Marion Crane is a lead character in Psycho (1960) and was played by actress Janet Leigh.

The character of Mary Crane was originally created by author Robert Bloch for

Character
 n.b. background details of the character from Robert Bloch's novel are
incorporated into this section
Marion Crane is in her late 20s and living in Phoenix Arizona, along with her younger
sister Lila. Marion's father died after being struck by a car when she was a teenager and
she later nursed her dying mother through a long illness. Unable to attend college
herself, she undertook a short business course and then began working for a real estate
office whilst supporting Lila through college.

After her mother's death, and at the insistence of Lila, Marion took a short Caribbean
cruise where she met and fell in love with divorcee Sam Loomis. Although keen to
marry, Sam insisted that he must first clear off the debts he inherited when his father
died. He now runs his father's hardware store in Fairvale, California and hopes to clear
his debts within a few years.

Frustrated at her dead-end life in Phoenix and with Sam's insistence on waiting before
they can marry, she seizes an opportunity to steal $40,000 from her employer and
leaves Phoenix on the afternoon of Friday December 11th, 1959, to drive to Fairvale. En
route, she tries to rationalise her actions and to decide what to tell Sam.

After sleeping overnight in her car by the side of the road, she is awoken by a passing
highway patrolman who checks to see if she is alright. Increasingly consumed by guilt
and fear over the theft, and spooked by the sudden appearance of the patrolman,
Marion begins acting suspiciously. In the next town, she trades in her car and hastily
buys a replacement from a used car salesman.

Continuing on, Marion is caught in an evening rain storm and accidentally turns off the
main highway onto an old and unfamiliar road to Fairvale. Unaware of how close she
actually is to the town, she pulls off at the Bates Motel to get some rest with the aim of
reaching the town the following day. Keen to cover her tracks, she checks into the
empty motel under a false name.
After a small meal with the shy and socially awkward owner of the motel, a young man
named Norman Bates who seems to be dominated by his elderly mother, Marion
realises her folly and decides to return to Phoenix the next day, before the loss of the
$40,000 will be noticed by her employer on the Monday morning. With the guilt of the
theft lifting from her shoulders, she takes a cleansing shower in her motel cabin
bathroom. However, whilst she is still in shower, she is brutally attacked and
murdered — the assailant seemingly Norman's deranged mother.

After Norman discovers the murder, he disposes of Marion's body and her
possessions — including the stolen money which he fails to notice — by sinking her car
into a nearby swamp.

Marion's body is eventually recovered after Lila and Sam expose Norman Bates as the
actual murderer.

…..The duality of human nature is the main theme in the film “Psycho”. Clearly seen in the movie, Marion
and Norman have a positive and a negative side. We can see Marion changes to her negative self while she
has an affair with Sam, dresses in dark garments, and steals the money. Marion also demonstrated her
positive self while talking to Sam. She told him about her wish to get married, like all the women in the
1950s did. Norman’s dark side is visible when he turns into the mother and murders Marion and the other
young women. His good side is seen when he brings Marion something to eat, acts friendly, and can’t
consider the idea if placing her mother in a madhouse. When both characters become their negative self it
leads them to do things that cause their destruction.

…..The main theme of "Psycho" is the duality of human nature. The idea that every human being has a
"bad" side and a "good" side. This is shown throughout the movie. Marion shows her "good" side when
she's with Sam and at work she seems nice. However, she also shows her "bad" side when she's having an
affair with a married man, breaking the social morals of the 1950s, didn't want to be told what to do, and
she lied several times. Norman's "good" side was that he was friendly, motherly, and he loved his mother.
Norman's "bad" side is what made him do horrible things. His mother controlled him and was a big part
of his "bad" side.

when Norma met a man and began a relationship with him. As Norma's new relationship progressed,
Norman's already fragile psyche began to shatter. He felt betrayed and abandoned by his mother and
that she was a hypocrite for preaching to him against love and sex while she was now in an intimate
relationship with a man Norman despised. The totality of his new reality caused Norman to snap and
begin his descent into madness.
Norman, deep in madness, decided to punish Norma for her betrayal by poisoning her and her lover. He
then staged a murder-suicide, complete with a forged letter from Norman. The authorities fell for the
ruse, never seriously considering the shy, nervous Norman Bates as a suspect. Upon emerging from his
psychotic episode, with no memory of what he had done, Norman "discovered" his mother and her
lover dead. The horror of this discovery caused Norman to go into shock, leading to his being committed
to a hospital Psych Ward. It was during this period that Norman began losing more and more of his grip
on reality. He began to hear and see his dead mother compelling him to "keep her alive". To accomplish
this, Norman stole his mother's corpse and weighed her casket with books. He preserved her body as
best as he could and gave her half his life: dressing as her, speaking as her even having full conversations
with her. He was no longer only Norman Bates - now, half of his mind belonged to Norma Bates.

PsychoEdit

Norman inherited the Bates House and Bates Motel. He ran the motel alone, but people very rarely
checked in. Norman's only company was hallucinations of his dead mother, and of course himself
recreating her voice and pretending to be her. He argued with his "Mother" side on more than one
event. Eventually, a lone woman checked in to the motel. The woman was interested in Norman and
tried to seduce him, which "Mother" did not agree with. "Mother" took over and flew into a rage, killing
the woman. Norman then hid the corpse and convinced himself that "Mother" was the killer. Soon,
another woman checked in, and the event repeated itself. Norman's mental illness still prevented him

Norman invited Marion to dinner at the motel. While she got ready, Norman argued with "Mother", and
managed to refuse to listen to his mother's bidding for once. Marion overheard this and told Norman
that she did not wish to upset his mother, but Norman convinced her that everything was fine. As
Marion ate, Norman told her that his mother was (mentally) ill, and she suggested that Norman
instutionalize her. Norman angrily refused, saying that his mother was not a bad person, she just "goes a
little mad sometimes - we all go a little mad sometimes". Later, as Marion took a shower, the "Mother"
persona took control again. "Mother" walked into the room and stabbed Marion to death while she was
still in the shower. Norman then returned to the room and saw what happened; he again thought that
"Mother" was the killer and hid Marion's corpse in her own car. He then sunk the car in a nearby
swamp.

A few days after, Milton Arbogast arrived at the motel to ask Norman some questions. Nervously,
Norman lied that Marion had not been to the motel. Eventually, he admitted that she had, but stated
that she had only been for the night and had barely spoke with him. Arbogast wanted to meet Norman's
mother. Norman refused to let Arbogast do so and told him to leave. Arbogast secretly snuck up to the
house and attempted to meet Norman's mother. However, he was attacked on the stairs by Norman,
dressed as "Mother". "Mother" slashed Arbogast, causing him to fall down the stairs. "Mother" then ran
down and stabbed Arbogast to death.

Marion's sister, Lila Crane, and boyfriend Sam Loomis arrived at the motel eventually, posing as a
married couple. They suspected that Norman had killed Marion for the money that she had stolen. Sam
distracted Norman in the motel office while Lila snuck up to the Bates house. The conversation between
Sam and Norman quickly became a heated argument. When Norman realized where Lila was, he
powerfully punched Sam in the face. Sam fell backwards and hit his head on a hanging vase. The vase
smashed, knocking Sam out. Norman fled to stop Lila. He dressed up as "Mother" hurriedly and ran into
the fruit cellar where he had placed his mother's corpse. Lila had just discovered the corpse and
screamed in horror, alerting Norman to her location. As "Mother" (Norman) entered the room, knife in
hand, Sam ran in behind him as well. Sam grabbed "Mother" from behind and they fell to the floor. Sam
held the killer down; the police soon arrived and Norman was quickly placed in an asylum.

While a pyschologist explained to Sam, Lila, and a group of others the details of why exactly Norman did
what he did, the "Mother" persona took control of Norman completely. As "Mother", he thought about
how to prove "her" innocence by refusing to swat a fly crawling on "her" hand. "Mother" stated in
Norman's thoughts that Norman was always "bad" and deserved to be locked up like he had been. As
complete control of his mind and actions fell away to "Mother", Norman managed a sinister and creepy
smile to show that he was no longer himself.

Adhering to the traditional female role has not worked out well for Marion. While her feminine
demeanor attracts unwanted advances from men like Mr. Cassidy, Marion has been unable to
convince Sam to marry her. Frustrated with the lack of success she has enjoyed, Marion
attempts to shed her feminine persona and adopt a more assertive, male-like character. This
transformation occurs in the following scene in which Marion packs her bags and steals Mr.
Cassidy's money. The fact that it is the act of stealing money which signals Marion's gender role
shift is noteworthy because of what money represents. In the previous scene, Mr. Cassidy
attempted to demonstrate his power by discussing his immense wealth. Hitchcock thereby
establishes a direct link between masculinity and money.

Hitchcock once again uses imagery in order to underscore the underlying gender issues in this
scene. In The Making of Psycho documentary, actress Janet Leigh notes that Hitchcock
intentionally featured Marion wearing a black bra in this scene, in order to contrast between the
period before she steals the money (white bra) and the period after (black bra.) Additionally,
Marion's dark dress and black purse in this scene contrast with her earlier white wardrobe. Not
only does this change in color represent an alteration in Marion's morality, but it also symbolizes
Marion's los