A Mother's Son

I have always felt, and Sunday afternoon’s viewing just continues to reiterate it, that what makes the entire film, “Psycho” (1960) so impactful is that Norman, when vulnerable and somewhat revealing to Marion in the parlor of the check-in desk as the two talked, comes across as lonely, contemplative, reflective, honest, soft, and yet when questioned if his mother should be “put away” the claws come out. He isn’t afraid to take Marion to task for even insinuating he put her “some place”, although not long afterward admits it had crept into mind. Because Anthony Perkins gives us this awkward young man with too much time on his hands and no one to talk to, Marion is like a welcome therapist to share dialogue with. I think their scenes are so good because of the actors involved. Leigh’s Marion listens to him, isn’t disregarding or at least doesn’t show it. Although the topic of his mother dominates their conversation, because of the talk, Marion had decided to return to Phoenix to own up to her errors in judgment. But “Mother” would never allow her to make good on that decision. While Hitchcock concentrated his camera on the money, its importance, seemingly quite a focal point as the film reached Bates Motel, is the typical McGuffen once Arbogast (Balsam) arrives, questioning Loomis and Marion’s sister, Lila (Vera Miles) about where they might be hiding her—and obviously clueless and a bit put off by his accusation—later finding Bates Motel, ruffling Norman into a stutter when talking about Marion, her being there, and what they might have talked about. When Arbogast made his way up to the Bates home, it was as if he walked up those stairs (both to the home and then inside it) to his inevitable doom. To swamp both Marion and Arbogast went…victims with their cars. But a phone call from Arbogast to Lila and Sam would only set off a pursuit that soon brought about a discovery they certainly weren’t prepared for. Mother was quite “petrified” and Norman was eventually “dressed for the occasion”.

Dr. Fred Richman (Simon Oakland) gives you the psyche evaluation so I won’t do so here, but how Perkins gives you this tormented young man—carrying such trauma from decisions he made and jealousy that drove him over to a dark place “Psycho IV: The Beginning” would eventually cover—and all the baggage coming to a head with the missing girls, Marion, and Arbogast all named as victims of his under the dominant personality that eventually overtakes him seemingly in totality, it is a performance rich in nuance and seething mania. Trying to conceal what his Mother done, hoping to cover her tracks and his cleanup of her “mess”, all the while, giving himself over to that personality at various stages unless folks stopped by at the hotel for a place to sleep; Norman is steeped in underlying personality chaos. Marion as the catalyst in Mother’s emergence, and her disappearance bringing Arbogast, Lila, and Sam to the Bates and his own home, Norman’s secret would eventually be exposed. The sequel, which I look forward to talking about in the next week, I always felt was a nice follow up to Hitchcock’s masterpiece. That smile Norman has when Sam fails to find Arbogast (and when Marion’s car eventually goes all the way into the swamp), seemingly a reaction to his dutiful protection of his mother and successful clean ups is quite unsettling. Enough murder and disappearance so close to you will sooner or later come back to haunt you, though. It did Norman.

*I guess if there was something revealed I didn't give as much thought to it was the missing girls prior to Marion. How much of what Norman talks to Marion about were also shared with the first two victims? Did Mother put a knife in them, too? Were they "running away from something to their own private islands"? Were they in their own "private traps"?