You could tell they didn't want somebody (Norman) whom they thought had been dealt a bad hand to have anymore publicity and scrutiny than he already had. I also wasn't expecting to see how protective the local sheriff and his wife were of Norman when they were being questioned about him and his mother. And he did one of the best stammers I've ever seen in a movie when he was being questioned by the private detective (Martin Balsam) who is also searching for Marion. Anthony Perkins is so identified today with his role of Norman Bates that it was surprising to see how endearingly he played him in the early scenes. I think it was a brilliant stroke to have the Norman of the film as a man in his twenties, a boy who never grew up in a man's body. In the novel, Norman Bates was a middle-aged man. The movie was adapted from a novel so some of the original audience would have been familiar with the plot of the book. Then the focus is skillfully shifted to the Norman Bates character as the "protagonist" victimized by his insane mother (or so it seemed) and then the focus is shifted once again to Marion's sister's search. Marion is then seemingly set up as the center of the movie as she thinks she has found a solution to her problems - a felonious one. He doesn't even have a proper home - just a room in the back of the store he owns. Hitchcock and Janet Leigh did a brilliant job of pulling us into Marion Crane's story, that of a woman in love with a divorced man who might as well be married considering his heavy financial obligations that leave him unable to marry in a practical sense even though he can in a legal sense. The opening scene with Janet Leigh and John Gavin in the hotel room was amazing and (pardon the cliché) so real. Unfortunately, for most viewers, the big surprises are not possible since so many of the scenes are part of our popular culture.There were, however, so many unexpected surprises. It would have been nice to have experienced the film without any knowledge of the plot twists. This is the rare example of a much-ballyhooed film that is truly deserving of all the hype surrounding it. from the first time I saw it at age 14 until today whenever I run across it.
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