Along with our year of graduation was the very popular, still talked about, still recalled visions of horror movie, "Psycho," by the cinematic master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock.
Ol' Al had a bit of P.T. Barnum in him-- along with his proclivity to disturb people with suspenseful moments, and his admiration of attractive blonds being good and innocent, attractive brunettes being conniving. For example, in his movie thriller, "The Birds," filmed in the real Bodega Bay, he used townspeople in the movie as extras, but only if they would sign a pledge to not reveal anything about the movie to anyone as to how it was filmed. To promote "Psycho," he had newspaper ads proclaiming that no one would be allowed to enter the theater after the film began. Hitch was always looking for an angle to create suspense, knowing suspense attracts and maintains a high level of interest.
"Psycho" had a fine, carefully selected caste--the late lovely and beautiful blond, Janet Leigh, who admitted most people only remember her for the famous shower scene; the perfectly creepy Anthony Perkins, although he was the perfectly nice and gentle Australian naval officer in his previous role in "On the Beach;" the good old standby actor Martin Balsam as the investigating detective. Anyone else? I don't recall, other than the surprise and shocking sudden appearance of Perkins' mom, when she was swiveled around in her chair, down in the basement of the perfectly spooky house. I recall audience screams in that scene, which were not as loud as the screams in the shower scene when Janet's shower is rudely interrupted by the knife-wielding intruder.
I watched a lot of Hitchcock in those days. It seemed there was always a movie playing somewhere in town, and like Ed Mauget, who commented in September's Moviemems about Hitchcock, I watched "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," on TV. Many of his movies, though, dragged, having too much plot development-- at least it seemed such to me in my adolescent years. But "Psycho"--along with "The Birds," no one who ever saw them will ever forget either's most famous scenes of terror and horror. Who can fail to think of "The Birds" whenever a huge flock of blackbirds is sitting on wires or in trees? Ever get a creepy feeling when you are showering in a motel with a plastic curtain? And I'll bet you saw "Psycho" in the beginning ... unless you tipped the usher to let you in late.