Actress Janet Leigh returns to Bates Motel

Leigh, right and contest winner Pelinski reenact the famous shower scene from "Psycho"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- Actress Janet Leigh returned Tuesday to the Bates Motel, the scene of one of Hollywood's most famous crimes, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," telling reporters she still is afraid of showers.

The occasion was a decidedly camp promotion by the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park and American Movie Classics of a weekly Hitchcock film series airing on the cable network.

Leigh, still glamorous at age 73, gamely posed for photographers, screamed for the cameras and played a supporting role in a mock reenactment of the famed "Psycho" scene in which her character, the attractive embezzler Marion Crane, is stabbed to death in the shower.

For Tuesday's event, the role of Marion was played by a Chicago-area receptionist Sue Pelinski, 55, whose bloodcurdling shriek won AMC's nationwide contest to find "the best 'Psycho' shower scene scream."

At the end of the mock stabbing sequence, Leigh made her entrance from behind the shower curtain, telling the screaming Pelinski, "You can stop that, now," and handed her a towel.

The two then screamed together for the assembled news media.

The scene, accompanied by the chillingly screechy music from the movie soundtrack, was recreated inside Room No. 1 on the actual set of the Bates Motel, which remains a favorite attraction on the Universal Studios tour along with the hilltop Bates mansion.

Leigh said she has returned to the set on several occasions, including visits with co-star Anthony Perkins while the late actor was reprising his role as Norman Bates for the "Psycho II" and "Psycho III" sequels in the '80s. Perkins died in 1992, aged 60.

The original "Psycho," though released by Paramount Pictures in 1960, was shot on the Universal lot and was later acquired by Universal with many other Hitchcock films.

Although her character was killed off 45 minutes into the movie, Leigh's role earned her a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. The centerpiece of that performance was one of the most unforgettable moments in film history, the 45-second shower scene that Hitchcock meticulously filmed over a seven-day period, using some 70 camera setups.

From the moment the shower curtain is ripped back, through the staccato shots of knife and flesh, to the blood swirling down the drain and the close-up of Leigh's pinpoint pupils as she lay lifeless on the bathroom floor, the scene has gripped film audiences like few others.

Leigh said she is proud of the lasting impression that the scene, and the movie overall, has left in the popular imagination and acknowledged that moviegoers who were left fearful of taking a shower are in good company.

"I do not take showers," she said. "As a result of seeing it edited, or put together, it left such an indelible impression on my mind that I cannot take a shower. And that is the truth."

Leigh also said that contrary to popular myth, Hitchcock did not surprise her with cold water in the shower in order to heighten her reaction on film.

"I don't care what the Universal tour says," she told reporters. "I can scream very well and act on my own. That's what I'm paid to do."

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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