Psycho(1960) Easter Egg - Alfred Hitchcock Slept Here!

This is, in fact, little more than a coincidence. While it could be interpreted as a preview, birds were frequently used in literature and film to inspire fear long before Psycho was even visualised. Hitchcock simply picked up on this idea and incorporated it into Psycho, then expanded on the concept in The Birds. As well as this, Bates' fondness for taxidermy, particularly involving birds, is a lot more integral to the plot than hinting at Hitchcock's next film. Then again Hitchcock was a talented and occasionally effectively subtle man and perhaps I have not afforded him enough credit.

It really could be either. Hitchcock was a very intelegent man and COULD have been hinting to his film, but on the other hand, you must admit that those stuffed birds do add a sort of creepy atmostphere to the child-like Norman.

According to The Birds DVD, Pat Hitchcock said that her father 'had a lot trouble finding his next project after Psycho.' She goes on to say that the rights to The Birds was originally bought for the television series, but Hitchcock decided it had cinematic potential when he read of real life bird attacks in the newspapers.

Actually, birds are simply a recurring theme in the film. Notice that Marion's last name is Crane, and she is from Phoenix. Anthony Perkins was specifically chosen because he looks like a bird. Some of the ideas drawn from this are that of the young bird being unable to leave the nest, and Norman Bates has rarely traveled from the home and the hotel. He is also portrayed as a bird of prey. Many of the birds in the parlor scene are birds of prey, and several are aimed directly at Marion Crane, foreshadowing her demise. Norman also compares Marion to a bird by saying that she eats like one. There are many things like this, but they have nothing to do with Hitchcock's "The Birds"

Hitchcock put interesting references in this film. Did you see the license plate on Marion's car as Norman sank it into the swamp? It said NFB. According to a book I read a few years ago on odd filmmaking, NFB stands for Norman Francis Bates. I don't know where the Francis came from. But remember, it's not just the birds people. :)

All the bird stuff goes back to the book that Psycho was based on. Strangely that also was called Psycho. Although the book wasn't to great and the movie was brilliant, all the bird imagery is as evident in the book as it is in the movie. As such it is not a preview of Hitchcock's next film but actually an integral part of the story. Honestly, can you imagine lame that whole "Eats like a bird" bit would be if there weren't the stuffed carcasses of owls dominating the mise-en-scene?

Anthony Perkins was not selected because he looked like a bird. He was selected because the screenwriter thought he would be more sympathetic if played by a good looking actor as opposed to the middle-aged overweight alcoholic he was in the book. Don't believe me? Check out the making of Psycho on the DVD.

To let anyone interested know, Francis was the patron saint of birds. They may just explain his middle name.

Hello people & Hungover in particular- I am a great-grand daughter of a man named...Norman Bates. He was a Civil War Veteran and a Medal of Honor winner. AND his middle name was Francis! He survived the Civil War and eventually moved to Los Angeles where he suffered the inglorious fate of being killed by being hit by a car as he stepped off of a trolley. =( I wonder if another relative involved in writing the book used our ancestor's name or is it a HUGE coincidence? Anyone?? Kayakgirl