I was watching Duel at Parkison Town (S2, Ep12), and during a scene with old man Parkinson (Henry Hull) and his son discussing the duel, they're using the famous Bates' house from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho as the Parkinson's home.
Researching the structure it's part of Universal Studios, and the episode was filmed at Stage 36, Universal Studios.
The oval design on the main gable is a dead giveaway, I saw it and recognized it immediately.
My husband said the same thing but I thought it wasn't because the landscape behind it was desert
which I didn't recall from Psycho. He will be pleased to know he's right (for a change).
I noticed that too. Some backlots got used so much that they are easy to recognize, from the shape of the ponds, the rocks, etc.
I wonder if some of the rocky areas are made out of wood covered with paper mache, or if they had styrofoam back then?
So the house would have been used in "Laramie" about the same time it was used in "Psycho". I don't think it would have been built for a one time shot on Laramie so what was it originally built for and where else has it been used?
shareIf you visit the Psycho boards, I started a thread asking that question. It's a decent discussion, and one post has a link to a site that attempts to list all the appearances of the house.
I say "attempts" because the site doesn't list 3 appearances in Laramie.
Here's a link to the thread:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/board/thread/247954038
I saw a different episode today and it used a big house that looked like the Psycho House to me. Also featured Charles Bronson, Lurch from the Addams Family, and the ineffectual old sheriff from the Roy Rogers Show. Quite a lot of pop culture crammed into one episode.
shareThe sheriffs from most 1950s-1960s tv westerns were ineffectual. It seemed to be a job requirement, so that the main guy on the show, for example Lucas McCain, would always have to step in and deal with the bad guys.
share