I was just wondering if anyone could either direct me to some interviews that Vera Miles has done with regard to Psycho
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gtaylor0 — 21 years ago(April 07, 2005 05:31 PM)
It's my understanding that he didn't get mad and cast her in Psycho. What happened was he was making Psycho on the cheap and she owed him a film so he cast her in it, although she was also good for the role and looked a little like Janet Leigh, her sister in the movie. The character was merely a prop, butshe did get to see the inside of the psycho house! Lucky lady.
Actually, according to Alfred Hitchcock : A Life in Darkness and Light by Patrick McGilligan, she did - and apparently does - not respond to interview requests. Why that is, is beyond me, and very disappointing. -
rs114-1 — 20 years ago(November 01, 2005 08:23 AM)
I think Vera Miles' performance in Psycho is ver-a-y underrated. Just look at her face as she watches John Gavin subdue Anthony Perkins in the cellar. The lighting also helps, but her reaction helps the forcefulness of that classic scene.
I also must confess that I found her very attractive in this movie, at least as much as Janet Leigh, but in a more subdued way. -
richard.fuller1 — 18 years ago(May 10, 2007 08:05 AM)
rs114-1: "I think Vera Miles' performance in Psycho is ver-a-y underrated. Just look at her face as she watches John Gavin subdue Anthony Perkins in the cellar. The lighting also helps, but her reaction helps the forcefulness of that classic scene."
Somebody had something on the ball with Miles, and not just the approaching of the house.
If she was that untalented, then it worked. When she spoke to the skeleton in the basement, before she turned it around and screamed, she delivers the expectation that she thought that was going to be Mother Bates, who was obviously being held captive by bad Norman.
When she screams, it is all DA-yum! This aint Momma Bates!
But then as the shock of seeing a for real mummified figure gives way to Perkins in the dress, its all out there in her expression. It aint fear anymore, it is big time WTF?
And it is all delivered by her facial demeanor.
But my favorite bit has to be when she was in the house and Norman came in and she ducked in the stairwell to the cellar and Norman departed.
She gives such a non-chalant look to the door, then shoots back to it and freezes. Talk about reading it like a book!
Everything about her in these moments is carried by her. Maybe it was Hitch's direction, but he had to be telling her how to move her body and she obviously had to know how to do it, something you don't see in a lot of actresses, today and yesteryear. -
rs114-1 — 20 years ago(November 01, 2005 08:23 AM)
I think Vera Miles' performance in Psycho is ver-a-y underrated. Just look at her face as she watches John Gavin subdue Anthony Perkins in the cellar. The lighting also helps, but her reaction helps the forcefulness of that classic scene.
I also must confess that I found her very attractive in this movie, at least as much as Janet Leigh, but in a more subdued way. -
richrach26 — 20 years ago(December 05, 2005 01:37 AM)
one of the reasons she may not talk about Psycho is the fact that yes Hitchcock was set to make her a star after her performance in The Wrong Man. But, after she got pregnant in real life for reasons which are not clear Hitchcock became upset with her. It has been said sevea24ral times that during filming of Psycho Hitchcock did not rate John Gavin and was bored with Miles and tended to cold shoulder them both.
Apparently Hitchcock was quite disgusted with her having more than one child and let several people know how he felt about it. I know one of the comments he is reported to have said was to the effect of "In Hollywood having one child is a requirement, but having more than one is disgusting". It is also rumored that when he was asked about Vera Miles in an interview he said something very coldly along the lines of "Vera Miles. She is married to Tarzan you know." -
gtaylor0 — 20 years ago(January 12, 2006 05:11 PM)
Actually, I believe he said of Miles' pregnancies that it was "bad taste to have more than three" and that - even 20 years later, 1978 - he said, refering to Vertigo, that she should've taken the "jungle pill." Of course, there was no pill in 1957, but he could be quite funny in his anger. I just think she was a great disappointment to him. He saw much potential - the undercurrents of sexuality and passion that many of her fans see, as well - and never really found another actress like that again (Eva Marie Saint didn't quite fit the part and Hedren, I think, just didn't messure up in the acting department). As it is, since Miles won't talk it seems we'll never really know.
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PrestoTheMagician — 18 years ago(April 14, 2007 01:02 PM)
In the book, THE MAKING OF ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S PSYCHO, Hitchcock referred to Vera Miles and John Gavin's roles as just "mere figures" and didn't like Gavin at all. And as stated earlier, treated Vera very cold and pretty much ignored her throughout the filming. She stated that she "hated" making that picture. It's a great book book by the way. A very interesting read and detailed account of the making of that film. Also has very good insights from the actors.
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