I own the Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection and it the booklet is says that Frenzy was his first "R" rated movie, but if I'm not mistaking, wasn't Psycho rated "R"? Is this just a misprint or was Psycho not rated "R"?
Oh, I'm sorry. Did I break your concentration?
"Frenzy" WAS Hitchcock's first "R"-rated movie, and if you ask me, his only real one.
"Psycho" was released in 1960, way before the "X"/"R" ratings code was introduced in 1968, so it had no rating in America at all(though I believe it was age-restricted in England and other countries.)
In 1969, after the new ratings code was put in, "Psycho" got a re-release("See the movie TV dared not show--complete and uncut") and was given an "M" -- the equivalent today of a "PG."
Hitchcock released three first-runmovies after the "R"/"X" ratings code came in: "Topaz"(given an "M"); "Frenzy"(given an "R" for nudity, sex, cussing and "ultra-violence") and "Family Plot"(given a "PG" -- the "M" had been dropped as too confused with "X")
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In the eighties, five old Hitchocck movies were released -- Rope, Rear Window, The Trouble With Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much and Vertigo-- with theatrical runs. All got "PG."
And somewhere in the eighties, "Psycho" got a re-release and nabbed its "R" rating.
But I NEVER read of "Psycho" being shown in theaters in the eighties. I believe the "R" was given to a video release.
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A long answer, but I think telling. There is only one Hitchcock movie that was rated "R" on original release: "Frenzy." And you can see that it was rightful. That's a rough movie.
"Psycho" had no rating(1960), then an "M" theatrical (1969), and then a mysterious "R."
And it hardly feels like an "R"-rated film today.