Ask Mike: The first flush
Hey Guys,
There was a time when movies were a lot more modest. Violence was in short supply, and sexual situations were all about subtlety. But that wasn’t all. Because it was thought to be uncouth, the scandalous sound of a flushing toilet was never heard on the big screen. That is until one movie changed the rules in 1960.
“Psycho,” a movie so famous for so many reasons, was the first flick to show audiences a flushing toilet. I know this sounds like a silly thing to praise, but the flush was actually a big deal at the time. Director Alfred Hitchcock had set out to make a film that put audiences ill at ease from the get-go. He knew that by showing something early in the film that they had never seen before (i.e., a flushing toilet), it would send a signal that the audience was watching a movie in which anything was possible.
Filmsite.org calls the scene in which the main character, Marion, flushes evidence of her crime down the toilet a “a convention-breaking taboo.” Cinepad.com goes into more depth, writing that “just the sight of the flushing toilet was considered shocking enough to mildly unsettle and disorient audiences of the day.” Cinepad quotes the screenwriter, Joseph Stephano, as saying, “I thought if I could begin to unhinge audiences by showing a toilet flushing — we all suffer from peccadillos from toilet procedures — they’d be so out of it by the time of the shower murder, it would be an absolute killer.”
It was. The film, most famous for its classic “shower scene” that followed the flush, went on to become one of Hollywood’s greatest films and a template for future horror movies. I like to think the flush played a small part.
Thanks for reading,
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
- Rating:
(56 votes, average: 3.86) - Permalink
- Comments (57)
Loading ...
Subscribe
lol…i had no idea!!!
Ah, but when was the first toilet on TV?
That’s so neat, I knew about the whole “people have to sleep in separate beds, and what not”, but I never thought of a flushing toilet sound as scandalous. Now I have my random fact of the day to share with my friends!
I heard that showing a pregnant woman or anything at all about being pregnant was scandalous too. If references had to be made, it was said that a person was “with family.” Sounds silly now, right?
Unfortunately standards of horror movies have fallen by the wayside since Hitchcock was around. Now they’re all canned, repetitive nonsense.
My film teacher mentioned that to us. He also said it was quite scandalous not only to show Marion in her bra, but to show her again later in a BLACK bra. Anything other than white was just not done! haha.
From what I recall (and I do recall), the first ever TV flush came from Carroll O’Connor (Archie Bunker)
Loved that show!!
lol i never knew that thats pretty interesting…lol its so weird to think that a flushing toilet could ever be so taboo on the big screens.
Wow, that’s so weird…
I think that was on All in the Family, Jason.
I actually already knew this. Psycho was a very ambitious film, and that’s why it’s so well-rememberd today.
Entertainment has sure come a long way. The first married couple to be shown in bed together on animated TV was Fred & Wilma Flintostone. The first live action bed shot was Mary Kay & Johnny, TV’s first sit-com, 1947.
that wasn’t very interesting
Wow this is weird. I’m watching Psycho now! Oh and the first TV flush was in 1971 courtesy of Archie Bunker in All in the Family.
Wow! Didn’t know that! Now I have a new fact to add to my mental collection of random facts.
so? Hitchcock was famous for subverting tropes. He said he crafted the airplane sequence in North by Northwest because he wanted to do the exact opposite of what typical noir thriller meetings were. He had a picture in his head of a man on a rainy street corner at night getting attacked from behind out of the shadows. So what’s the opposite of night? Day. Opposite of a city street corner? A corn field. How can you prevent getting snuck up on? No hiding places. Then he just drops the plane on you and bam! Of course after he did it then that itself became cliche.
thats amazing how much films have changed. I do love the fact that we are breaking so many taboos..but, T.V. has gotten a little harsh on the sexuality of things. We still should respect peoples beliefs…if you dont want your kids to see all this smut on the tube…you would have to go back in time because it’s gotten pretty explicit! I was watching Nickelodeon with my son and their were to gay boys making out really heavy and I personally don’t think thats what kids should be watching. I have no problem with gay, but it was a bit too intense for a child!!
I am a huge horror movie fan and Psyhco is one of my favorites. This was a very interesting fact about the movie that I’d never heard. It’s amazing how people and things have changed so drastically over the years. I wish flushing toilets still affected people the way it did back then. At least then maybe there would be constant sex and violence on the screen. I hate how every movie and every T.V. show these days thinks they have to cuss the most and show the most nudity to get the most attention from the audience. I watch mostly cartoons these days. haha.
I forgot about that in Psycho. I remember there was a scene in Bananas where Louise Lasser used the throne. That’s my earliest memory of a toilet being flushed in the movies.
Wow, I never know that. I mean, a toilet?!?!
The audience must be surprised.
My first memory of seing someone actualy use the toilet in a movie is from the 1977 movie ‘Fun WIth Dick and Jane’. Jane Fonda and George Segal are arguing as they walk around their house. When they find themselves in the bathroom, she plops down on the loo as they continue yakking. A surprising scene, especially since her husband was present in the bathroom at the time.
First teevee flush I recall was an episode of All In The Family.” (Nick At Night rerun) It was Mike & Gloria’s wedding day, the ceremony was at the house. Edith was at the piano playing the processional, no bride appeared. She yells “GLORIA!” up the stairs, Gloria replied “I’m waiting for Daddy!” And about 4 seconds later – “WHHOOOOOSSH!” followed by almost 4 minutes of the live studio audience howling!
That is so cool. I think a lot of that also has to do with the fact that we as individuals watch so much TV, that we don’t want to use our imaginations anymore. We would rather be shown the content, personally I think the weaker the storyline the more graphic the film is. Perhaps, the films we watch should be replaced with books we should read? I am no expert but I urge everyone to use their imaginations more, Albert Einstein too advocated imagination & creativity. Peace out everyone & thank you for the great article.
Yeah, well, that time was after censorship codes were enacted. There were quite a few movies that rival Psycho for shock value made in the 20s and 30s.
Yeah, “All In the Family” sounds right, but what was the first TV show to use the word “fart?” On “All in the Family,” they could only allude to it. Archie was complaining about his day and said the guy next to him on the bus had had beans for lunch.
Edith cluelessly said, “How could you tell?” And the audience howled.
Archie sarcastically responded, “By the smile on his face!”
Even much later on “Roseanne,” there was a whole eposide about a fart, but they never said the word. They kept saying “bliff.”
But now I hear it all the time.
The impact that movies have on their viewers is due to the purposeful way their creators design them. Alfred Hitchcock, considered the horror film director and Master of Suspense in his day declared his intent:
“The point is to draw the audience right into the situation-instead of leaving them to watch it from outside, from a distance…If you played the whole scene straight through… you would lose your power over the audience. They would watch the scene without becoming really involved in it, and you would have no means of concentrating their attention on those particular visual details which make them feel what the characters are feeling.”
The powers Hitchcock’s films have wielded have been a detriment to society.
Renowned forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Park Dietz, is a FBI consultant, UCLA professor, and media consultant. He has served as expert witness on many notorious cases such as those of attempted Reagan assassin John Hinckley Jr., O.J. Simpson, and Joel Rifkin. Many of his colleagues concur that Dietz has changed the practice of forensic psychiatry. “He has become the model for psychiatrists testifying in court,” says Hinckley’s prosecuting attorney, Roger Adelman.
Read more on Hitchcock’s evil intentions — here:
http://www.goodfight.org/a_t_columbineeffect.html
Yes, but the first film the have nudity was Ecstasy in 1933 with Hedy Lamarr. And that was before Psyco!
I personally wish the censors would come back and rein in what we see on tv nowadays. Seems like every channel is filled with stuff we don’t want our kids to see or hear. What are you supposed to tell a 5-year-old when a tampon commercial comes on and he wants to know what it is?
Creativity is seriously lacking, also. What used to be screamer-type movies have morphed into groan-a-thons.
It was considered somewhat shocking when Ricky and Lucy (I Love Lucy) were seen sharing a bed! Most shows of the day showed married couples sleeping in twin beds, if anything. Lucy appearing on the show “in the family way” was down-right scandalous!
I was there when the first toilet flushed on tv (All in the Family). I saw the very first inter-racial kiss on tv (Star Trek). But these things, intended for their shock value, seemed to raise the bar. TV shows had to push it farther and farther. I think the censors all packed it in and moved to Hawaii or something.
Sad, really. I’d like to watch something besides cartoons, and even then you don’t know if you’re really safe!
Fifty or sixty years ago, the common attire of the day in the west was a suit and tie for men. I am inclined to say that it was a pretty good idea, along with leaving sex in the bedroom–not on the tv or radio. I think taboos, restraint, moderation are and were all good things.
How very true,Mike.There is too much gratuitous violence on films and tv these days.I am afraid that most of it stems from the love of American folk for:-shootings,murder,beatings,rape and general mayhem that we in the UK see every day on our screens!! We must go back to the days when we respected one another(some hopes!!!)
I recall an episode of “Rhoda” on TV, where she uses a rhyme to “scold” her son for the sound of splashing instead of tinkling on the side! Body-works humor at its extreme has been “slap stick.” At its best, such humor is “tongue in cheek.” At its worse, the underarm sound of passing gas. Thanks everyone for sharing your Hitchkock and other insights.
Washington, DC
a lot of early silent films had nudity and sex before there were regulations. and a lot of the earliest movies were about wars. they didn’t hack each other up because they didn’t have the special effects.
You’re wrong. The first time people were shocked by the content of a movie was in 1939 when Rhett Butler uttered the phrase. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
To give readers an idea of how destructive and horrific was Hitchcock, we find that renowned actress Janet Leigh, who portrayed the character who was dramatically killed in the infamous shower scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho, was scared throughout her life by Hitchcock’s scene. Also, this scene notoriously sent immense shock waves of fear throughout the entire world as people were subsequently so terrified from watching this “entertainment” that they were literally sent over the edge. Remarkably, of her personal aftermath from Psycho, Janet Leigh herself confessed:
“It’s true that I don’t take showers. If there is no other way to bathe, then I make sure that all of the doors and windows in the house are locked, and I leave the bathroom door open and the shower curtain or stall door open so I have a perfect, clear view. I face the door no matter where the showerhead is.”
This demonstrates that Alfred Hitchcock truly sought to created deathly fear, and in the process destroy the peace of mind of viewers of his films.
thats dumb “if we can put a flushing toilet in a movie then fairys are real and pigs can fly because anything is possible”
hmm so a toilet flush led to straight up sex in a movie? interesting -_-
Brilliant. Where do you come up with these creative ideas? The scrubbing bubbles commercial always seem to be on, right before I retire to the pot!
@Randy
He meant in movies, dumb-dumb. And in movies, fairies are real (Peter Pan, anyone?) and pigs have flew (I don’t know a movie but I’m sure there’s one out there).
And yeah, the censors have plummeted…oh well.
What was the big deal about a flushing toilet, anyway? So what? Is it a sin to take a dump?
All the “pop” entertainment media today show everything just short of being completely explicit.
Thanks Catherine! I always thought the Munsters were the first couple to share a bed.
Well, the topic is fantastic, I could write a book about it, not the toilet part, of course! This article should have continued to cover a small part on how Cenima and TV have changed the social habits and morals, which can be a good part of modern human history.
This is the same movie that had over 30 different cameras in that bathroom to get every angle he could to shoot the stabbing scene. Brilliant.
Very interesting observations regarding the advancement of television and the ever-exposing bodies, minds, and souls of actors verses the people who are supposed to be ‘minding the store’. As our society gains more knowledge of technology, we seem to care less about being subtle. The exposure is everywhere – music, movies, television, radio, ipods, ipads, cell phones, talk shows, dances, everything goes! It behooves parents to do whatever they can to maintain some sense of purpose for what they want their children to know and learn and at what stage. As a teacher, I see very few students who are ‘youngsters’ at their appropriate age without having the blanket of the world and sex covering them. These kids almost seem extremely immature compared to the others. I say, cut the TV off and do more reading. Kids have little or no imagination these days because we are putting everything in their faces too quickly. God in heaven, help us all.
wow…!
the first flush on TV was in 1971 on the show All in the family.
The first married couple to be shown on TV sleeping in the same bed was MR and Mrs. Adams…cant remember their names on the adams family, soon followed by the bradys on the Brady bunch
Opps I got my monsters mixed up…it was the munsters who first slept in the same bed
When “Psycho” was made, Hitchcock was mean spirited. Knowing that audiences “identified with” hero and heroine, he virtually murdered everyone watching the film. Not nice. Its where the shock value comes from and from my point of view, we’d have been better off without. Violence on the screen doesnt stay there. It gets into your head and becomes part of you. We develope an appetitie for it which continues to grow which is very unhealthy. What we patronize, we get more of. So it is really up to us to use some judgement when we spend our entertainment dollars.
Whew, after putting in the long URL, I am bewildered. However, I am still in the same era as the movie “Psycho”. I prefer “expecting”, the word “pregnant” is appalling, gross and nasty. Sex in movies is ridiculous. Where is the mystery and beauty of it? It has been turned into a basic animal act. And as for the beds. I think it is “quaint” that the early movies had only twin beds. I didn’t love Lucy, but the bedroom set was cool. What happened behind closed doors in a room with a double bed, was not to be discussed or known, except for the participants. The “V” word was spoken only be Ob/Gyn’s in an office setting or Delivery Room. Newer is not often better.
yeah violence are violence
I hear robotic violence are rare in reality
“smut” is real. Almost everything u see on tv really happens or has happened somewhere in real life, whos really to blame? In 1000 years no one will even remember old movies.
Flushing toilets wasn’t the only thing that was taooo.
Sex was a big issue on films and especiall TV. Back during the 50′s Lucille Ball was the first woman to be pregnant on TV. Of course, they couldn’ t even say pregnant, whenever there was conversation they had to say “she’s in a family way
All the bedrooms that were shown had to have twin beds, even between “married” couples. And if a bedroom scene were shown, one of the actors had to have one foot on the floor. Quite diffent from today.
talking about the television makes it more real and so your worsening the situation
yaa.. you are true, it sounds bad about hearing the first flush, but anyways you write the post so its good.
From the fear of flushing a toilet, to grown men making out on regular broadcast television. My,my . Has the moral fabric of society deteriorated that much in 50 yrs.
Yes i agree with your comment .not in big screen but also on small screen this happened. I think this is not not the good way for attracting the people Actually it work for that situation where it demand but unnecessarily using these sean is bad .
Hey this is very beneficial post on your blog.And the conversation of the people is also very nice….