Vertigo (1958)
Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins
Synopsis: VERTIGO is Alfred Hitchcock's haunting tale of deception, madness, and death--a masterful exploration of fantasy and anxiety. The film ranks with REAR WINDOW as one of the director's most closely studied films for its psychological complexity, while the obsession of its... VERTIGO is Alfred Hitchcock's haunting tale of deception, madness, and death--a masterful exploration of fantasy and anxiety. The film ranks with REAR WINDOW as one of the director's most closely studied films for its psychological complexity, while the obsession of its protagonist--John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart)--can also be seen to parallel that of Hitchcock's own fascination with the icy-blonde leading lady he re-created at the center of so many of his films. Ferguson is a retired detective, his career ended by the onset of a paralyzing fear of heights. An old friend, the wealthy Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore), hires Ferguson to follow his wife (Kim Novak), whom, he explains, has grown obsessed with an ancestor of hers. The assignment, however, draws Ferguson out of his comfortable role as observer and into a complex web of intrigue, mingled with the detective's own fantasies and fears. Stewart gives an exceptional performance as the disintegrating detective, while Novak, who was left largely undirected by Hitchcock, conveys a subtle and powerful psychological journey. Another star of the film is its San Francisco setting. VERTIGO is considered one of Hitchcock's most complex, finest films. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones
Composer: Bernard Herrmann
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriter: Alec Coppel, Samuel W. Taylor
Story: Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac
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Reviews
Vertigo is an acknowledged masterpiece, one of those narrative films in which a bracing and unpredictable story has been distilled into a form that is at once classic and inventive.
Hitchcock was elsewhere an entertainer, often a great one, but Vertigo finds him working as an artist...
A rich, resonant meditation of male romantic obsession ... Not only does Hitchcock demonstrate a total mastery of cinematic point-of-view, but he turns what might have been mere melodrama into film poetry. Perhaps his greatest film.
Hitchcock's twisty, suspenseful tale is far more involving and memorable than most recent Hollywood thrillers.
What can one say? Exquisitely controlled, framed, scored, acted, and edited. A peerless triumph.
Justifying Vertigo's poor initial performance, it is a film that requires distance, as well as the completion of Hitchcock’s career. It is a moment of acknowledgment in the final, retrospective establishment of the director’s frequent themes.
James Stewart plays a detective who has left the police force because his fear of heights has caused, he believes, a tragedy.
James Stewart, on camera almost constantly, comes through with a startlingly fine performance as the lawyer-cop who suffers from acrophobia.
The most-discussed work of the master; despairingly sardonic and demanding of multiple viewings.
With this masterfully conceived spine-tingler, Alfred Hitchcock once again affirms his standing as movieland's king of the suspense-drama
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