I put this page up because of a discussion that started in alt.movies.hitchcock about the Psycho house and the Bates Motel. When my father worked at Universal Studios (he was the chef who ran the commissary) he would sometimes drive around the back lot with me and see what was going on. One of my favorite places to go was the house seen in Psycho. I loved that movie even as a kid and still love it today. These are some pictures taken on my visits there.
My dad always made me get in the picture, which I guess was OK. In this one below you can see I even brought a friend along to see the house. If you look at the right second story window you'll notice you can see the sky through it. The house is, of course, a facade. When you walk through the front door you end up a in 7x7 foot enclosed room with wallpaper. That's all.
Later, when Universal decided they were going to make Psycho II my father was consulted about the knives to be used in the film. My father did some searching and found the knives for Norman to use. When the production wrapped some of the knives were put on plaques and given to people as a thank you for thier involvement in the film.
The picture below is my dad clowning around at a chili cookoff at Marineland in California. My father's chili got an excellent reputation with the execs in "the black tower" at Universal and we were asked to represent Universal at chili cookoffs. The name of the chili was always based on a movie Universal was promoting. One time it was "Whorehouse Chili" for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. However. this time around it was called Mother Bates Chili to promote Psycho II. My dad is dressed for the occassion. We even had a Mother Bates corpse in a chair at our booth.
My father had some nice memories of Alfred Hitchcock. Sir Alfred once asked my dad if he would prepare a chicken sandwich some special way for him that wasn't on the menu. It was a simple request and my dad did it. Hitchcock thanked him and handed him a small folded piece of paper. My father put it in his pocket to look at it later. It turned out to be an embossed little folder that said "Compliments of Alfred Hitchcock" and within it was a $100 bill. Nice guy!
When Hitchcock died, many at Universal were really sad. Apparently, Hitchcock was beginning work on a new film. The script was supposedly complete and they were going to begin casting. I've never found out what that film was. If anyone reading this knows anything about it please send me e-mail. One of the people who went to the funeral gave my father this card from the service.
