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The shower sequence in Psycho stands as one of the most legendary moments not only in horror cinema but in the entire history of film. Though it lasts just a few minutes in the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece, its intricate design inspired director Alexandre O. Philippe to craft a 90-minute documentary, 78/52, set to premiere on Friday, October 13, by IFC Films.
Featuring insights from experts and filmmakers like Danny Elfman, Guillermo del Toro, and Elijah Wood, the documentary delves into the technical brilliance and cultural impact of Hitchcock’s revolutionary filmmaking. Below are 12 fascinating insights about the scene from 78/52.
1. THE SHOOTING PROCESS WAS UNEXPECTEDLY EXTENDED.
Although the shower scene lasts less than five minutes, it required a full seven days to film—a duration that, according to Alan Barnette, producer of Hitchcock (2012), was “almost unprecedented.” Tere Carrubba, Hitchcock’s granddaughter, notes that this seven-day period accounted for roughly one-third of Janet Leigh’s total filming time for Psycho.
2. JANET LEIGH’S BODY DOUBLE WAS AMONG THE EARLIEST PLAYBOY BUNNIES.
The infamous shower scene in Psycho didn’t feature Janet Leigh alone. Director Alexandre O. Philippe of 78/52 located Marli Renfro, the 21-year-old model who acted as Leigh’s body double. Post-filming, Renfro returned to Chicago, where she graced the September 1960 cover of Playboy and later joined the newly opened Playboy Club in February of that year.
3. LEIGH WAS ABSENT FROM SOME OF THE FILM'S MOST ICONIC MOMENTS ...
Two standout shots from the shower sequence—Norman Bates’s knife pressing against Marion Crane’s stomach and Marion’s hand clutching the shower curtain—featured Renfro, not Leigh. Renfro pointed out that her disfigured ring finger, caused by a childhood accident, is visible in the curtain shot. For the stomach scene, Hitchcock filmed the knife being pulled away from Renfro’s stomach, which was then reversed in the final edit.
4. ... AND ANTHONY PERKINS WAS ALSO ABSENT.
The scenes featuring a wig-clad Bates attacking Marion didn’t actually involve Anthony Perkins, as he was in New York rehearsing for the Broadway production Greenwillow. A stuntwoman, with her face darkened for a silhouette effect, stood in for him. When Perkins is shown cleaning up the crime scene, it’s Renfro’s body wrapped in the shower curtain.
5. MARION CRANE WAS AWARE OF HER ATTACKER'S IDENTITY.
IFC Films“I discussed with Janet Leigh her perception of the attacker, and she was certain it was Norman,” Stephen Rebello, author of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, shared in the documentary. “That’s how she portrayed it. For her, the reality was, ‘I’m going to die at the hands of someone who pretended to be kind, and I tried to be courteous to.’ This adds a deeper layer of terror and tragedy to the scene.”
6. BERNARD HERRMANN’S MUSIC RESCUED THE FILM FROM BECOMING A TV EPISODE.
“After viewing the initial rough cut of Psycho, my grandfather was dissatisfied,” Carrubba revealed. “He considered trimming it to an hour and including it in [Alfred Hitchcock Presents]. However, composer Bernard Herrmann persuaded Hitchcock to incorporate the now-famous violin score into the shower scene, which transformed the sequence and cemented the film’s status as a timeless masterpiece.”
7. THE STABBING SOUNDS CAME FROM SIRLOIN AND CASABA MELON.
Hitchcock’s sound team experimented by stabbing various melons to mimic the sound of a knife piercing flesh. The casaba melon, with its dense rind, provided the ideal texture to avoid a hollow sound. To enhance the effect, Hitchcock also used recordings of a large sirloin steak being repeatedly stabbed. Rebello noted that after the recordings, “the sound engineer took the steak home and cooked it for dinner.”
8. IT SENT AUDIENCES INTO A FRENZY.
Director Peter Bogdanovich recounted his experience at the first New York screening of the shower scene: “As soon as the curtain opened and [Norman] began stabbing, the audience erupted in a continuous scream. The soundtrack was completely drowned out. Throughout the entire sequence … it marked the first time in cinema history where being in a movie theater felt unsafe.”
9. HITCHCOCK TOOK EXTREME MEASURES TO AVOID SPOILERS.
It’s widely acknowledged that Psycho revolutionized movie exhibition practices. Before Psycho, as editor Walter Murch noted, “moviegoers would freely enter and exit theaters. Hitchcock ingeniously insisted, ‘No one should be allowed in after the film starts.’” Hitchcock later explained that he didn’t want viewers arriving after the shower scene and questioning Leigh’s absence.
Efforts to keep the shower scene under wraps began with the trailers, which showed Vera Miles—not Janet Leigh—screaming in a shower.
10. THE PAINTING NORMAN BATES USES TO SPY HOLDS DEEP MEANING.
Hitchcock’s meticulous attention to detail is evident in the painting Norman Bates moves aside to watch Marion Crane. The artwork illustrates the moral tale “Susanne and the Elders,” which tells of a virtuous woman bathing in her garden while being observed by two men.
This story has been depicted in numerous ways over the centuries, with varying degrees of nudity and focus. Hitchcock selected a version by 17th-century artist Frans Van Mieris Le Vieux, where the elders are seen assaulting Susanne, mirroring the voyeurism and violence of Psycho’s shower scene.
According to Timothy Standring, Gates Foundation Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Denver Art Museum, Bates “replaces the voyeuristic painting to become the voyeur himself. Hitchcock could have chosen from countless examples, but he picked this one for its rich narrative relevance to his film.”
11. A LAST-SECOND EDIT FIXED A MAJOR MISTAKE.
During the final moments of the shower scene, Leigh had to remain perfectly motionless—holding her breath and keeping her eyes fixed—as the camera gradually zoomed out. Multiple takes were required to achieve the desired effect. However, as Carrubba noted, when Hitchcock screened the finished film for executives, his wife spotted a moment where Leigh’s breath was visible. With Leigh unavailable and the budget too tight for reshoots, Hitchcock cleverly masked the mistake by cutting to a shot of the showerhead.
12. THE SHOWER SCENE DIRECTLY INSPIRED RAGING BULL.
Among the many filmmakers inspired by Psycho is Martin Scorsese, who based the fight sequence between Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro) and Sugar Ray Robinson (Johnny Barnes) on the iconic shower scene. Scorsese revealed, “I meticulously analyzed the shower scene in Psycho shot by shot and aligned it with my original storyboard for this particular sequence.”
