Corrected entry: During the filming of the shower scene, the filmmakers used very cold water so that the expression of horror/shock on Janet Leigh's face would be as realistic as possible. Mentioned in the Universal Studio tour.
Corrected entry: Something's not right about the money ratio in this film. The guy gives $40,000 to buy a house, which I assume in 1960 was a great deal of money and could have bought a substantial sized property. Yet when Janet Leigh trades her car in, she has to pay a difference of $700. Thats an awful big difference between two second hand cars bearing in mind the cars are quite similar and you can buy a great big house for $40,000.
Correction: The dealer knows it's a great deal of money. He starts high and expects the customer to negotiate price. It just happened that Marion wasn't in a negotiating type of mood, and even the dealer was surprised she took it for so much money.
Corrected entry: When Norman shows Marion to room number one he opens the door with the room key. After putting her coat and suitcase on the bed, he puts the room key in his jacket pocket. After showing her the room and inviting her to dinner, Norman turns and pulls the key out of the door and hands it to Marion. He never took the key out of his jacket pocket. And he didn't get both keys from the hook in the office, just one.
Correction: You're mistaken, please watch the scene again. When Norman opens the door we see that he leaves the motel's room key in the lock under the doorknob, note the key's dangling room tag. He does not place anything in his pocket, he only unbuttons his jacket as he walks to the window.
Corrected entry: In the shower scene. The water drains anti clockwise. Bates Motel is supposed to be in Arizona, (northern hemisphere) so the water should drain clockwise.
Correction: That's a myth I'm afraid - it's far more to due with the shape of the sink and whether it's level: http://www.snopes.com/science/coriolis.asp.
Corrected entry: When Martin Balsam questions Anthony Perkins, Perkins says that during her stay at the motel, Janet Leigh didn't make any phone calls. "Did you sleep with her?" Balsam asks. Perkins says no. "Then how do you know she didn't make any phone calls?" This would have been verifiable on the switchboard, where a record would have been kept, especially in the case of a motel, where guests' phone calls are bound to be long distance.
Correction: This a character mistake from detective Arbogast's side. He assumes that Norman would have had to stay in Marion's room the whole time to be so sure she did not make any phone calls, but he does not know anything about running a motel, or how things like this are recorded.
Corrected entry: After being stabbed in the shower, Marion's hair is flatly pressed down on her head. Later, when you see her lying dead, her hair is more curly.
Correction: It's possible that when her hair started to dry it began curling up. Mine does this all the time.
Corrected entry: Hitchcock turned on ice cold water half way into the scene without Janet Leigh's knowledge to get a genuine scream in the shower scene.
Correction: No, this isn't true. Janet Leigh said in an interview that in fact Hitchcock always made sure she was comfortable during the shooting of the shower scene.
Corrected entry: The film starts on a Friday. Marion, instead of putting the $40,000 in the bank, packs her bags, including the money, and drives away. She swaps her car for another one at a car yard. That night she sleeps in the car. So it is now Saturday. That night she plans to sleep at a motel, but is killed instead. So now it is Sunday. But the word is out that she stole the money, which they wouldn't have known until another day later, Monday, and after checking her room, and then checking the bank. Everything is preempted, by a full day. And no-one thinks that maybe she was murdered for the money; that she fought her robber/murderer, and is buried in the woods, weighed down and sunk in water. She's a good person, they all say that, but they all believe instantly that she stole the money.
Correction: When talking to Sheriff Chambers the night of the day Lila first met Sam and Arbogast, Lila explicitly says that Marion "left Phoenix a week ago, yesterday".
Corrected entry: The state trooper asks Marian for her "license," but not the registration. Then he looks at the car's plate and verifies the number. But it would be on the registration, not on her license. (00:15:50)
Correction: When the trooper looks in the window towards the steering column, that's when he sees the registration. Back in the day registrations were taped to the steering column.
Corrected entry: Norman Bates spies on Marion by removing a picture from a wall in his back office but this cannot be so. If you look at the motel from the outside, Marion's cabin is to the right hand side of the office. As you walk into the office the front desk is on the left (as you can tell when the private investigator arrives) and the back office where Bates has his stuffed birds, etc. is behind the front desk. If he looked through a hole in his back office he would have been looking through an outside wall and not into Marion's cabin, which would be on the other side of the office.
Correction: The Office and back parlor are slightly narrower than any of the cabins; but it is the same depth. The peephole is not in the back of the parlor, but the side contiguous with Cabin 1. Note that both outer walls of the parlor have a large window; the wall with the peephole does not.
Corrected entry: Janet Leigh is driving from Phoenix, AZ to Bakersfield, CA. On the way there is an interview with a state trooper followed by a shot of a sign on the highway saying, "left lane for Gorman". Gorman, CA is in the general vicinity, but it is not on the route one would take to get from Phoenix to Bakersfield.
Correction: This is exactly the route one would take from Phoenix to Bakersfield. Even more so during the time this was filmed. You would pass Gorman while northbound on the 5 in California. You can even google map the directions between the two cities and you pass Gorman.
Corrected entry: Mother comes out of her room and slashes Arbogast with a knife. After he falls down the stairs, Mother comes down and stabs him again. But when she does this, her knife has no blood on it.
Correction: Stabbing someone won't put blood on the knife unless you stab repeatedly or hold the blade in. A quick stab will cut the blood vessels, but it will take an extra second for the blood to begin to bleed out. A quick stab will have trace amounts of blood, but the blade won't be covered.
Corrected entry: The towel Norman takes off the wall to dry the tub with is white, when he puts it on the back of the toilet it is dark in color and when he throws it into the bucket it is white again.
Correction: The towel stays white for the whole scene. The darker piece of cloth that Norman places on the toilet tank is Marion's robe.
Corrected entry: The sound of Sam running down the stairs to get to the basement should have been heard, as the stairs are old and he is going quickly, but instead he just pops out and stops Norman from getting to Lila. He probably was just standing nearby.
Correction: Lila and "Mother's" screams could have easily drowned out the sound of Sam's footsteps. And we DO hear footsteps just before Sam appears.
Corrected entry: At the end of the movie, Sam is knocked unconscious by Norman. In the next minute or so, he manages to regain consciousness, run all the way to the house, and get to Lila and Mother in the basement. How is that possible?
Correction: It's not entirely *impossible*. First, the blow might have just stunned Sam, rather than knocking him out completely. Secondly, the house isn't that far from the motel - Sam could have recovered and reached the house in the time it took for Norman to become "Mother". Lastly, with both Lila and "Mother's" screams, it would have been easy for Sam to find them.
Corrected entry: When Arbogast reaches the top of the stairs and Norman (as Mrs. Bates) rushes out and stabs him, in the wide shot he misses Arbogast's face, no blood appears, and the knife hits him near his chest. But in the closeup, Arbogast suddenly has a bloody slash down his face.
Correction: It's a spurt of blood from his chest wound that's on his face, not a bloody gash.
Corrected entry: Before the famous shower scene, the woman removes her gown, and leaves it by the toilet. Once stabbed, she falls out of the shower (next to the toilet), and it has changed position. The gown then disappears when Norman is mopping the blood off the side of the bathtub and floor.
Correction: No, it's there the entire time. She drops the gown over the toilet seat. When Norman comes in to clean, it's still there, and he even picks it up and puts it on the toilet tank.
Corrected entry: Why does Norman carry a closed umbrella when it is raining?
Correction: Norman only goes back to get the umbrella so that he can hold it over Marion. By the time he gets to her, she's already under the porch's overhang, so it's useless. Hence, his later joke about his 'trusty umbrella'.
Corrected entry: When Detective Arbogast (Martin Balsam) arrives to question Norman, he gets out of the passenger-side door of his car (we're watching from the driver's side and he's opposite us). The steering wheel looks like it's on the right side too. Flipped film?
Correction: The steering wheel is where it should be, on the left side. He parks and simply slides out the passenger side to avoid walking around.
I agree with the correction entry above, although it still seems silly, as I think getting out the drivers side and walking around would be less work than sliding across to the other door.
In fact, he does this twice in the film.
Corrected entry: Norman Bates invites Marion to have dinner with him as he was going to eat anyway. She accepts and he brings down sandwiches. She then says she's not got any appetite, and he said they are all for her anyway as he's not hungry. Odd really, why would he make dinner for himself if he didn't want to eat and why would she accept dinner if she doesn't want to eat either?
Correction: Marion IS hungry, she just tells Norman she hasn't much of an appetite, since "Mrs. Bates" had just screamed that she didn't want Marion feeding her appetite with "my food or my son". As for Norman, he was being polite.
Correction: Untrue, and it's been corrected many times before. Janet Leigh said in an interview that in fact Hitchcock always made sure she was comfortable during the shooting of the shower scene. The cold water is a myth.
rabid anarchist