Quote:
Originally Posted by James Luckard
The packaging up top says "after its original release in 1960, the film was censored for decades" and that the extended cut is "as seen in theaters in 1960," but if I understand correctly, you're saying the extended cut is not what played in US theaters in 1960?
Is the packaging incorrect?
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There have been longstanding rumors that the cuts were only made for a US re-release in the mid or late 60's. It didn't help that the German company announced the release and said something like "We can't find the evidence of whether this was released in the US or not." However, the actual post-production notes are stored at the AFI, and have been summarized on-line, and have the specific date in 1960 when the cuts were physically made.
The way they have marketed releases of this version have tended to use vague language to suggest things like that, while not being technically inaccurate. Yes, this cut (probably) did get theatrical release, somewhere in the world, but I agree with you that the wording on the back is misleading. (I also find the phrase "uncut" to be a bit generous, but it does appear to be the least censored version to ever get any official release, so, again, not entirely inaccurate, just a bit misleading. The "uncut" version of Psycho would have the oilman's line about "bed is the only playground more fun than Vegas" or whatever he said, which was cut prior to the Legion of Decency submission.)
EDIT: Looking at the packaging, I would say "exactly as intended by Alfred Hitchcock" is flat-out inaccurate. You can either make the argument that Hitchcock himself supervised and approved the final cut (which is true), and therefore it represents his intentions, or you can say that the cut that Hitchcock supervised and approved for submission to the censor boards (which is also true), and therefore it represents his intentions, but I don't see how you can claim in either direction that he intended the MPAA cuts but not the Legion of Decency cuts.
Note that, when the restoration was announced, Universal clearly had NO IDEA about it, they didn't even know they had the print until somebody else told them where to look, and they are probably basing their description off of things that German company said, which were accurate regarding the German release; again, I don't wish to accuse anybody of deliberately lying without any real proof, the origins of this cut have long been shrouded in rumors and mystery, all of which are a lot more interesting than what actually happened.