Sweet But Psycho
And also very punctual.
Howdy! It’s Joey, back with more Fun Fact Friyay. We’re headed to the movie theater for this fact—and don’t be late.
Movies have official show times because of Psycho.
Nowadays, some films are released directly to streaming services, but there’s still a magical experience about going to the movie theater.
You watch scenes unfold on the big screen, with surround sound making you feel like you’re a part of the action. I’m not usually a cinema eater, but some folks LOVE their snacks, which are also an integral element of the movies.
Like Beck Bennett as Vin Diesel said, “It’s amazing!”
Something else you’ve likely noticed: Movies have set show times. If you’re reserving seats online, you’ll pick your preferred hour slot for the film you want to see. If you’re at the theater, you might just check out what’s starting in the next few minutes and go pop into that theater.
We have Alfred Hitchcock and the movie Psycho to thank for that.
Back in 1960, movies generally didn’t incorporate significant plot twists. People just walked to their local theater, plunked down five cents, and went inside to see the one film that was playing. The movie ran on a loop. You might be entering in the middle of the climax, but no worries. You’d simply wait for the movie to start again and get to the part that was playing when you arrived.
Not to spoil a 64-year-old movie, but there’s a pretty pivotal shower scene in Psycho. It’s often ranked among the best movie scenes, and even decades later, it’s still a classic that nobody saw coming.
Can you imagine if you accidentally walked in during that scene? You’d spoil the whole thing for yourself!
I remember watching at least a couple of movies like this as a kid. On one of the occasions, the movie I actually wanted to see was sold out, so the theater let me see an alternate movie I had little interest in that had started about 40 minutes earlier. Would things have been different had I seen it from the beginning? Perhaps!
Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho’s director, did imagine such a scenario. And he didn’t like it one bit. So, he made a handful of movie posters explaining the power of punctuality.
“It is required that you see Psycho from the very beginning!” the poster reads, with an agitated Hitchcock pointing at his watch next to text where a theater manager could write in the next start time.
The poster also added that “the manager of this theatre has been instructed, at the risk of his life, not to admit to the theatre any persons after the picture starts.”
I’m imagining how that showdown would go. Someone tries to come in ten minutes late, and the manager brandishes a spiky club, gently smacking it against the poster. “Hitchcock says so, pal,” the manager says threateningly. The movie patron throws their cup of Coke in the opposite direction, trying to sneak in while the manager is distracted. Chaos ensues.
That might actually make for an entertaining movie scene. Let me just jot it down in my notes.
The good news is that start times proved to be popular among both movie theaters and theatergoers. They stuck around and probably won’t ever go away.
Today, if you show up ten minutes late to a movie, you still have 20 minutes of previews before the thing you paid to see actually started. Progress, I guess?
A fun fact that feels powerful to know! Thanks, Joey!