Want Old ‘Psycho’? You’re Out of Luck--Almost

Gus Van Sant’s shot-by-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” opened Friday in theaters. But don’t look for the original 1960 classic to pop up any time soon on the small screen.

Wanting to avoid comparisons to the original, which starred Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh, Universal Studios has put Hitchcock’s masterpiece on hiatus from television until some time next year so that Van Sant’s remake can be judged on its own merits.

Universal Home Video has also followed suit--putting the video of “Psycho” on hiatus until some time next year, meaning that no additional cassettes will be released for sale or rental. It is, however, continuing to issue new copies of “Psycho” on DVD and laserdisc.

The moratorium certainly hasn’t quelled interest in the original. A survey of local video outlets this week showed a definite spike in rental activity, although the stores noted that rentals have always been consistent for the thriller. In addition, West Hollywood’s Tower Video said it has sold all the copies it had available in the last week and a half, and North Hollywood’s Odyssey Video said several customers had ordered the tape.

Universal’s strategy is nothing new for the studio, which generally puts originals on the shelf when releasing a remake. On the other end of the spectrum, Turner Classic Movies will be celebrating the release of the Warner Bros. comedy “You’ve Got Mail” by showing the films on which it was based--”The Shop Around the Corner” and “In the Good Old Summertime”--on Dec. 17, the day before “Mail” arrives in theaters.

Joseph Stefano, the screenwriter of both versions of “Psycho,” said Friday that he didn’t see any problem “with comparisons being made [between the two].” The moratorium, he added, “is not a very well-thought-out plan to restrict anyone’s access to the old ‘Psycho.’ ”

Stefano had not yet seen a completed version of the new “Psycho,” which, like the original, was not screened before the opening for critics and the media.

“I think Gus has followed the way that Hitchcock went all the way through the making of the picture, as far as the secrecy,” Stefano said. “As a matter of fact, I had some trouble making some changes I wanted him to make.”

The screenwriter was looking forward to seeing the film at the theater Friday night.

“It will be interesting to see,” he said. “I personally don’t think I have seen a movie of mine until I have seen it in a theater with an audience, none of whom I know--except, maybe, for a couple of friends. Then I really know what the movie looks like.”