The scene is an illusion, and so are quite a few of the stories about it.

Audiences in 1960 walked out of Psycho convinced they’d seen a knife plunge into Janet Leigh, blood swirling down the drain and a naked star on screen. They hadn’t seen any of it. In the first Hollywood Stories, we go behind the curtain of Alfred Hitchcock’s shower scene to reveal how cinema’s greatest magic trick was really done, from a script written to throw people off the scent to a set that was a trick in its own right.

The secrets are wonderfully low-tech. The blood came from somewhere you’d never expect, and nobody can agree exactly where. The sound of the knife was found in the unlikeliest of places, and it made someone a very good dinner. The man playing the killer wasn’t who you’d think, and Janet Leigh’s week in the shower wasn’t quite what the legend says either. Even the trailer has a twist hidden in it.

Then there’s the bigger question. Did Hitchcock actually direct the shower scene? One of Hollywood’s most celebrated designers claimed he called “action”, and the people on set were furious about it. We weigh up the evidence, along with how Hitchcock outfoxed the censors and the music he never wanted, which turned the scene into a legend. It’s the story behind the most famous 45 seconds in Hollywood, and there’s not a drop of real blood in it.

Listen to the full episode above, or find All The Right Movies wherever you get your podcasts.
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