Disorienting in 1960

Rating: 10/10 (2 August 2005)

Too many reviewers, I think, overlook one of Hitchcock's most effective and disorienting touches. When this film was released in 1960, Janet Leigh was a major star and John Gavin was an important leading man. Those of us who saw it then watched those stars, Leigh and Gavin, plotting a robbery. They seemed to be getting away with it when, with absolutely no warning, the top-billed star gets killed.
With the star missing, and the robbery apparently forgotten, the audience was left in the very upsetting position of having no idea as to the possible direction of the story or the identity of the star. In those days Anthony Perkins was little more than a minor juvenile who was listed in a supporting role. Now anybody who sees the movie, even before the first showing, knows that Perkins is the star, and that original disorientation cannot be recreated.