Mother–she isn’t quite herself today

Today’s post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty.

Petition for Naturalization – Alfred Hitchcock (RG 21, National Archives Pacific Region, Riverside)

Few individuals had a more, ah, peculiar relationship with their mother than Norman Bates in the movie Psycho, which premiered 50 years ago today in New York City. The movie was a one-of-a-kind in terms of suspense and shock, but it was just another in an illustrious career of one man: Alfred Hitchcock.

The Englishman was first lawfully admitted for permanent residence in 1939 and petitioned for US citizenship at the ripe age of 55, information that is preserved in the documents of the National Archives.

The writer and director is often lauded as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, having produced over 50 feature films in a career spanning over half a century.  Of his films, many have left an indelible mark on his adopted home country: whether it’s making us look over our shoulders in hotel showers or dodging planes in the Midwest.

All in all, Sir Alfred led a career that any mother would be proud of, save perhaps one.

What’s your favorite Hitchcock movie moment?

Where this page came from

This page was imported from National Archives, Pieces of History. Published on the National Archives' Pieces of History blog and, as a work of the United States government, in the public domain; pictures credited elsewhere are left out.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.