery murderer was horrific enough, but the real horror came from her hope. Most run of the mill slasher movies don't really go too far into the victim's life, but in Psycho, we learn everything we need to know to make Marion's slaughter harder than most movie killings to take.
For the first forty-five minutes of Alfred Hitchcock's film, we learn about Marion's life, about her job, her lover and her hope for the future. We know she's so passionate about being with Sam she takes an enormous risk to secure their future together. She's frantic, she desperate, she's deeply in love and lust. This builds so a climatic crescendo making the shower scene as iconic as it's become.
In this shower scene our Marion is Adrian, who experiences the desperation when he begins to understand that this rinse off will become his last. Adrian senses something's up as soon as he turns on the water and steps into the shower.
A few minutes into his shower, Adrian see's a shadowy hand in the reflection of the glass, turns around just in time to see the blade begin to slice his skin. It goes in so smoothly there's no blood right away, but it comes, it gushes out as quickly as the realization of the horror that is happening quickly overtakes him.
As soon as I saw this series from Studio1x I knew I wanted to use it for my salute to Psycho. The concept as well as Adrian's movements and poses are exactly as Marion was depicted on the 1998 poster art for the film.
If 'Adrian' looks familiar, I'm guessing you took a close look and noticed his long penis and it's beautifully distinctive curve. I'll keep it a bit of a mystery, but if you check out my previous pieces featuring the work of Studio1x, the puzzle isn't really that difficult to solve and put together. Special thanks to my special effects guy for assisting in bloodying poor Adrian up!
Shower Scenes:
'Mother! Oh God, Mother! Blood! Blood!'
Psycho (1960)
Shower Scene
Shot by Shot by TR Pics
I remember the first time I saw the iconic shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. I was probably only 10 or 11 and the 1960 horror flick was playing on a Saturday afternoon. I'd never heard of the film, nor of Hitchcock when I saw the scene. I turned into the movie just before the Marion steps into the shower.
At the time, I remember thinking it seemed a bit silly, and didn't really find it scary at all. Then... when I got a little older, I saw the scene again, this time, watching the film from the very beginning. This time, it hit me, the terror wasn't only in the brilliantly filmed shower sequence, the terror was layered, built from start of the movie and each scene leading up to it.
In the film's first 20 minutes, we get to know Marion Crane. Her lover, her workplace, her plan. Her strength and vulnerabilities and her destination desperation. Those scenes build making the scene more shocking causing the audience to feel heartbroken that Marion's plan comes to such ] a bloody end.
A few years ago, I put together a pieces pulling together a selection of Psycho 'shower scenes' that I had gathered on-line. (HERE:) This shot by shot set of images, came to me just this week thanks to Tom from TR Pics. When I was putting together the post featuring Tom's ode to Friday the 13th, I asked if he had anything Hitchcock related. As you can see, he most certainly did!
One of Tom's earliest models, Andy Hill, was always up for creating, and re-creating, unique and amazing ideas. I've featured Tom's work with Andy before, (HERE:) but this is certainly one of my favorite concepts that they've worked on together. With Halloween this year, being devoted to Horror films, this iconic scene was a must include.
'Andy had amazing ideas he wanted to try. He sort of became my muse and we would have marathon shoots. We lived about four hours apart, but for a few months we found time to shoot several times together, with each session being very different and unique.'
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