Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Daffy Duck Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1943 Scrap Happy Daffy , (the final black and white cartoon featuring Daffy,) directed by Frank Tashlin.
The purpose of this cartoon was to encourage people at that time to donate any scrap material to help the U.S. military make more weapons and vehicles to fight in the war.
Before the start of our feature presentation, ACME would watch with you everyone's favorite grumpy Uncle Lou have to put up with a bunch of hack comedians:
I can't believe how patience he is with all of them. Lou was not known for dealing with fools gladly.
We've picked another entry from the excellent reference book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider. Today's film is the seismic 1960 horror film, Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock ,written by Joseph Stefano, and starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Martin Balsam. At the time of its release in 1960, Psycho received mixed reviews and caused a great deal of controversy. The film is now considered on of Hitchcock's best and most famous film - as opposed to Peeping Tom, which came out in the same year. The film dealt with similar thematic issues is now also considered a masterpiece, but nearly ruined Michael Powell's career. (We will screen the film next week.) Hitchcock financed much of the film himself in return for a large percentage of the profits, which earned him millions. There is much to talk about in this film but the murder in the shower is one of the most famous scenes in cinematic history, a textbook example of brilliant film editing. The scene is also probably best remembered for Bernard Herrmann’s masterful score The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like you to join us in watching the suspenseful Psycho. So push away from the table, get comfortable (you may want to leave the lights on,) and enjoy the film.
Hitchcock paid the title sequence designer Saul Bass (also credited as "Pictorial Consultant") $2,000 to render storyboards for the scene where Arbogast is killed at the stairs. Bass was excited about the movie and asked Hitch for the opportunity. Hitchcock discarded his work because the shots showed Arbogast's feet slowly going up the stairs and this prepared the audience for a shock. Hitch wanted it to be a surprise and that's why he filmed Arbogast in a completely natural way.
Demand Euphoria!
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