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3.Arbogast’s and Lila’s Points of View

The establishment of a contract

A fade to black initiates a new POV [59:49]. The following sequence opens with a subjective shot showing the page of a letter being written. At the top of the letter, we can see “Sam Loomis Hardware”. We have Marion’s lover POV. Sam is writing to Marion; he expresses his feelings for her and invites her to come to live with him even if he lives in a tiny place. The spectators do not have time to read the letter. Yet, it does not really matter since Lila Crane, Marion’s sister is about to come into Sam’s shop and they are going to talk about Marion.

A static shot shows Lila Crane outside, in front of Sam’s office [1:00:26]. From now on, the audience will not only share Norman’s POV. We are about to alternately share Norman’s, Lila’s and Arbogast’s POVs.

Lila and Sam start talking. We quickly understand that they do not know each other and that Lila resents him. She explains Marion’s disappearance to him. We can see a man outside Sam’s shop peeping at them [1:01:08]. We do not know his identity yet, so it conveys a sense of suspense. Lila is convinced that Marion has eloped and that she is hiding at Sam’s place, but the latter replies that she is not. In the meantime, the man who was looking at them enters the shop. There is a close-up on his face that lasts for a few seconds. This can be seen as a privileged shot since neither Lila nor Sam have noticed him; it is a shot to draw the spectators’ attention. A subjective shot shows Lila and Sam talking together. Sam asks if Marion is in trouble and the voice of a man (the man who has just entered the shop) interrupts their conversation and asks: “Let’s all talk about Marion, shall we?” [1:01:40]. The two protagonists turn around to look at the man and the audience understands that it was the man’s POV that they have just seen [1:01:42]. Then he introduces himself as a private investigator called Arbogast. There is no dramatic irony since we learn this information at the same time as the characters. The investigator explains to them that Marion has stolen forty thousand dollars. At first a medium shot shows Arbogast on the left of the frame and Sam and Lila together on the right (Fig. 9) [1:02:07]. The actors’ blocking means that the investigator is suspicious and that he does not trust the two characters when they say they do not know where Marion is. Nevertheless, after having talked to them, he starts to believe them and it is shown thanks to a medium close-up in which the three of them are really close to each other; it proves that they are about to investigate together (Fig. 10) [1:03:17].

Fig. 9: Arbogast versus Lila and Sam Fig. 10: They are going to collaborate

Arbogast’s investigation

Arbogast starts to look for Marion and goes to all the motels of the city. In order to show this to the spectators, the director has chosen to use several superimpositions. A rapid musical score is used to give a sense of the quick investigation. The superimpositions stop when we arrive at the Bates motel, and a static medium shot shows Norman reading. The two men start talking in a rather friendly way. However, when Arbogast speaks about Marion and especially when he wants to see the motel register, Norman becomes tense. A low-angle close-up on his face emphasises his stress [1:06:48]. Then, when Arbogast discovers that a “Marie Samuels” was here, he rapidly understands that it is Marion Crane who registered under a false name. “Marie” looks like “Marion” and “Samuels” must be a reference to her boyfriend’s name “Sam”. Arbogast does not accuse Norman of lying to him because he wants to know more about the case. Even though the spectators know the truth, they are eager to know what is going to happen next and, more precisely, if the investigator will be able to discover the truth. The detective asks several questions to Norman who is not really convincing when he replies. A series of shots/reverse shots is used to show their conversation and the use of close-ups of Norman’s face proves that he – and what he says – is being analysed in detail by Arbogast. When the inspector asks Norman if he spent the night with her, Norman’s smile fades away, which can be considered by Arbogast as a feeling of guilt [1:08:07]. He resumes asking questions, he wants to know if Marion is still at the motel. Norman starts laughing – his reaction seems a bit awkward – and he invites the investigator to follow him into the cabins. Yet, a subjective shot shows Norman hesitating to enter the first cabin (which was Marion’s cabin) and going to the second one [1:09:53]. Arbogast is more and more suspicious and keeps gazing. Another subjective shot reveals someone standing near a window in the Gothic mansion [1:10:02]. A few seconds later, Norman denies the fact that there is someone in his house. However, since Arbogast has seen someone, Norman has to confess that he lives with his mother. Norman prevents Arbogast from talking to his mother and the investigator leaves.

Arbogast sharing information

Then the investigator calls Lila in order to explain to her about his meeting with Norman. He says that he wants to go back to the motel in order to talk to Mrs Bates. A static medium close-up of Arbogast shows him on the phone. This can be viewed as a comment on his relationship with Lila; they are working together in order to discover the truth.

After his conversation with Lila, a dissolve takes us back to the Bates motel. We can see Norman near the motel. The investigator goes into Norman’s office but he cannot find him so he decides to go into the house. He decides to go upstairs, which is shown thanks to a crane shot. A privileged shot shows a door opening slowly [1:16:50]. Then we see Arbogast again and the next shot is an overhead shot which shows both the man going up the stairs and the door opening [1:16:58]. There is a lot of suspense since the spectators know that someone is about to arrive. The high pitched strings start [1:17:00] and someone goes out of the room with a knife in his or her hand. Arbogast is savagely stabbed and a fade to black definitely puts an end to his POV [1:17:13].

A new investigator: Lila Crane

Just after Arbogast’s death, we can see Lila and Sam waiting in Sam’s shop. Lila is worried since the investigator has not come back whereas he was supposed to. As a result, she decides to go to the motel but Sam prevents her from doing so. He wants her to stay at his shop in case Arbogast comes back and he goes alone to the motel. He starts shouting Arbogast’s name and, in the meantime, the audience can see Norman looking at the muddy stretch of water which proves that he has got rid of Arbogast just as he got rid of Marion.

When he goes back to his shop, Sam tells Lila that he did not find Arbogast at the motel. Therefore he suggests that they should talk to the deputy sheriff.

A dissolve leads us to understand that we are at the sherriff’s home [1:19:48]. They tell him the whole story. The sheriff does not seem to believe in their theory concerning Arbogast’s disappearance. Yet, Lila is so concerned that she manages to make him call Norman. His conversation with Norman confirms his theory since Norman says that the detective has not come back to his motel after their interview. Besides, the sheriff informs Lila and Sam that Mrs Bates is dead. And yet Sam is sure of having seen an old woman in the house. The sequence ends with a close-up of Lila’s face which shows that she is determined to continue the investigation with or without the sheriff’s help [1:24:36].

Sam and Lila meet the sheriff and his wife at church and the sheriff reasserts that Mrs Bates is dead and that the woman Sam saw must have been an illusion. Nevertheless, Sam and Lila are convinced that there is something wrong and they decide to go back to the Bates motel. After a dissolve [1:27:52], the next scene takes place in a car. The medium close-up of the two protagonists reminds the audience of the scenes showing Marion in her car and therefore contributes to the suspense: are they going to die too? Sam and Lila establish a strategy: they will register as husband and wife and will look for every detail.

Fig. 11: Marion on her way to death Fig. 12: Lila and Sam on their way to discover the truth

At the Bates motel

They enter Norman’s office and Sam insists on signing the register even though Norman says it is not necessary. The composition of the three-shot showing Sam and Lila on the left of the screen and Norman on the right epitomises the confrontation between them [1:29:03].

Fig. 13: Sam and Lila versus Norman

We can notice the presence of a mirror just next to Sam. This prop was not used at random. (This point will be developed in the second part.)

While Sam is signing the register, we can see that Lila is already investigating; she looks suspiciously at everything. Once they are in their cabin, Lila explains to Sam that Norman must have stolen the money. She is convinced that Arbogast was about to discover the truth when he was stopped. They decide to go to the cabin that Marion occupied. They look everywhere and Lila finds a piece of the note that Marion threw into the toilet. She wants to talk to Mrs Bates and asks Sam to create a diversion.

On her way to the house, a cross-cutting between the house and Lila, and Sam with Norman, is used to heighten the suspense. We know that she is about to discover the truth in this place. There is nobody in Mrs Bates’ bedroom. However, her clothes are still in her wardrobe and there is still soap near the sink. All these elements make us think that she is still alive. The suspense is very intense at that moment, the spectators totally share Lila’s anxiety and they are as afraid as she is when she thinks someone is watching her [1:37:17]. In fact it is her own reflection that she has seen in a mirror but since she is looking for Mrs Bates, she must have the feeling that the woman could be anywhere. A cross-cutting with Norman and Sam is used once more to amplify the suspense. Then, our doubts are confirmed with the subjective shot showing Mrs Bates’ bed [1:37:26]. There is the shape of a body which proves that someone was in this bed not long ago. Lila goes into another bedroom which seems to be that of a child (there are a lot of toys). Yet, there are also elements that must belong to an adult (books and a record-player).

Then, Lila goes down the stairs and looks through a window (this is a subjective shot) from which she sees Norman coming [1:39:49]. The suspense is even stronger than before, she needs to hide. The rapid pace of the music intensifies the sense of urgency. Lila hides behind the stairs [1:39:58], and a static long shot shows her looking at Norman who is approaching and then entering the house. Hitchcock did not use a subjective shot here, yet the spectator has the feeling of being part of the action; he or she is hiding as if he or she was a third character of the plot. Norman goes upstairs, so Lila could run away but she discovers a door beneath the stairs (shown in a subjective high-angle shot [1:40:11]) and she seems to be anxious to continue her investigation.

She arrives in the cellar and we can see Mrs Bates from the back [1:40:34]. Mrs Bates is not far from Lila, but the use of a series of shots/reverse shots, when Lila comes closer to her, makes the scene last longer and conveys a sense of suspense (Fig. 14).

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Fig. 14: A series of shots/reverse shots that heightens the suspense

Then, when we discover that the woman is dead, Lila starts screaming and her shout is amplified by the strings we heard in the shower scene. The murderer then arrives with his knife but he is stopped by Sam. Most of the scene is shown through Lila’s eyes and we discover at the same time as her that Norman is the murderer.

To sum up, the use of the different POVs is a clever device to involve the spectators in the plot. Indeed, since we identify with the protagonists, it gives us the feeling of being characters in the film; we thus become investigators. However, even though we share the main characters’ POVs, Hitchcock still manages to trick us.