Customer Reviews
Do not look below! - By: Ogun Eratalay, 18 Jul 2008 
Vertigo is a well chosen word for the atmosphere of this film. San Francisco detective Scottie (James Stewart) chases a suspect on the rooftops of the buildings, he slips & barely holds on the rain gutter of one building. Another policeman comes to his rescue but he slips & gets killed after falling down. Scottie is deeply affected from this experience & he resigns from the force to open up his own detective agency. One friend of his hires him to guard his wife. What from? Evil spirits that engulf her! Funny enough Scottie does not believein heresy but once he focuses on the case he is deeply moved with the situation. The wife of his friend spends hours at a certain museum staring at the same portrait of an aristocrat woman who died a century ago. She imitates her life, even her suicide. Scottie tries to solve the puzzle that he faces & he nearly goes insane.
The film stands out for its making & psychological thriller atmosphere. The double character of Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak) deserves credit. Also we are accustomed to James Stewart more than ever. The vertigo effect throughout the film is very well given. So much so that this film is taughtin academies of cinema art. As to the gripping effect of the film the end deserves credit. But there is a notion that distresses me about the film, it is the missing links that are not toldin the film. Asin a simple mystery police novel the author solves the case with an evidence never mentioned before. As for the final scene I personally think it not appropriate, somewhat unnecessary.
A film that has to be watched but I am not sure I will watch it again.
One of Hitchcock's finest - By: Anna Kouremenos, 24 Jan 2008 
I've seen this film several times & every time I find many new aspects to it. Of particular interest is the famous dream sequence with its highly surrealistic imagery as well as the repeated image of the painting featuring Carlotta's grandmother. These two sequences clearly foreshadow the protagonist's ultimate fate, even though this is not clearly apparentin the final shots.
Hitchcock's choice of Jimmy Stewart as the lead was a good movein my opinion. His performance has the right amount of vulnerability & courage. Kim Novak is also very good as the tormented "ice maiden". Allin all, an amazing film!
A GREAT FILM - By: stuart, 11 Dec 2007 Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo is probably his most discussed film, & I believe that since it is so controversial- & yet living up to such hype by having a level of mystery, daring & true human interest that is open to interpretation- it gets better with every passing year. It deserves more credit than it gets (like most of Hitchcock's films) & though it is well credited with it's intrigue, I think that Psycho (not that it is a bad film) gets more credit than this film should get. There are at least a few reasons for this, arguably of course. One, the acting is spectacular including James Stewartin one of his very best turns as the weary, emotionally perplexed & obsessed cop with a slight fear of heights & a 'thing' for a certain 'dead' woman. Hitchcock's leading lady here Kim Novak, is equally interesting & ambiguous as the leading lady (or ladies).
Two, the atmosphere Hicthcock invokesin this film is just right for the psychological tailspin that Stewart gets into, with the usage of lighting, real San Fransisco locations, & particularly the color green all to perfect, eerie effect. And three, there's Bernard Herrmann's score, on par with the Psycho score though maybe even better as a straight piece of classical musicin the guise of tense, haunting movie music. It's also the kind of picture that is a MUST if you've already seen it, or even if not, & it comes around town on the big screen as all the images & dark scenes come into great view. Not one of the more outright 'fun' Hitchcock films, with the few chuckles plain comic relief, & maybe his best serious work. A++
This is a Thriller? - By: Mark Baker, 05 Sep 2007 
Scottie (James Stewart) is a police officer forced to retire due to injuries & his dizzying fear of heights. His old friend Gavin (Tom Helmore) needs his services, however. Gavin's wife Madeleine (Kim Novak) appears to be going crazy. She wanders around town but has no recollection of the events. What really worries Gavin is that Madeleine is at the same age her great-grandmother committed suicide by jumping to her death.
Scottie eventually agrees to the job, but doesn't put much stalkin the theory that Madeleine is possessed. At least at first he doesn't. Is she really possessed? Can Scottie save her life?
And does the audience care? I've only seen a couple Hitchcock flicks, & I was less then impressed with them. I decided it was time to change that, & started here. It did nothing to change my mind.
The story starts out okay, just moves very slowly. I was drawn into the early story wondering what was really happening to Madeleine. That is, when the plot moved forward. I mean, we get shot after shot of Scottie following Madeleine around San Francisco. We get it already!
But then the second half comes & things go down hill. It's obvious to us early on what is happening, so we get bored waiting for the characters to catch up. Meanwhile, the acting gets so bad that it's actually laughable. And the climax? There isn't one. The story ends with a whimper.
I'm beginning to see why I haven't seen that many Hitchcock films before. If this is an example of what I have to look forward to, I won't be watching many more.
THIS is a masterpiece? (Beware spoilers) - By: Dennis Littrell, 17 Aug 2007 
Vertigo is considered one of the greatest films ever made & celebrated as Hitchcock's masterpiece. Perhaps it is. But I found myself bored as I watched it even though I had to admire the artistic intent. There are so many holesin the film it could qualify as cheesy. However, try telling that to those who love it. I think they love it as much for its flaws as for its perfections.
Perfections: the feel of the San Francisco Bay area, the sense of historical California, the great beauty of the ocean framed by Monterey cypresses, the redwoods, the Golden Gate Bridge as seen from below & off to the side, the Bautista Mission, the fifties interior decor, Madeleine's costumes, the angle of Scottie's fedora, the acting by the three stars, James Stewart, Kim Novak, & Barbara Bel Geddes. The musical score by Bernard Herrmann is also celebrated, but I found it a bit overbearing at times, & of course Hitchcock loved using music to direct our sensitivities, & one can tire of that.
Flaws:
Scottie hanging from the drainpipe railing, watching the cop trying to save him fly over to land several stories down, dead. What is not explained is how the cop was expected to pull him up with nothing to hold onto or how Scottie managed to survive. Apparently he fell but only broke his back becausein the next scene he isin surgical corset unable to scratch certain itches.
The ersatz psychology. It was the fifties & psychoanalytic psychology was all the rage. One of the bestsellers of the day was The Fifty-Minute Hour: A Collection of True Psychoanalytic Tales by Robert Lindnerin which a shrink relates tales told by his patients. Hitchcock loved this sort of thing (cf., Spellbound (1945) with Gregory Peck & Ingrid Bergman). Audiences also loved it. But the psychology is strictly bananas.
Driving on the wrong side of the road (about which Hitchcock is reported to have said when it was pointed out to him, "You drive your way. I'll drive mine.")
The plot. Oh, the plot. Never but never has there been a more elaborate & unlikely murder-your-rich-wife scheme. Judy Barton is hired, persuaded or, gee, maybe hypnotized into playing Gavin Elster's wife who is to commit suicide by jumping off the bell tower at the mission. First Gavin (Tom Helmore) has to establish that she's crazy & suicidal. This is done by having her drive dreamily around the Frisco Bay area looking for the haunts of her great grandmother who committed suicide. The key is to get Scottie to believe it so he can testify that she was suicidal. For this to work, (1) Madeleine has to fool a police detective--one might say mesmerize him, which she does, (2) Get him to the bell tower at the right time where he is afraid to go to the top--that works, but you have to buy the psychology, (3) Time it so that Madeleine appears to jump off, butin reality you throw the dead body of your wife off after having broken her neck (body kept warm perhapsin your car with the heater on?), (4) Hide with Madeleine at the top of the tower until the coast is clear (whenever that might be).
Although Kim Novak's performance is interesting it is unlikely that she could fool ex-detective Scottie into believing she was somebody else. When she reappears as Judy Bartonin the brown hair & the different makeup, it really makes the audience do a double take before realizing that she & Madeleine are the same. But Scottie's take seems to be that she (and some other women at first glance) look like Madeleine--after all, he just got out of the nut house. It is only when he sees the necklace that he comes to his senses.
Another thing afficionados love about this movie is the way Hitchcock was able to subtly strip his stars of their glamour & make them look more or less human. James Stewart never played a part anything like this before. All the funny faces he has to make, perplexed while driving, terrified on the way up the bell tower, insane & terrifiedin the dream sequence, etc. It is said that Hitchcock blamed the lack of popular success of this movie (when it was belatedly released, not now) on Stewart looking too old, & therefore Hitchcock never worked with him again. But I think Stewart, after seeing the way he lookedin this movie--so unheroic, so lost as a real human being--decided he was never going to let Hitchcock do THAT to him again, & that's probably why they never worked together again.
Kim Novak's curvy body & flopping you-know-whats are revealedin outfits that Grace Kelly would never wear. And poor Barbara Bel Geddes with those most unattractive glasses! How she pines for Scottie. One of the best scenes occurs when she shows Scottie her self portrait as the mysterious Carlotta with the glasses on (!) followed by her "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" self-flagellation after Scottie, who was offended at the grotesque sight, walks out.
But why is Scottie always hanging out at her place? And how they talk the plotin the beginning so that we might know that they were once a couple! But Hitchcock never worried about anything but the effect his movie might have on the audience. Improbilities, clumsy plot devices, etc., were secondary. And you know what, he was right, as P.T. Barnum was right. Hitchcock never overestimated the sophistication of his audience & that was one of his strengths. The audience just wants to be entertained, to be diverted, to live the fantasy for a while.
Somebody said that the real entertainmentin watching this movie isin watching it again after you know the story. I think they're right. It's definitely a film buff's movie.
