Vertigo (1958)
Seen with Andrea and Byron for free on 12 August 1997 at Bryant Park.
*Vertigo* is another movie that was lovingly restored recently and made the rounds recently. *Vertigo*, it turns out, is a movie that is easily seen and not heard. Hearing it is practically a formality, because the real joy is in the viewing.
As a Hitchcock fan and movie fan, I am even surprised at myself for saying this. After all, it's a classic, a masterpiece. There is only one very big problem with the movie. The story is absolutely ridiculous and implausible. It's a narrative sieve upon inspection!
Police detective Scotty (James Stewart) has a nervous breakdown following a rooftop chase in which he nearly died. He remains acrophobic and quits the force. Even the top of a stepladder gets him nervous and sweaty. He is hired by an old college friend to follow his troubled wife Madeleine (Kim Novak) around town as she relives the tragic last days of her disturbed birthgrandmother. Madeleine looks great, has class, and is dying to kill herself. No big surprise when she falls off a Spanish mission bell tower, leaving Scotty with a metric ton of guilt.
The pair fell in love and he sees her wherever he goes, at all the places she used to haunt. No one is more surprised than Scotty when trashy Judy (Kim Novak again) from Kansas City steps into view. Scotty obsesses on her and tries to turn her into Madeleine. Actually, he does--same clothes, hair and mannerisms. If this were filmed today, it would be a Sunday "woman in distress"; movie starring Joanna Kern getting a court order against Woody Harrelson entitled The Stalker Had Two Girlfriends. Two women at the bus stop who never saw Vertigo before were not sure about certain plot points, but agreed that Scotty "was crazy, right?"
Barbara Bel Geddes plays the innocent exgirlfriend bystander, bra designer Midge.
The true star of *Vertigo* is the meticulous placement and manipulation of everything on the screen by Hitchcock. It is a lush pastel oasis. It is beautifully filmed and even the hyperbolic parts (Scotty's dreams and telling flashbacks) are effective. It is so hypnotically beautiful that paying attention to the story actually gets in the way sometimes. It is like a Japanese garden. Everything is perfectly placed.
*Vertigo* languished unseen for years when Hitchcock died and it was part of a probate process. It was re-released with great fanfare in 1984 along with several other Hitchcock movies from the 1950s--including some with star Stewart (*Rear Window*, *Rope*, and *The Man Who Knew Too Much*). Others have noted that this is Jimmy Stewart's "darkest role."
*Vertigo* is filmed in Vistavision for all its worth, and with letterboxing, it has a chance to languish on TV. The music is absolutely wonderful, scored by one of Hitchcock's best collaborators, Bernard Herrmann (best remembered for his work on *Psycho*).
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Copyright (c) 1997 Seth J. Bookey, New York, NY 10021, sethbook@panix.com
More film reviews by Seth J. Bookey can be seen at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2679/kino.html
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