What is the Psycho shower scene, what is the music in the scene and how did Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins film it?
It's one of the most iconic and famous scenes in cinema, starring Janet Leigh's as Marion Crane
THE shower scene in Psycho is one of the most iconic moments in cinema history.
But who was the actress who starred in the violent and unforgettable scene and what happened?
What is the Psycho shower scene?
Psycho is a 1960 psychological horror film that was directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock.
It tells the story of a secretary who embezzles $40,000 from her employer’s client and goes on the run - only to meet a deadly end.
It starred Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire and Janet Leigh.
The murder of Janet Leigh's character, Marion Crane, is the film's pivotal scene and one of the most famous in all of cinema.
The scene - which was shot from 17–23 December, 1959, with 77 different camera angles - runs three minutes and includes 50 cuts.
The majority of the shots are extreme close-ups, apart for medium shots in the shower directly before and directly after the murder.
The soundtrack of screeching violins, violas, and cellos was an original all-strings piece called The Murder by composer Bernard Herrmann.
After shooting the scene, Leigh - who died on 3 October 2004 at the age of 77 - revealed she never looked at showers the same way again.
“I stopped taking showers and I only take baths.
"And when I’m someplace where I can only take a bath, I make sure the doors and windows of the house are locked.
"I also leave the bathroom door open and shower curtain open. I’m always facing the door, watching, no matter where the shower head is.”
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Was the Psycho shower scene shot with a body double?
Leigh has also addressed the rumour that the scene was shot with a nude body double.
She said: "At the time, there was still the ‘Hays Code,’ which was a censorship program.
“It was not possible to really show what you’ve got. The fact that I was in the opening scene in a half-slip and half-bra almost caused them to go crazy.
"So when the shower scene was done, I wore moleskin over my vital parts. And as much as you think you saw something, you never saw anything, because you could now show it back then.
"It was literally against the law. Now, I’ll tell you when they did use a nude model: when Norman goes into the bathroom at the end of all things and drags the body out wrapped in a shower curtain. That’s the only time I knew of a nude model.
"But, again, with me you don’t see anything. A bellybutton, and, because the cutting was so fast and accompanied by that music, you’re like, ‘By God, I saw her nude.’”