don’t give away the ending—it’s the only one we have!

Premiering in New York on this day in 1960 ahead of general release in US cinemas in September and a departure from the director’s previous films choosing to use the crew and black-and-white cameras from his eponymous television series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Psycho, at first panned but subsequently subject to critical re-evaluation, was ground-breaking for its portrayal of sexual deviancy and the pioneering piece of slasher genre. Unable to financial commit to marriage, Janet Leigh’s Marion Crane, a secretary for a real estate brokerage, pilfers a substantial down payment and flees with the money in hopes of starting a new life with her partner, though a necessary rest stop significantly complicates matters.