1. Psycho
The Myth: There is no shot of knife penetration in the shower scene. When Alfred Hitchcock submitted his masterpiece Psycho to the censors, they refused to let the infamous shower scene through due to nudity and violence (in particular shots of knife penetration). When he resubmitted the scene, unchanged from before, they let it through, a testament to the scene's powerful use of suggestion and reaffirmation that there is no actual knife-on-flesh violence.
The Shocking Truth: Theres actually one shot that shows the knife stabbing into Marion. Not even that well hidden in the scene, theres one shot of the knife going into Marions belly (blood free of course). Its a split second shot near the end of the sequence and although it shows the knife only slightly in Marion (obviously a belly bust) its enough to send audiences grimacing at the horror, but unsure they saw anything thanks to the scene's clandestine reputation. Obviously there was nothing overly wrong with showing the knife puncturing the skin; just half an hour later we see Inspector Arbogasts face slashed. In the end, Hitchcocks greatest trick with the scene was convincing us we didn't see anything when we did. Every time I watch Psycho, this one shot always stands out thanks to this enduring myth. In his shot for shot remake, Gus Van Sants oddly tones down this particularly shot, making Hitchocks version actually more violent than the version that followed thirty eight years later.
Were you duped by these false myths? And are there any more popular film facts that you know are false? Let us know in the comments below.As well as writing for WhatCulture, Alex is starting up his own general film discussion blog 'Viewer's Digest'.