To make it seem like he was co-operating with the censors Hitchcock would add in scenes that were considered unacceptable just so when the censors asked him to get rid of them he would straight away. This technique also worked to distract the censors from scenes he wanted to keep but were pushing the edge of the censorship rules. He was also willing to sacrifice some scenes to keep other more important ones. For instance he told the censors he was willing to get rid of the embrace between Marion and Sam in the first scene if he could keep the shower scene. This embrace was unacceptable as one of the censorship rules were “excessive and lustful kissing, lustful embracing, suggestive gestures and postures are unacceptable.” In the end Hitchcock got to keep both because on the day of the re-shoot of the first scene when they were going to get rid of the embrace the censors never showed up.
Hitchcock also used devious tactics like at one point the censors said the shower scene was unacceptable so he took it back and pretended to edit it. He then resubmitted it and the censors approved of the scene. The censors also allowed the shower scene to pass in the end, as they couldn’t decide whether there actually was nudity or not. Nudity would’ve been unacceptable as one of the censorship rules clearly states, “Explicit nudity is unacceptable.” This was another good example of Hitchcock’s techniques as he made it seem like you where seeing nudity when you weren’t. This scene was very difficult and took 70 cameras and 7 days to film the 45-second scene. He would always keep the camera just above or below the breasts or on the stomach and waist but never below which made you think you were seeing her naked although you weren’t. They also couldn’t decide whether there was any violence in the shower scene. Hitchcock was smart to film Psycho in black & white as the shower scene would’ve been unacceptable in colour as the blood going down the drain would’ve been easily recognised as blood, which wasn’t allowed because another censorship rule was “Violence & gruesomeness had to be treated within the careful limits of good taste” and it would’ve been seen as bad taste. Also to comply with that rule he never actually showed the knife going into Marion he only showed it up against her skin but because he would only show that for about a second and the camera would be making jerky movements it looked like the knife was in her. Also he made good use of music to make it seem like she was being stabbed. To make it seem even more real he stabbed melons and played this stabbing noise every time he made it look like she was being stabbed which added to the affect. On top of all that, Marion’s screaming added even more realism. The “Violence & gruesomeness had to be treated within the careful limits of good taste” rule was especially important and very strict as most of the people who would’ve been watching this film had been through at least one war if not two so they had a different view of violence and gruesomeness than we do today.
It was also considered very risqué to show a toilet flushing which Hitchcock did when Marion flushed the piece of paper that showed how much of the stolen money she had spent. Showing a double bed wasn’t allowed because another censorship rule was “suggestive postures and gestures were unacceptable” and the bed was considered to be suggestive so to get past this in the first scene he tried avoiding the double bed when possible but he also made the two characters in the scene wear more clothes then necessary to please the censors so they would allow the bed to be in the scene.
Hitchcock himself admitted to François Truffaut in his book called Hitchcock/Truffaut that “Janet Leigh (the actress who played Marion) “shouldn’t have been wearing a bra. The sequence wasn’t so immoral; No doubt that this scene could have been more interesting if only the breast of the woman rub against the one of the man.” This would’ve been acceptable as you would not have seen much of the breasts as they would’ve been hidden by John Gavin’s Chest (John Gavin was the actor playing Marion).
Norman Bates behaves in a way audiences in the 1960s would not have been used to seeing as they would’ve known much less about mental illness. This was because they wouldn’t have had the same resources we have today to find out about it and also because many of the films back then were made about the First or Second World War and not as many were made about individual killers. These days audiences know much more about mental illness because there are lots of films made about killers who are mentally ill and we have more resources to find out about them so his actions wouldn’t need to be explained as much. However because the audiences in the 1960s wouldn’t have had the same understanding we have today of why he behaved in such a way Hitchcock used a psychiatrist to explain it at the end of the film.
I enjoyed watching the film and think it is still entertaining today. However because the censorship rules are now a lot less strict it was disappointing at times as I’m used to the movies of today were there is a lot more Sex, Nudity, & Violence. At the first scene for an audience today you’d expect to seem Marion & Sam having sex or Marion topless. In the shower scene you’d expect to see Marion nude and the knife going into her and blood everywhere and her guts clearly visible like in films such as scream and the film would be in colour. This would make the film more visual but that wouldn’t necessarily be better as it would leave a lot less to your imagination. I can see how it has survived all these years as a Film icon and it shows how modern day films could be if they used more taste and less flesh. Psycho however is still
considered a good film by audiences today as it is still grossing a huge amount of money.