A retrospective by Max Scheinin. Copyright, 1997, Max Scheinin.
**** = perfection *** = good, not great ** = not good, not bad - merely acceptable * = not acceptable yet not horrid - merely very bad ZERO = horrid - avoid at all costs 1/2 = icing on the cake
Originally released 1958, rereleased 1996 An Alfred Hitchcock film, "Vertigo". Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Ellen Corby, Henry Jones, Raymond Bailey, Lee Patrick Rating: ****
Today I saw what I, and many others consider Alfred Hitchcock's greatest masterpiece, his crown jewel, the haunting and nearly transcendent Vertigo for the third time. Though upon previous viewings I had seen the movie's brilliance, and thought it an extraordinary film I had never been quite so purely caught up in it's story. It is a ravishing entertainment, a beautifully acted, carefully constructed, stunning film about love, deceit, and obsession.
My experience of the movie was different from before though, and for a most important reason: I saw it on a big screen. To be fair the screeen isn't that big. I saw it at the Nickelodeon, a local theater beautifully furnished, old-fashioned, utterly charming. The room I sat in had 200 seats, and I am sad to say that only about 17 of them were occupied ( I suppose everyone else was busy watching Men In Black for a third time ). My good friend and fellow film nut Alex agreed to see it with me ( it's his favorite film of all time ). Together we entered the darkened theater to hear the distinct strains of Bernard Hermann's haunting score, munching popcorn, watching a story - not a film. Vertigo is gripping from the first frame to the last. Do you remember the first shot? It shows Kim Novak's face, aware and sharp, a tad suspicious, a bit nervous, thoroughly frightened. Her eyes dart from one side to the other. Is anyone watching her? Saul Bass did the teriffic credits sequence. Alone the opening is a tour de force.
Anyone who has never seen Vertigo is in for a wonderful suprise. For fear of spoiling the plot's suprises I will tread carefully. Scottie Ferguson ( Jimmy Stewart ) was previously a police man, but his newly discovered fear of heights, or Vertigo, has made him retire from the profession. One day, soon after his retirement he is asked by an old friend Gavin Elster ( Tom Helmore ) to follow his wife whom he believes is possesed by an ancestor named Carlotta Valdes who commited suicide when she was twenty six. Guess how old the wife is. Scottie follows her and finds that he cannot save her because of his vertigo. She commits suicide. Enter the film's equally gripping second half.
Vertigo is a haunting film; not once do you check the time and yawn as you do at your average Batman And Robin ( although I admit that upon my first viewing of the film I found the second half a tad boring ). By the time the final fade-out comes you have been possesed too; not by Carlotta Valdes but by Alfred Hitchcock. Like the works of Chaplin, Welles and Satyajit Ray, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Battleship Potemkin, 2001: A Space Oddessey, and The Godfather part I and II you do not love movies if you haven't seen this one, nor are you a real american. Put it on your must-see list.
Vertigo runs 2:06, and if it ran a minute less it would be a crime. It is truly one of the greatest films ever made,and everone should ake an effort to see it. My friend Alex seemed to have had my reaction to the film; we were both spell bound by the events unfolding on the screen. If you have a chance see it on a big screen if you haven't already, or at least rent it on tape. You can not be my friend unless you have seen Vertigo. Anyway see it. There are no flaws in this film. It accomplishes everything it wants to which is why I am giving it all ****.
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