Lesson: psycho Hitchcock's mother's 1960

Hitchcock mothers

Mothers are generally powerful figures in Hitchcock's movies. The standard critical assertion is that Hitchcock's mothers are sinister figures (reflecting the influence of Freudianism). While that is generally true, there are mother figures of different types throughout his work.


*Edna Best as the protective mother (complete with rifle) in the British version of The Man Who Knew Too Much.* In the 1955 remake, Doris Day played the role (without shooting).**	*Patricia Collinge as Emma Newton in Shadow of a Doubt, filmed the year that Hitchcock's mother Emma died. Probably his most sympathetic mother figure.*

*Lepoldine Konstantin as Mme. Sebastian in Notorious. The most ruthless Hitchcock mother.*	*Sybil Thorndike as the dotty English mother in Stage Fright.*

*Marian Lorne as Bruno Anthony's mother in Strangers on a Train. "Oh Bruno, you're such a naughty boy!"*	*Esther Miniciotti as Manny Ballestrero's mother in The Wrong Man. "My son, I beg you to pray."*

*Jessie Royce Landis as Roger Thornhill's mother in North by Northwest. Landis also played Grace Kelly's mother in To Catch a Thief. She was the same age as Cary Grant, who played her son.*	*Norman Bates's mother in Psycho. "A boy's best friend is his mother."*

*Jessica Tandy as Lydia Brenner, the suspicious mother in The Birds.*	*Louise Latham as Marnie's mother, a prostitute turned puritanical.*

*Uncredited actress as the killer Bob Rusk's mum in Frenzy.*	Vertigo: Midge, Scottie's former fiance, tries to comfort him in the mental hospital: "You're not lost. Mother's here."