Psycho (1960)

Themes:
Blonde, Stairs, Mirror, Portals (hole in wall behind painting), Romance (threatened), anti marriage statements, Pets (Norman's Taxidermy), Art, Chasem Class

Characters:
Marion Crane
Sam Loomis
Norman Bates
Lila Crane
Milton Arbogast


Notes:
Marion wearing white undergarments in opening scene, after she steals the money, she is shown wearing black undergarments. Good vs. evil.
This suggestive white/black wardrobe transformation was employed in G. W. Pabst's Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (1929): Thymiane is shown dressed entirely in white in the opening scene on the day of her confimation, later in the film once she has descended into prostitution she is shown dressed in black - a doubling of the opening shot.

Marion's murder - Montage
Staircase murder scene - shot from an aerial perspective.
Toilet - first time a toilet was shown onscreen.
Score - Bernard Herrmann

Hitchcock chose to film this in B&W instead of color because he felt it would be too gory.

Based on book, which was based on the true story of serial killer Ed Gein.