'Psycho' Score Fails at London Auction
Associated Press
Mar 25, 2009
LONDON - A British auction house says it was unable to sell the score to Alfred Hitchcock's bloodcurdling movie "Psycho."
Bonhams says the 20-page work was withdrawn from a sale Tuesday after failing to make its minimum price. Minimums are typically set at or just below the auctioneer's low estimate - in this case, 30,000 pounds ($44,000).
The music was composed by Bernard Herrmann to accompany Hitchcock's 1960 thriller. The manuscript carries the notes to the slashing, shrieking violin sounds that play when a knife-wielding killer bursts in on actress Janet Leigh as she showers in the Bates Motel.
The auctioneer had hoped to sell the piece for up to 40,000 pounds ($56,000).
Bonhams said Wednesday the score would be returned to Herrmann's third wife, Norma.
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