Psycho Page #23

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SAM:

Why was he... dressed like that?

DISTRICT ATTORNEY

He's a transvestite!

SIMON:

Not exactly. A man who dresses in

woman's clothing in order to achieve

a sexual change... or satisfaction...

is a transvestite. But in Norman's

case, he was simply doing everything

possible to keep alive the illusion

of his mother being alive. And

whenever reality came too close,

when danger or desire threatened

that illusion, he'd dress up, even

to a cheap wig he brought, and he'd

walk about the house, sit in her

chair, speak in her voice... He tried

to be his mother.

(A sad smile)

And now he is.

(A pause)

That's what I meant when I said I

got the story from the mother. She

thinks Norman has been taken away...

because of his crimes. She insists

she did nothing, that Norman committed

all the murders just to keep her

from being discovered. She even smiled

a bit coquettishly as she said that.

Of course, she feels badly about

it... but also somewhat relieved to

be, as she put it, free of Norman,

at last.

(A pause)

When the mind houses two

personalities, there is always a

battle. In Norman's case, the battle

is over... and the dominant

personality has won.

Lila begins to weep softly, for Mary, for Arbogast, for

Norman, for all the destroyed human beings of this world.

Sam bends beside her, puts his arm about her, comforts her.

CHAMBERS:

(To Simon)

And the forty thousand dollars? Who

got that?

SIMON:

The swamp. These were murders of

passion, not profit.

A POLICE GUARD puts his head in the door, speaks, in a near-

whisper, to the Chief of Police. The Guard is carrying a

folded blanket over his arm.

POLICE GUARD:

He feels a little chill... can I

bring him this blanket?

The Chief of Police nods. The Guard goes away, and CAMERA

FOLLOWS him out of the room and out into the hallway. Guard

moves through the waiting men, heading down the corridor.

CUT TO:

INT. ANOTHER CORRIDOR IN COURTHOUSE

A narrower corridor in the rear of the building. In f.g. of

shot, we see a door, the top half of which is wire-covered

glass. A GUARD in uniform is posted by the door, looking

reprovingly at the two or three people trying to get a glance

into the room.

The Police Guard, carrying the blanket, comes down this

corridor, goes to the door. CAMERA MOVES CLOSE. The uniformed

Guard opens the door, allows the man to go in.

Shot is RAKED so that we can not see into the room.

After a moment, the Guard comes out and the uniformed Guard

closes and locks the door and we

CUT TO:

INT. NORMAN'S DETENTION ROOM - (NIGHT)

The walls are white and plain. There is no window.

There is no furniture except the straight-back chair in which

Norman sits, in the center of the room. The room has a quality

of no-whereness, of calm separation from the world.

The Police Guard has placed the blanket on Norman's knees.

Norman, as we come upon him, is lifting the blanket, unfolding

it. His face, although without makeup and without the

surrounding softness of the wig, has a certain femininity

about it, a softness about the mouth and a kind of arch

womanliness about the brows.

Calmly, Norman places the blanket about his shoulders, as if

it were a cashmere shawl. CAMERA REMAINS in a position so

that our view of Norman is a FULL ONE. When the shawl is in

position, and Norman is settled, we HEAR, OVER SHOT, the

voice of his mother, coming from the calm of his thoughts.

MOTHER'S VOICE (O.S.)

It's sad... when a mother has to

speak the words that condemn her own

son... but I couldn't allow them to

believe that I would commit murder.

(A pause)

They'll put him away now... as I

should have... years ago. He was

always... bad. And in the end, he

intended to tell them I killed those

girls... and that man. As if I could

do anything except just sit and

stare... like one of his stuffed

birds.

(A pause)

Well, they know I can't even move a

finger. And I won't. I'll just sit

here and be quiet. Just in case they

do... suspect me.

A fly buzzes close, and then continues buzzing and flying

about Norman's face.

MOTHER'S VOICE (V.O.)

They're probably watching me. Well,

let them. Let them see what kind of

a person I am.

(A pause, as the fly

lights on Norman's

hand)

I'm not going to swat that fly. I

hope they are watching. They'll see...

they'll see... and they'll know...

and they'll say... 'why, she wouldn't

even harm a fly...'

Norman continues to gaze ahead into nothing.

SCENE BEGINS TO DISSOLVE SLOWLY TO:

THE SWAMP:

As END TITLES FADE IN, we see the swamp, the chain of a tow-

truck. The chain is attached to Mary's car. The car is coming

out of the swamp.

FADE OUT:

THE END:

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