A set whose walls come away · Alfred Hitchcock · 1960
The film opens over a real Phoenix street and then goes to a studio lot. The bathroom, the motel and the town were built or borrowed there. Seven walls stand on this set, and each one comes away to show a real place. Through the blind: the old Jefferson Hotel.
Take the wall away
TCM says the walls of the bathroom set could be taken away so the camera could come in from every angle. This set has seven. Each wall shows what the story called the place; pull it to see the place behind it.
0 of 7 walls pulled
Seven walls stand on the set. Pull one.
A film set is a room with one wall missing.
Pull a wall to see where the camera really stood.
Universal City, Los Angeles
The tram tour of the working lot, from which the Bates house and motel set can be seen. Stops can change, so check what the day’s route covers. Pictured: the house, 2024.
Plan a visitDowntown Phoenix
Live marketplace results for walks of downtown Phoenix, where the old Jefferson Hotel stands on Central Avenue. Check each route.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursThe line from Phoenix
That hotel was the Jefferson Hotel, now the Barrister Building at 101 South Central Avenue. After that the film left town. Drag the slider to run a straight line from the hotel to the studio lot.
0 of 585 km, straight line from the hotel pin. You are Phoenix.
Gorman is 642 km from Phoenix and 86 km from the lot, also in straight lines between pins. Not a route anyone drove.
Seven days, 78 setups
The shower sequence took seven days and 78 camera setups. TCM says the set’s walls could be taken away so the camera could come in from every angle.
Setup 1 of 78
Hitchcock used his regular television crew, and TCM says he ran two cameras as a rule.
Check out
Two Phoenix buildings and the car lot are seen from the pavement. The Bates set and the lot are seen from a tram, and the painting hangs in a museum. The road at Gorman is a village on a freeway; no spot there is marked.
6 places to see, from downtown Phoenix to a Los Angeles lot, a Highway 99 village and a New York museum.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Look from the pavement at Central Avenue and Jefferson Street. The building is in private ownership, so do not go in.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Stand on Jefferson Street; the Luhrs Building is across Central Avenue from the old hotel. The cocktail bar inside is a modern business, not a film interior.
Phoenix · 101 South Central Avenue, downtown Phoenix, Arizona
Visit Phoenix says the opening shots were meant to look like a fly’s view over downtown Phoenix, moving in at a hotel window.
Look from the pavement at Central Avenue and Jefferson Street. The building is in private ownership, so do not go in.
Phoenix · 11 West Jefferson Street, downtown Phoenix, Arizona
Visit Phoenix names the Luhrs Building, finished in 1924 and well preserved, as standing across the street from the Barrister Building.
Stand on Jefferson Street; the Luhrs Building is across Central Avenue from the old hotel. The cocktail bar inside is a modern business, not a film interior.
Stay
A downtown Phoenix hotel on the same avenue as the film’s opening.
Central Avenue, downtown Phoenix
A 1928 Italian Renaissance hotel at 202 North Central Avenue, on the same avenue as the old Jefferson Hotel. Pictured: the Luhrs Building, 2013.
Check roomsGo there
The Universal tour, plus walks of downtown Phoenix and film-location tours of Los Angeles.
Universal City, Los Angeles
The tram tour of the working lot, from which the Bates house and motel set can be seen. Stops can change, so check what the day’s route covers. Pictured: the house, 2024.
Plan a visitLos Angeles
Live marketplace results for movie-location tours of Los Angeles. Check which routes reach Universal City or North Hollywood.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursDowntown Phoenix
Live marketplace results for walks of downtown Phoenix, where the old Jefferson Hotel stands on Central Avenue. Check each route.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
Nothing dated for the film is listed at these places now.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
7 of 7 places · 8 of 8 stories
101 South Central Avenue, downtown Phoenix, Arizona
The film opens over downtown Phoenix and moves in at a hotel window; the hotel was the Jefferson.
11 West Jefferson Street, downtown Phoenix, Arizona
The preserved Luhrs Building stands across the street from the old hotel.
Universal Studios, Universal City, California
Hitchcock makes the film at Revue Studios with his regular television crew.
The shower set’s walls can be removed, and the sequence takes seven days and 78 setups.
Universal Studios Hollywood backlot, 100 Universal City Plaza
A Gothic house and a low motel are built on a Universal stage and still stand on the tour.
Gorman, Los Angeles County, California
The first scene shot is a highway patrolman waking Marion in her car.
4270 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood
Marion trades her car at a used-car lot, shot on Lankershim Boulevard.
11 West 53rd Street, Midtown Manhattan
Hopper’s 1925 painting, in the Museum of Modern Art, is reported to have shaped the Bates house.
Places to stay
A filming location for Steppin' Out (1982). Where David Leventritt died.
2 East 55th Street, Manhattan, New York, 10022 · Source · Check dates on Expedia (Ad / affiliate)
Fifth Avenue hotel seen in Home Alone 2, North by Northwest and The Great Gatsby.
768 5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York, 10019 · Source · Check dates on Expedia (Ad / affiliate)
Where Albert Anastasia died.
870 7th Avenue, Manhattan, New York, 10019 · Source · Check dates on Expedia (Ad / affiliate)
What’s on
Imperial Theatre · 850 m from The Museum of Modern Art
New Amsterdam Theatre · 1.1 km from The Museum of Modern Art
New Amsterdam Theatre · 1.1 km from The Museum of Modern Art
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Links go to each venue’s or organiser’s own site. Check dates, access and availability there before you go.
Every place in Psycho leads somewhere else.
