Scarlett Johansson is the focus of a new string of photos to be released from Hitchcock – the new movie based on Alfred Hitchcock’s relationship with his wife. The movie centres on the period of time around the filming of Hitchcock’s classic thriller, Psycho, of which Janet Leigh (played by Scarlett) became the undoubted star.

In the photos (courtesy of Deadbolt), we see Scarlett in all her retro glory, wearing pastel coloured, 1950s cats-eye sun-shades and driving a vintage car. Elsewhere, she can be seen wearing a cream coloured cardigan and pencil skirt, being measured by a wardrobe assistant, whilst Hitchcock (played by Anthony Hopkins) looks on, framing her with his hands.

Another recent Hitchcock biopic, The Girl, examined Hitchock’s dubious and allegedly abusive relationship with another of his leading ladies, Tippi Hedren (The Birds) but Hitchcock is more interested with the relationship between the director and his wife, Alma Reville. Of course, Scarlett Johansson’s on-screen glamour plays a large part in the movie and even in the trailer, tension can be detected between the wife and the leading lady, as Reville (played by Helen Mirren) tells her husband “don’t wait until half way through the movie (to kill off the leading actress) – do it after half an hour.”

The infamous Psycho shower scene in which Leigh is eventually killed off eventually lasted 3 minutes and 50 seconds and most of the shots are extreme close-ups, soundtracked by Bernard Herrmann’s chilling composition, ‘The Murder.’ The shower scene has since become the subject of cinematic folklore – particularly over whether or not Janet Leigh was the person in the shower for all of the 77 takes. Whether she was or not (though the convincing evidence suggests she was), Leigh ended up with a Best Supporting Actress nomination, despite only being in the film for around 45 minutes.

Hitchcock gets a limited US release on November 23, 2012 before being unleashed on the rest of the world next February. 

Watch the trailer for Hitchcock

And check ot the original, legendary shower scene