December 12, 2021 -- "It Was 62 Years Ago Today"

"It was 62 years ago today" -- December 12, 1959 -- that Marion Crane stopped at the Bates Motel, had a nice supper(that went strange very fast) with Norman Bates, retired to Cabin One, and took the most famous shower in movie history.

Well, the "December 12" part is right.

Psycho famously begins on "Friday, December 11" with Marion enjoying her lover Sam in a Phoenix hotel room, deciding to embezzle the 40 grand from her sleazy real estate customer, and hits the road.

Marion sleeps in her car on the night of December 11, awakens on December 12 to deal with the twin threats of a California highway patrolman and a California used car salesman. That would be right about now as I post this.

And onwards to the Bates Motel (from Bakersfield, where she buys the car) in day-into-dusk-into drive that has been called "one of the great night drives in movie history." (A lot of movie history in Psycho....)

Marion dies in the shower on the night of December 12; Norman cleans up the mess and buries Marion and her car perhaps as the 12th becomes the 13th, but it is hard to tell.

One entire week later, on the night of Saturday December 19, detective Arbogast visits the Bates Motel - twice -- and dies on the second visit. Another night of swamp burial commences for Norman and another "night visitor" -- Sam -- drops by the motel and escapes with his life.

Norman is caught and the psychiatrist explains on Sunday December 20.

It is , in short, "that time of year" when Psycho buffs can imagine the exact days in which the story took place. The cold, rainy, wintry months of December -- and not a Christmas ornament or tree in sight -- except in the downtown Phoenix process shot filmed in November of 1959.

Which is why, I will suggest , that Psycho takes place IN 1959. The first footage was shot then; the movie was a 1960 release in summer, before the NEXT Christmas rolled around.

Its always fun to take note of "Psycho week" in December. "Til next year...."