During filming of Lifeboat, several of the crew members noted that actress Tallulah Bankhead was not wearing underwear. When advised of this situation, director Alfred Hitchcock observed, “I don’t know if this is a matter for the costume department, makeup, or hairdressing.”
Until her death, Janet Leigh continued to receive strange and sometimes threatening calls, letters, and even tapes detailing what they would like to do to Marion Crane, her character in the film. One letter was so “grotesque” that it was passed along to the FBI, two of whose agents visited Leigh and told her the culprits had been located and that she should notify the FBI if she received any more letters of that type.
Hitchcock deliberately wanted Psycho to look like a cheap exploitation film. He shot it not with his usual expensive feature crew (which had just finished North by Northwest) but with the crew he used for his television show. He filmed in black and white. Long passages contained no dialogue. His budget, $800,000, was cheap even by 1960 standards; the Bates Motel and mansion were built on the back lot at Universal.
Yet no other Hitchcock film had a greater impact.
-Roger Ebert, (via)
Vera Miles wore a wig for her role in Psycho as she had to shave her head for a role in the film 5 Branded Women.
In the scene where Bruno searches for the cigarette lighter in the drain, Hitchcock personally selected the items of rubbish that lie on the floor.
The name “Charlie” is spoken approximately 170 times during Shadow of a Doubt
Shirley MacLaine took ballet as a child and always played the boy’s role due to being the tallest in her class.
Shirley MacLaine’s childhood dinner for many years consisted of tabasco and saltine crackers (which often resulted in bad dreams—her missing the bus to ballet class).
When filming The 39 Steps, the 62 imported sheep, upon arriving at the sound stage, immediately went to work on the bracken and bushes that had been brought with them. The infuriated crew had to replace the real plants with ones hastily bought from a local nursery.
"What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out."
