A polite reminder before reading this blog entry of mine 🙂 This essay of my number one favorite film of all-time is very personal to me and I worked very hard on it. I am asking everybody who reads it to remain courteous and kind (any mean or insulting comments will be deleted) and to try to understand where my love for Vertigo comes from. I personally believe that I laid out everything articulately and I hope you readers feel the same and get as much out of this essay as I did 🙂

At the same time, it is my hope that I have treated every single subject presented here in a highly sensitive manner 🙂

Also, try to keep in mind that this blog entry was written for dyed-in-the-wool Vertigo fans like myself 🙂

Spoiler Alert: This blog entry includes potential spoilers so If you have not seen Vertigo, I highly recommend that you watch the film before reading this blog entry 🙂

Prologue

Former Chicago Reader film critic Dave Kehr eloquently praised Vertigo as One of the landmarks-not merely of the movies, but of 20th-century art. I am in total agreement with him. Coincidentally, Vertigo ranks as my number one favorite film of all-time. For me, Vertigo not only stands out as the crowning achievement of Classical Hollywood cinema, but of filmmaking on a whole. As directed by the iconic Alfred Hitchcock (a.k.a. The Master of Suspense), Vertigo is a masterpiece of form and content. More than that, Vertigo serves as Hitchcock’s magnum opus. In addition, no other cinematic masterwork has impacted me on so many levels than this undisputed 1958 American classic.

Chapter 1: The First Half – A Romantic Mystery Thriller

Set to celebrated composer Bernard Herrmann’s unforgettable music score, Vertigo opens with a characteristically expressive title sequence designed by the legendary Saul Bass. Afterwards, we are transported to the city of San Francisco, California in all it’s Technicolor glory.

During a rooftop chase in San Francisco, acrophobic detective John “Scottie” Ferguson (James Stewart) gets simultaneously overwhelmed by his acrophobia and vertigo. This leads to his failure in rescuing a fellow policeman from falling to his death. Now retired and filled with guilt, Scottie regularly spends his days being consoled and psychologically rehabilitated (for lack of better word) by his ex-fiancee Midge (Barbara Bel Geddes).

One day out of the blue, old college friend Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) asks Scottie for a favor. The assignment is to follow his blonde wife Madeleine (Kim Novak), who has started to exhibit signs of strange behavior. Despite his initial reservations, Scottie accepts the job for Gavin, who considers him the best in his field.

Now temporarily serving as Gavin’s private investigator, Scottie drives his car around San Francisco trailing Madeleine; first to a church and then to an art museum. At the former, she stares at a grave belonging to Carlotta Valdes (1831-1857) and at the latter, she looks at a painting entitled Portrait of Carlotta.

In completing the first part of his investigation, Scottie asks a local historian for more information about Carlotta Valdes and learns (among other tragic aspects of her life) that she committed suicide at the young age of 26 (Madeleine happens to be the same age). All of this information confirms Gavin’s worst fears that his wife Madeleine may be possessed by the spirit of Valdes, who according to Gavin, is also Madeleine’s great-grandmother. So are Scottie’s when Madeleine attempts suicide by diving into the Bay at Fort Point. Quickly enough, Scottie dives into San Francisco Bay and rescues her. Concerned about her safety, Scottie brings a now unconscious Madeleine back to his home, takes off her wet clothes and lays her on his bed, where she later wakes up naked and covered in either a blanket or comforter.

The next day, Madeleine visits Scottie and thanks him for rescuing her. As they spend the day together, a passionate romance develops between the two. One day later, Madeleine talks to Scottie about a nightmare she had involving the Mission San Juan Bautista church. As a result, Madeleine (under the influence of Carlotta Valdes) feels that suicide is the only answer. As much as Scottie tries to convince her to fight the urge, Madeleine ends up running inside the church’s bell tower. Chasing after her, Scottie runs up the stairs to try and save Madeleine, but it is too late. Triggered once again by his acrophobia and vertigo, Madeleine jumps from the high point of the tower and falls to her death.

Despite being told by Gavin that there may have been nothing he could do to save Madeleine at the end of her inquest, the now clinically depressed Scottie becomes catatonic and subsequently placed in a sanatorium.

Chapter 2: The Second Half – A Romantic Drama

Upon the start of it’s second half, Vertigo uniquely transitions from romantic mystery thriller to romantic drama.

Shortly after his release from the sanatorium, the still grief-stricken Scottie visits all of the places Madeleine Elster used to frequent. One day, he bumps into a brunette named Judy Barton (also Kim Novak) and develops an interest in her. The reason: she subtly reminds him of Madeleine. Despite her initial discomfort at his presence (after all he is a stranger to her), she accepts his offer of a dinner date.

After Scottie leaves her apartment, Judy gets out some paper and starts writing a confession. Before that though, we get a flashback revealing that Gavin had plotted an elaborate murder scheme. First, he would hire Judy to play the role of his “possessed” wife. Then, he would hire Scottie to follow her, knowing fully well that his acrophobia and vertigo would prevent him from ever discovering the truth. Last, but not least, Gavin would perfectly time the moment when Scottie was chasing the fake Madeleine up the bell tower to the point where his aforementioned weaknesses would set off. This would allow Gavin the perfect opportunity to dispose of his freshly killed wife; the real Madeleine. In other words, all Judy had to do then was run up to the top of the tower where Gavin was.

The longer Judy sees Scottie, she starts to notice that he is trying to make her over to look more like Madeleine. At first, Judy does not want to go through with it, but after being reassured by Scottie that he will truly love her, she relents.

Not too long after Judy transforms back into the blonde Madeleine, Scottie discovers that the necklace she is wearing is similar to the one in the Portrait of Carlotta painting. Scottie finally realizes that Judy was Madeleine this whole time.

Unbeknownst to Judy, Scottie drives back to Mission San Juan Bautista church to get an admittance of guilt from her. Once there, a now frightened Judy runs up the bell tower with Scottie trailing her. Simultaneously overcoming his acrophobia and vertigo, a now confident Scottie finally reaches the top of the tower and catches up to Judy and gets an emotional confession from her. After tearfully admitting to Scottie that Gavin hired her to impersonate Madeleine (among a few other things), the two start to embrace. However, this is cut short as a shadowy figure pops up out of nowhere, which scares Judy so much that she ends up accidentally falling to her death. The shadowy figure turns out to be a nun. Upon witnessing her fall, the remorseful nun silently prays before ringing the church bell. In the aftermath, Scottie looks down in shock at Judy’s dead body (offscreen) from the top of the bell tower.

Chapter 3: Grief, Guilt, Obsession and Redemption

Similar to how it was received during it’s initial 1958 theatrical run, Vertigo is bound to daze and confuse today’s viewers, but in the end, that would be a grave mistake. Whatever plot holes one may think Vertigo has, when all is said and done, none of it actually matters.

From it’s surrealistic opening title sequence to it’s ultimately tragic ending, Vertigo begins, continues and finishes as a cinematic metaphor for grief, guilt, obsession and redemption.

-Scottie’s Guilt/Redemption-

Guilt shapes the characters of Scottie and later, Judy Barton, albeit, in different ways. In the case of Scottie, his guilt comes from his failure to save a fellow police officer from falling to his death from a rooftop. As viewers may have already deduced, Scottie’s acrophobia and vertigo played a significant role in this. No matter how many times Midge tries to convince him that it was not his fault, Scottie just can’t shake it off.

Initially, it does seem incredulous that Scottie would accept serving as Gavin Elster’s temporary private investigator. First of all, the case involves following Gavin’s suicidal wife Madeleine. In addition, Scottie’s last experience as a detective involved the accidental death of a fellow police officer. The result left Scottie plagued with both guilt and trauma.

One’s incredulity about this situation is only justified on their first viewing. Once viewers take into account the guilt that is tormenting Scottie, it becomes a 100% possibility that he is taking on Gavin’s assignment for redemption. After all, Midge did tell Scottie that another emotional shock may be the cure in overcoming his acrophobia and vertigo.

-Judy’s Guilt and Redemption-

As for Judy Barton, her guilt comes in the form of complicity. We (the audience) are made aware of this during Vertigo’s second half as Judy writes a confession. In it, we learn that she was part of Gavin Elster’s elaborate murder scheme. The only thing she had to do was play the role of his wife Madeline and trick Scottie into thinking she was under the influence of a spiritual entity. Gavin’s plot payed off as Scottie’s acrophobia and vertigo thwarted his attempts at ever uncovering Gavin’s plan. In other words, Gavin knew Scottie would easily succumb to his aforementioned vulnerabilities. We see this in the flashback sequence, which shows Gavin throwing the freshly dead body of his wife Madeleine (the real one) out from the high point of the Mission San Juan Bautista church bell tower.

Notice that at this point in Vertigo, only we are aware of Judy’s confession. Scottie has yet to discover this awful truth. This scene has remained controversial ever since it’s 1958 theatrical release. You either believe that revealing this aforementioned plot twist early on in the film’s second half was a fatal error or you believe that it strengthened the plot tremendously. I am in the latter group. Whether director Alfred Hitchcock and screenwriters Samuel A. Taylor and Alec Coppel were aware of this or not, by revealing this plot twist halfway through the film, they (intentionally or unintentionally) elevated the character of Judy Barton from a typical femme fatale to a more complex one. After bumping into Scottie for the first time since the real Madeleine’s death and writing that confession, we start seeing Judy as a morally flawed, yet ultimately remorseful human being.

-Scottie’s Grief-

By the end of the first act, the already guilt-ridden Scottie now becomes grief-stricken in the aftermath of his failure to save Madeline Elster from her death. This was evident not too long after he was released from the sanatorium he was sent to as a result. In the wake of Madeleine’s death, Scottie visits every place he spotted her at when he was following her for Gavin.

-Judy’s Redemption-

When Scottie unexpectedly shows up at Judy’s apartment, she is under the impression that despite all his creepiness, Scottie is now psychologically rehabilitated. Unfortunately for Judy, the longer she and Scottie are dating, she comes to the realization that he is trying to make her over to look like the real Madeleine Elster.

Though Judy is heartbroken at first, she hesitantly agrees to make herself over as Madeleine to please Scottie. If anything else, Judy does seem guilt-ridden over her complicity in the death of the real Madeleine, who Scottie was obsessed with. Judy’s agreement to go through with this makeover could possibly serve as her way of redeeming herself.

-Scottie’s Obsession-

At first, Scottie actually comes off (or at least on the surface) as a mild-mannered kind of guy. Once he starts trailing Madeleine Elster however, Scottie suddenly turns into an obsessive. For starters, Scottie develops a love relationship with Madeleine that starts to affect his mental state. Take for instance the scene where Midge shows Scottie a painting she did of herself as Carlotta Valdes; the dead woman believed to be possessing Madeleine. Scottie is obviously left unimpressed by the result and it is possible that he thinks it is in poor taste.

Prior to her suicide, Madeleine’s love relationship with Scottie becomes more intimate as they embrace twice. As noted before, Madeline’s death not only left Scottie clinically depressed and catatonic, but as a result, landed him in a sanatorium.

Shortly after his release from the sanatorium, Scottie spots a brunette, who superficially resembles the blonde Madeleine. The woman’s name is Judy Barton. It is at this precise moment in the film that Scottie’s obsessiveness begins to border on the unhealthy.

Instead of adjusting to life without Madeleine, Scottie asks Judy to make herself over to look like her. This includes everything from dyeing her hair blonde and dressing herself similarly to Madeleine.

-Judy’s Obsession-

While disguised as Madeleine Elster during the film’s first half, Judy Barton helplessly falls in love with Scottie. After all, Scottie did rescue her when she tried to drown herself in the Bay at Fort Point. The notion that all (or at least most) women look for courage in a man does seem to come off as a believable one. Judy (as Madeleine) also thanked Scottie for saving her the day after.

During the film’s second half, Judy initially seems no longer obsessed with Scottie. Taking into account her complicity in Gavin Elster’s murder scheme, Judy’s desire to move on from Scottie makes perfect sense. At the same time, Judy’s guilt incites her to rekindle the relationship with Scottie. As much as she wants to be loved by Scottie, Judy does not want to remake herself as Madeleine in order to please him. Judy goes to great lengths, emotionally pleading to Scottie to love her the way she is, but in the end, she finally agrees to make herself over as Madeleine. Judy goes through with it not so much because she wants to, but because she longs for Scottie’s affection. Out of all the men Judy met in her life, it would not surprising If Scottie came the closest to what she desired in a man. Given Scottie’s determination to keep her save when she was disguised as Madeleine, he may have been the only guy, who ever truly loved Judy.

Chapter 4: Expanding Upon the Metaphors

Every cinematic work of art speaks to a viewer in one way or another, but when an individual singles one of them out as their favorite film of all-time, it ends up speaking to that particular person in every single way imaginable. For me, Vertigo does exactly that.

My love for Vertigo knows no boundaries. Half of it stems from me as a Catholic. The other 50% is rooted in how Vertigo symbolizes (albeit superficially) my dreams and nightmares.

-Catholicism as a Theme-
Full Disclaimer: You do not have to be Catholic to love or understand Vertigo.

Taking into account the fact that it’s celebrated director Alfred Hitchcock is Catholic himself, my emotional connection to Vertigo is probably not all that surprising. In fact, Catholicism has actually shaped (albeit subtly) quite a few of Hitchcock’s own films previous to this one.

Though I Confess and The Wrong Man are frequently singled out (and rightfully so) as two of Alfred Hitchcock’s most Catholic films (read here), I truly believe that Vertigo deserves to rank in there to make it three. According to Patricia Hitchcock (his daughter), Vertigo also stands alongside Sabotage and Psycho as one of her father’s darkest films, where a happy ending was impossible. I nod in agreement with her sentiments.

-Guilt and Redemption-

Scottie’s guilt-ridden conscience is shaped by two events in which his acrophobia and vertigo contributed significantly. The first one involved a fellow policeman falling from a rooftop. The second one involved a woman (Judy disguised as Madeleine) falling from the Mission San Juan Bautista church bell tower. The aforementioned Catholic church symbolizes Scottie’s redemption. Scottie’s first attempt at redemption failed when his acrophobia and vertigo overcame him, which resulted in Madeleine falling to her death. During the film’s climax, he drives back to the church, where he not only overcomes his acrophobia and vertigo, but gets a scared, tearful and ultimately remorseful Judy Barton (disguised back as Madeleine) to confess her complicity in Gavin Elster’s elaborate scheme to murder the real Madeleine (his wife), who was freshly dead when he disposed of her on top of the bell tower earlier.

When Judy confesses her complicity in Gavin’s plot for the first time, it is in her apartment and the only observers are we the audience. Once Scottie notices the similarities between her necklace and the one in the Portrait of Carlotta painting, he discovers that he had been tricked the entire time. The place Scottie gets Judy to confess to him is at a church bell tower. As the two are about to embrace, Judy gets scared by the shadow of an investigating nun and accidentally falls to her death.

While Catholicism is far from the main theme connected to Vertigo, it’s endlessly debatable contribution to the film’s greatness (big or small) does partly stand out for me. Take for instance the significant role the Mission San Juan Bautista church plays in the film’s drama. For example, Scottie’s first attempt to save Madeleine (Judy in disguise) from falling to her death on top of it’s bell tower, ends in failure, which not only leaves him guilt-ridden, but devastated as well. The second time in the tower, Scottie gets close to redeeming himself completely. As detailed twice in this essay, Judy accidentally falls to her death due to the sudden shadowy appearance of an investigating nun.

Though the practice of Confession is not limited to Catholicism, it is (rightly or wrongly) often associated with that denomination within the realm of pop culture (click here and here). Given that the Mission San Juan Bautista is a Catholic church, that would mean it is the place where Catholics go to confess their sins. Upon absolution of their sins, said Catholic is now redeemed. Nevertheless, sinning again always seems inevitable and therefore, you have to go back to Confession as a result. Breaking it down, one goes into Confession filled with guilt, but they come out full of redemption. At least this is what happens to me when I enter and exit Confession.

In Vertigo, Scottie and Judy enter the church bell tower burdened with guilt twice. During their second appearance there, Scottie redeems himself almost completely, but Judy accidentally falls to her death. Judy’s admission of guilt to Scottie happens inside the church bell tower, which in this instance, may serve as a metaphor for Confession. To top it off, we see a sympathetic Catholic nun praying for Judy’s departed soul.

-Grief-

While Scottie may have gotten over his acrophobia and vertigo, not to mention his realization of Gavin Elster’s plot, he nevertheless failed to save a human being in the end. Grief is a primary theme at the end of Vertigo’s first half and part of it’s second half.

Not too long after a clinically depressed Scottie visits Madeleine Elster’s grave, he suffers a nightmare about his previous investigation, leaving him in a catatonic state. Needless to say, he is then placed in a sanatorium. Upon his release, Scottie frequents all the places he spotted Madeleine at earlier in the film. Even so, in the wake of everything that had just happened to him, his interest in them seems to have declined considerably, If not totally. The behavior Scottie exhibits here is just one of many traits that characterize depression.

-Obsession-

When all is said and done, it would be a big mistake for today’s viewers to characterize Scottie as an incel. For one thing, the most attractive woman in the world could fall in love with Scottie and he would still want her to look 100% like Madeleine Elster. As mentioned earlier, the longer Scottie follows Madeleine, the more obsessed he becomes with her. For the duration of Vertigo’s first half, obsession is portrayed (albeit with maybe one reservation) rather positively. One example is when Madeleine thanks Scottie in person for rescuing her from drowning in the Bay at Fort Point. To Madeleine, Scottie now comes off as her knight in shining armor. Eventually, Scottie and Madeleine’s romance gets serious as they embrace (passionately or otherwise) not once, but twice.

If Madeleine (the blonde) embodied Scottie’s fantasy, then Judy Barton (the brunette) embodies his reality. As Vertigo’s second half continues to unfold, it is revealed that Judy was part of Gavin Elster’s elaborate plot to get away with murdering his wife; the actual Madeleine. In other words, Judy was disguised as Madeleine this whole time.

At this point in the film, Scottie succumbs to the darker side of obsession. In this case, Scottie wants Judy to make herself over as Madeleine. As much as Judy protests, Scottie will not take no for an answer. Judy’s eventual agreement to be made over as Madeleine lies in her desire to be loved by Scottie.

Scottie’s obsession ends up taking a deadly and tragic turn after discovering that Judy was Madeleine all along. Scottie finds out after seeing that Judy’s necklace matches the one in the Portrait of Carlotta painting. Though Scottie gets a sincere confession from Judy at the scene of the crime (the San Juan Bautista church bell tower), the sight of a nun scares Judy to the point where she accidentally falls to her death. Scottie’s intentions were honorable, but it is possible that Judy would still be alive If he did not take her back there. In the end, Scottie is bound to be full of grief and guilt despite his discovery of Gavin’s scheme. Though he will eventually get over it, one wonders how long it will take this time for Scottie to overcome the depression that will inevitably follow him after this experience?

Chapter 5: How Vertigo Psychologically Impacts Me as a Viewer

My love for Vertigo actually started in 1996 (age 11 at the time), but it was officially cemented 12 years later in early 2008. Ever since then, I have watched Vertigo numerous times each year and like all true cinematic masterworks, I always find something that was not detected on the previous viewing.

On the surface, Vertigo’s portrayal of guilt and redemption coincides perfectly with my own mindset. While my personal experiences with the two aforementioned themes are nowhere remotely comparable to Scottie’s in the film, they somehow resonate with me in ways other great films have not.

Though my family and friends are not wrong when they view me as mild-mannered, I will be the first to admit that my own behavior can be far from saintly at times. Nevertheless, guilt ends up overshadowing my conscience not too long afterwards. These feelings incite me to go to church and confess my sins to a priest. After that, I exit the church feeling redeemed. Taking the priest’s advice to heart, I end up apologizing to everybody I may have hurt psychologically and gain forgiveness from them as a result. When it comes to redemption, I always cite my Catholic faith for guiding me to the light.

Whenever I have lost a loved one or close friend in the past, guilt will inexplicably hover over my conscience before turning all into grief. A day or two after the burial service, I (like Scottie in the film) would suffer a traumatic nightmare regarding my then current emotional state. Similarly, it was difficult for me to visit all the places that deceased individual frequented during their lifetime. Even so, these visits became more comforting once the grief ran it’s course. I also greatly feared that my uncontrollable grief would indefinitely place me in a hospital. While such a scenario has never happened to myself (and thank goodness), the very thought of it always troubles me.

Not unlike Scottie, I too am obsessed with beautiful women, even though he was attracted to only one woman in the film. Having said that, my obsession always bordered on the healthy and normal than anything that would be considered creepy and perverted. As with almost every young man and lady, I too grew up with crushes on various celebrities and still do to this day. Similar to what I do for my loved ones and close friends, at the most, I will wish for all of my crushes to have indefinite good luck, happiness and prosperity. What else can I say except that I am a man with a very big heart.

Chapter 6: The Greatness of Vertigo

Cinematography, costume design, editing, location shooting, music and sound. What do all of these elements have in common? More importantly, how do they connect to Vertigo? For starters, they often contribute significantly to the art form of cinema. In the case of Vertigo, these six aforementioned factors go a long way in elevating a complex romantic drama/mystery thriller to something simultaneously resembling pure elegance and sophistication. To put it in other words, Vertigo stands out as quite possibly the most beautifully realized marriage between form and content.

-Title Sequence-

For starters, unlike every other Alfred Hitchcock film previous to this one, Vertigo opens with a characteristically expressive title sequence designed by none other than the legendary Saul Bass. In it, we get a camera closeup of a woman’s face first moving toward the lips with James Stewart’s name appearing above it. As it moves up, Kim Novak’s name appears under her two eyes. As it starts zeroing in on the left eye, the words IN ALFRED HITCHCOCK”S comes up and then the color palette turns red with the film’s title VERTIGO coming right out of that eye. As the purplish whirlpool appears, it takes over from there with a now black background. As the whirlpool gets bigger and shrinks again, with a now green color, more credits start appearing on the right hand side of the screen. The whirlpool image moves closer and away from the screen and now, we get a purplish daisy-like image with the screenplay credit and it’s adapted material one appearing on the top and bottom center respectively. That too turns green, starts getting bigger and twirls around up close. The cinematographer credit and the Technicolor one becomes visible at the center and bottom of the screen. Now that disappears and we get a far away image of what looks like a green twirly image getting bigger while credits appear at the right part of the screen. That ends up going away as well as we are introduced to a light green eye image at the center getting bigger after credits appear and disappear at the bottom of the screen. Two more credits appear at the bottom of the screen as the image gets bigger. The image becomes green and starts becoming the main focus of the screen. The words MUSIC BY BERNARD HERRMANN appears at the left. As that credit disappears, the eye becomes massively big with a now yellowish looking whirlpool image and the words CONDUCTED BY MUIR MATHIESON appears near the center right of the screen.Now it’s turned to pinkish red and the words ASSOCIATE PRODUCER HERBERT COLEMAN appears on the right side of the screen. As it dissolves, the image becomes larger, shrinks again and dissolves. We are also now coming back to the image of the woman’s face from the beginning. Decorated with the red color palette from earlier, the focus is on her left eye and to end Bernard Herrmann’s opening theme, the words DIRECTED BY ALFRED HITCHCOCK appears moving forward from the left eye and gets up close to the center of the screen.

Click here to view legendary title designer Saul Bass masterful opening title sequence

-Editing and Sound-

As a self-proclaimed cinephile, I have often used the word perfection to varying degrees when it comes to describing my indefinite number of favorite films. For me, Vertigo stands out as the only great film to openly embody that aforementioned term.

To understand my above sentiments, let me start by discussing Vertigo’s editing. Every scene in Vertigo begins, continues and ends flawlessly. Take for example the San Francisco rooftop police chase sequence that opens the film. Editor George Tomasini cuts only when he needs to; leaving no part of it too long or too short. Another notable sequence features Scottie following Madeleine all over town in his car. When it comes to the film’s sequences, I single this one out as the most beautifully edited of them all. Similar to the aforementioned opening scene, the two church bell tower sequences can only be summed up as tension-filled.

Along with the film’s editing and it’s use of dissolves, every single sound effect heard in Vertigo comes off as perfectly timed. During the opening chase sequence, we can easily hear the sounds of footsteps, a loud gunshot and the partial breaking of what may be an eave. Some other noteworthy examples include people chatting in a restaurant, ocean waves and the ringing of a church bell.

-Music-

Undeniably, one of the most unforgettable aspects of Vertigo lies in legendary composer Bernard Herrmann’s music score. How much do I love it? Let me put it this way – I play the entire Vertigo soundtrack on youtube three or more times each week. In other words, Vertigo is my number one favorite Herrmann score of all-time. Each and every piece of music is as dreamy and operatic as it is haunting and romantic. Prelude and Rooftop, The Beach, Farewell and The Tower and The Nightmare and Dawn serve as only four of many examples.

Click here to listen to composer Bernard Herrmann’s haunting music score for the film

-Location Shooting-

Though it undoubtedly faces strong competition from other titles, for me, Vertigo towers above them all as the definitive San Francisco film. Half of it is rooted in director Alfred Hitchcock’s extensive use of The City by the Bay. The other 50% comes from the ambience that infuses each location in the film. Erotic, mysterious and romantic are the words that stand out here.

–Erotic and Romantic–

San Francisco locations that characterize the two above traits include, but are not limited to Scottie’s apartment (located at 900 Lombard Street), the shot of the Coit Tower near it and the Palace of Fine Arts. The restaurant Ernie’s is sadly no longer in operation. An outside example takes place at Cypress Point on the 17-mile Drive near Pebble Beach and Carmel.

–Mysterious–

The San Francisco locations that emphasize the above two attributes is somewhat considerable. One of them is Podesta Baldocchi, which was located at 224 Grant Avenue back then. Another is the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, which now goes by it’s last three words. The Mission Dolores and the Bay at Fort Point underneath the Golden Gate Bridge count for five. Outside examples include Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz County and Mission San Juan Bautista in San Benito County.

-Cinematography-

Along with The Red Shoes, Vertigo ranks for myself as one of the two most gorgeous Technicolor films ever made. Cinematographer Robert Burks delivers a number of dazzling highlights. Take for instance the sequence where green lighting from Judy Barton’s apartment window overshadows her entire sitting side view. Contrast this with an earlier scene set at Scottie’s apartment. The green lighting is more subtle there and it is mainly on the outside. Coincidentally, Scottie is wearing a green sweater in this sequence. If green signifies envy (among other things), then Scottie envies (albeit without resentment) his old friend Gavin Elster for having such a beautiful wife in Madeleine. Unlike Scottie, Judy’s envy is possibly rooted in resentment due to the fact that she is not Madeleine – the deceased woman Scottie was infatuated with. Madeleine is also wearing a green wrap when Scottie first eyes her. Green can also be associated with ghosts and long after the plot twist is revealed to the audience, Judy finally makes herself over to look like Madeleine. After the makeover, a green pool of light shapes Judy (as Madeleine again) as she walks towards Scottie, who is finally happy. To him, Madeleine has been resurrected.

Click here to view the first example.

Red is another color that plays a crucial role in Vertigo. Sometimes, it serves as an indication of love. For example, when Scottie first eyes Madeleine, it is at a place called Ernie’s, a restaurant decorated with red wallpaper on the inside. When Madeleine is in Scottie’s apartment for the first time communicating with him, she wears something that looks like a red robe. Midge might still even have feelings for Scottie since she wears a red shirt in one scene. Red is also used here to indicate danger. During the opening title sequence, the color palette briefly turns completely red hinting that this is part of the film’s plot. The surrealistic nightmare Scottie suffers features a blinking red color when he drops into Carlotta Valdes grave and spirals deep down until his body shadow gets smaller and falls on top of the same roof that Madeleine fatally landed on. Danger is evident during the film’s climax.

Along with it’s use of shadows, Vertigo’s Technicolor also displays a subtle dreamlike aesthetic. Those last two words coincide perfectly with the visual beauty of San Francisco during the day and at night. Podesta Baldocchi (a florist shop), the Legion of Honor, the Mission Dolores church and Fort Point serve as only four examples. Big Basin Red Woods State Park, Cypress Point, the Palace of Fine Arts and the Mission San Juan Bautista church make eight.

-Costume Design-

Edith Head is undoubtedly one of the greatest costume designers of all-time and Vertigo features some of her most exquisite designs. In fact, I am going to go one step further by singling out every single outfit worn by actress Kim Novak as a standout. First up is Scottie’s introduction to Madeleine Elster at the restaurant Ernie’s. In it, Madeleine dazzles us with her black dress covered with a green wrap. After that, Madeleine is next seen wearing the film’s iconic grey suit. Madeleine wears it when she goes to Podesta Baldocchi, the Legion of Honor and the Mission San Juan Bautista church bell tower. At both the Legion of Honor and Fort Point, Madeleine is shown in an elegant black dress, though a far cry from the one worn at Ernie’s. I do not know If it is just me, but doesn’t Madeleine look downright adorable in Scottie’s red robe when she was at his apartment? Not too long afterwards and outside that same place, Madeleine wows us with a stylish white coat. She wears this outfit while visiting Big Basin Redwoods State Park and Cypress Point on the 17-Mile Drive. There is also something quietly dignified about the grey coat Madeleine is wearing while visiting Scottie in his apartment the second time.

In contrast to Madeleine’s elegance, Judy Barton’s outfits intentionally lack refinement. To put it in other words, Judy’s tastes border on the garish. The bright colors of her dresses (green and purple), blouse (yellow) and cardigan (brown) demonstrate this aspect perfectly. Once Judy is made over as Madeleine, everything about her becomes refined. To emphasize this, Judy wears two of Madeleine’s dresses from earlier – the grey suit and the black dress (minus the green wrap) that was worn at Ernie’s.

Joanna Lynn and Hanna Marie from Classic Critics Corner, elaborates on Novak’s outfits even further – click the link below

https://www.classiccriticscorner.com/classic-movies/kim-novak-vertigo

Alison Kerr also wrote an equally eloquent blog entry on Novak’s outfits in the film back in 2012 – click the link below

https://alisonkerr.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/style-on-film-vertigo/

Chapter 7: The Actors of Vertigo

Given my personal belief that the 1950’s served as Classical Hollywood cinema’s peak decade, it is not surprising that I view Vertigo as the film where it’s respective lead actors James Stewart and Kim Novak found themselves reaching the pinnacle of their careers as actors.

-James Stewart-

Prior to Vertigo, James Stewart had expanded upon his everyman persona by embracing his darker side; most notably in five westerns directed by Anthony Mann – Winchester ’73, Bend of the River, The Naked Spur, The Far Country and The Man from Laramie. Director Alfred Hitchcock similarly tapped into Stewart’s latter aforementioned mindset with Rope, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much and Vertigo. Even so, never before has Stewart played anybody as deeply troubled as John “Scottie” Ferguson here in Vertigo.

Though Hitchcock reportedly blamed Vertigo’s underwhelming box-office performance on Stewart (deeming him too old for the part), in retrospect, his opinion on that has thankfully proven to be wrongheaded. Same sentiment applies to anybody who would even agree with him on that. The 24-year age gap between Stewart (then 49) and actress Kim Novak (then 24) plays a crucial role in the film’s drama. I suppose it would have worked either way with actors close to the same age, but in the end, it would have lacked that essential ingredient of pure unease that powers Vertigo’s second half. The idea of Scottie trying to make over a younger woman to resemble his now deceased one is intended to unsettle us as viewers. By casting Stewart in the lead role, Hitchcock turned the already creepy situation into a subtly pervy one, which marks just one of many reasons why Vertigo works so well as it does.

At the same time, Stewart makes Scottie a highly likable character, which could not have been achieved by any other actor but him. This is clearly demonstrated in scenes between Scottie and Midge early on and later on, between him and Madeleine Elster. Scottie can also be a very caring and kind-hearted individual. This is evident when he rescues Madeleine from drowning in the Bay at Fort Point. In addition, Scottie genuinely cares about Madeleine’s mental state and goes to great lengths to prevent her from committing suicide, whether he succeeds or fails. What makes Stewart’s casting here so inspired is rooted in how effortlessly he displays his trademark likability.

-Kim Novak-

Before casting Kim Novak as both Madeleine Elster and Judy Barton, director Alfred Hitchcock hired Vera Miles to play the two respective characters. However, once Miles became pregnant, she exited the film and Hitchcock replaced her with Novak. All I can say is thank goodness because as much as I love Miles, she would not have done justice to the characters of Madeleine and Judy the way Novak did.

With all due respect to Grace Kelly, Novak still stands out for myself as the quintessential Hitchcock Blonde. Along with Tippi Hedren in Marnie, Vertigo is (for me) one of two Hitchcock films where the performance of it’s lead actress can be best summed up as nothing short of an emotional powerhouse.

On the surface, Novak’s iconic Madeleine is every bit as elegant and sophisticated as one would expect from a Hitchcock Blonde. In the center though, there is much more to her than meets the eye. For this viewer, Madeleine/Judy (tied with Marnie Edgar) is the one that incites the most empathy. This becomes evident during Vertigo’s second half.

In the film’s second half, Novak plays Judy, the brunette femme fatale, who was disguised as Madeleine this whole entire time. As Judy, Novak imbues her with pathos and utmost sincerity. Notwithstanding her past contemptible action, the ultimately remorseful Judy actually comes off more as a tragic figure than anything else. In other words, we empathize with Judy and see her as a human being, albeit a morally flawed one. Similar to Novak in real life at the time (click here), Judy also longed to be loved. As both Madeleine and Judy, Novak puts all of her heart and soul into these two characters. No other actress but Novak could have pulled it off.

Chapter 8: The Content of Vertigo

On a whole, Vertigo is as much a mystery thriller as it is a drama. At the same time, eroticism and romance serve as the primary themes of both the former and the latter. When it comes to interpretations, Vertigo offers an endless number of valid theories. Personally, I see Vertigo as both a celebration and critique of the male gaze.

-Eroticism and Romance-

Though it was already in place early on, Vertigo’s erotic overtones actually kick into high gear shortly after Scottie rescues Madeleine Elster from drowning in the Bay at Fort Point. After this, Scottie takes a now unconscious Madeleine back to his apartment. This is where he takes off Madeleine’s wet clothes and places her naked body on his bed and covers her with a blanket or comforter afterwards. Upon regaining consciousness, Scottie comes in and offers Madeleine his red robe to wear until all of her clothes dry up. Not too long after this, Scottie and Madeleine have a friendly conversation with each other. Given the fact that she delivered a thank you letter to him in person, it becomes clear that Madeleine sees Scottie as a real gentleman. From this point on, Vertigo turns into a combination of eroticism and romance. This is demonstrated perfectly in the scene where Scottie and Madeleine passionately embrace while a beach is making loud ocean waves onscreen in the background. For me, the presence of water always makes a romantic scene sexier. The image of San Francisco’s Coit Tower outside Scottie’s apartment contributes significantly to Vertigo’s erotic atmosphere. Speaking of which, when Vertigo’s art director Harry Bumstead asked director Alfred Hitchcock why the Coit Tower should be seen from outside Scottie’s apartment, he replied that it was because it’s a phallic symbol (read here and here).

Eroticism and romance take a rather toxic turn in Vertigo’s second half as Scottie struggles to adjust to life without Madeleine, who committed suicide at the climax of the film’s first half. Instead of coping with it and moving on, Scottie attempts to make over a brunette named Judy Barton, who bears a superficial similarity to the blonde Madeleine. Not too long after the start of their relationship, Scottie starts to slowly remake Judy over as Madeleine; the deceased object of his desire. In addition, he wants Judy to dye her hair and wear similar clothes and shoes (among other things) to fulfill his wish. Eventually, Judy decides to go through with Scottie’s demands because she still loves him. After all, Judy was disguised as Madeleine that whole time. Nevertheless, Scottie has yet to discover that. Even so, this is not the correct path for Scottie to take to overcome his grief. At this point in Vertigo, it can be heavily debated that Scottie’s obsession with Madeleine is now serving as a metaphor for necrophilia.

-A Celebration of the Male Gaze-

Shortly after it’s central plot unfolds, Vertigo remains almost entirely dedicated to upholding the male gaze. As seen through Scottie’s point-of-view, he and the camera follows (and justifiably so) Madeleine Elster as she enters and exits three different places. In this case, it is at Ernie’s, Podesta Baldocchi and the Legion of Honor. When it comes to Madeleine’s face, we get side, back and front views. Metaphorically speaking, the debatably formerly sexually repressed Scottie has now been cured thanks to his infatuation with Madeleine.

-A Critique of the Male Gaze-

During the film’s second half, Vertigo goes from serving as a celebration of the male gaze to a critique of it. Here, we get Judy Barton’s point-of-view as she observes Scottie’s behavior. While dining at Ernie’s, she sees Scottie gazing at a blonde woman with a grey suit; similar to the one Madeleine wore. Afterwards, we get an entire side view of Judy’s entire body sitting near an outside green pool of neon light shaping her as a shadow in her apartment. In this scene, the camera views Judy not as an object of desire, but as a woman with real emotions. Judy is rightly skeptical that Scottie actually loves her for who she is; Why? Because I remind you of her? It’s not very complimentary. And nothing else? To put it in other words, we empathize with Judy. Even after making herself over as Madeleine again, there is a look on Judy’s face hoping that she will now finally be loved by Scottie, who is gazing upon her at that very second.

My blogging friend Maddy from Classic Film and TV Corner touches upon this in her beautifully written review of Vertigo from last year – click the link below.

Vertigo(1958)

Chapter 9: Tragedy in Vertigo

The theme of attempting the Perfect crime has played a major role in at least five of director Alfred Hitchcock’s films. In chronological order, they are Rope, Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window and Vertigo. If Rear Window served as a culmination of everything Hitchcock was trying to say in those three previous films, then Vertigo serves as his deconstruction of this aforementioned concept.

Whereas those earlier films playfully explored the perfect crime with a dose of black humor, Vertigo depicts it as a tragedy. For starters, the plot twist is given away early in the film’s second half. This is revealed in a flashback and shortly after, Judy Barton’s written confession detailing how she was hired by Gavin Elster to play his “possessed” wife Madeleine. Gavin knew that by convincing Scottie to follow her, the scheme would go according to plan. Why? Because Gavin knew that Scottie’s acrophobia and vertigo would easily prevent him from ever discovering the truth. In other words, Gavin murdered the real Madeleine (his wife) and then threw her body from the top of a church bell tower. At the same time, Judy (disguised as Madeleine) would run up the stairs of that same tower “attempting” suicide; therefore making Scottie believe that she was really in danger. Gavin’s scheme paid off and afterwards, he left the country.

To put everything more plainly, Vertigo continues and ends with the criminal getting away with his crime. Judy’s accidental fall to her death from the top of the church bell tower at the end makes it all the more tragic. In Vertigo, three tragic events befall Scottie. The first comes early on with a fellow policeman’s fall from a San Francisco rooftop. The second is Madeleine’s suicide at the church bell tower. Upon discovering that Judy was disguised as her the entire time, Madeleine’s murder at the hands of Gavin now shapes my second example. The third is Judy’s aforementioned death. When it comes to Hitchcock films centering on the perfect crime, Vertigo may be (at least based on my knowledge) the only one to depict how it can actually devastate an innocent individual, which in this case would be Scottie.

-Interpretations-

Simultaneously, two other credible theories have cropped up when discussing how the perfect crime can be interpreted in Vertigo. One believable interpretation is that Scottie is dreaming the entire plot while dangling on that rooftop at the beginning. This does make sense when you take into account the film’s visual dreamlike quality. The other one and I do not know If I am the first to toy with it, but it is possible that Scottie became aware of Gavin’s elaborate murder scheme early on in Vertigo’s second half. For example, why does he choose brunette Judy, despite a superficial facial resemblance, as the woman to be made over as Madeleine? True, it was not until later that Scottie discovered Judy wearing Carlotta Valdes necklace, but he must have spent a very long time figuring everything else out either during his stay at the sanatorium or shortly after exiting it. Does this sound far-fetched? Sure, but it serves as a testament to Vertigo’s reassessed status as a timeless classic. In other words, the endless number of interpretations we get from each viewing is just one of many reasons why Vertigo still holds up 66 years after it’s initial theatrical release in 1958. A huge amount of credit is owed not only to Hitchcock, but also to screenwriters Samuel A. Taylor and Alec Coppel for making an essential part of it’s timelessness possible.

-Alternate Expanded Ending-

Shortly after completing the film, Hitchcock was ordered to shoot a slightly happier ending showing Midge listening to a radio report in her apartment. Among other things, we hear that the police are now on Gavin’s trail. We see Scottie walking in towards her window. Midge hands him a glass of what looks like wine and he takes and sips it while staring out the window. Scottie is stoic, but subtly grief-stricken by what has just happened. Nevertheless, when all is said and done, bringing Gavin to justice will not bring back Madeleine and Judy. In the end, Hitchcock was successful in making sure that this ending would not be used. Click here to view this aforementioned alternate expanded ending.

-The Henri-Georges Clouzot Connection-

Conversely, in Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac’s 1954 novel The Living and the Dead, which Vertigo is very loosely based on, the plot twist is actually placed near the end of the book. Though denied by Narcejac, Hitchcock claimed in an interview with French New Wave director Francois Truffaut that he and Boileau had written it specifically for him. If anything else, Hitchcock may have only said this to put French director Henri-Georges Clouzot in his place for beating him at obtaining the rights to Boileau and Narcejac’s 1952 novel She Who Was No More, which he would adapt as Les Diaboliques in 1955. Click here, here, here and here to read more about this interesting tidbit.

Chapter 10: The Vision of Vertigo

Though renowned (and justifiably so) as a showman, director Alfred Hitchcock also deserves to be lauded as an artist. This latter trait has never been more evident than in Vertigo.

–The Direction of Vertigo–

By the time Hitchcock had filmed Vertigo in late 1957, his three-time lead actress Grace Kelly was now married to Rainer III, then Prince of Monaco. In other words, she became his Princess by marrying him in 1956. Needless to say, Hitchcock was still adjusting to her early retirement from acting. Considering that Kelly was both his favorite leading lady and blonde, her departure must have depressed Hitchcock to no end. Remembrance of a woman marks one part of Vertigo’s source material, which in this case would be Boileau and Narcejac’s The Living and the Dead. As a result, one can’t help but speculate that this is why Hitchcock chose to adapt and expand upon it at this point in his life. Hitchcock may have even envisioned himself as James Stewart’s John “Scottie” Ferguson and Kim Novak’s Madeleine Elster/Judy Barton as Kelly in Samuel A. Taylor and Alec Coppel’s shooting script. If you accept this debatable theory as I do, then Vertigo hits close to home in all of the right ways. For a dyed-in-the-wool Vertigo fan like myself, it taps into all of my emotions at their most raw.

While watching Vertigo, be on the look out for Hitchcock’s trademark cameo appearance and you will notice him walking from left to right while Scottie comes along and walks from right to left. This could possibly be Hitchcock’s way of confirming that he sees certain aspects of himself in Scottie. Click here to view the link.

The gentleman seems to know what he wants and you certainly do know what you want, sir are said by a female tailor to Scottie as he buys clothes to make Judy over as Madeleine. Those two aforementioned remarks can also apply to Hitchcock regarding his overall vision for Vertigo. The use of San Francisco locations give Vertigo an atmospheric vibe as does Robert Burks beautiful cinematography, Edith Head’s lovely costume designs and Bernard Herrmann’s expressive music score. The delivery of each edit and sound effect can only be described as pitch-perfect.

-Scottie’s Nightmare-

Along with the Portrait of Carlotta painting, artist John Ferren is also responsible for designing the spectacular Scottie’s Nightmare sequence that bookends Vertigo’s first half. In it, Scottie is tossing and turning while sleeping in his apartment bed. A close-up of his face has a background color that goes from blue to blinking purple. Suddenly, what looks like a circle of roses appears while the screen goes from bright light reddish-orange to black with green in between. Then the roses are blown close at the screen – they are reddish-orange and purplish. As they disappear, we are taken to a blinking red screen depicting Gavin Elster on the left and Scottie on the right at the earlier inquest. The only difference here is that Carlotta Valdes is between them. She starts to look up at Scottie. We then see the front side of Carlotta as she was in the painting. The camera zooms in on her necklace with that red colored square. We then cut to a black background with the continuing blinking red screen. Scottie is at the Mission Dolores church from earlier in the film. We see trees and gravestones in the background now. Scottie is walking closer and closer to Carlotta’s open grave and headstone. He suddenly falls into Carlotta’s open grave. The background is now red with black bars and we see Scottie’s giant head coming closer to the screen. As he keeps getting closer, the background color becomes purple and briefly green and back again. As Scottie’s head disappears, we see Scottie’s body as a dark shadow falling to his death similarly to Madeleine’s. At first, Scottie’s dark shadow is a close-up, but the closer he falls to that rooftop, his dark shadow gets smaller. Once Scottie’s dark shadow gets there, the background color of the screen becomes all white and the blinking red disappears. A frightened Scottie then wakes up from his nightmare.

Click here to watch the entire sequence because even I can’t do justice in describing something this extraordinary; especially for 1958.

-Dolly Zoom-

Last, but not least, Vertigo is the film that introduced audiences to a cinematic technique known as dolly zoom. Take for example the scenes dealing with Scottie’s acrophobia and vertigo. In these sequences, Scottie is looking down from a high place and as the camera zooms backwards, his sense of fear is heightened. This in-camera effect is meant to distort the visual perception of the character in focus. Popular examples of films that feature dolly zoom include, but are not limited to Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull and Goodfellas, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead. Hitchcock would go on to use the dolly zoom again in both Psycho and Marnie.

Despite remaining uncredited for his efforts (read here), a substantial amount of credit should be given to Second unit director Irmin Roberts for his invention of the dolly zoom. Without him, Hitchcock might not have been able to pull off this effect.

-Epilogue

If I were asked to name only one film to justify not only the existence of Classical Hollywood cinema, but of American cinema on a whole, my answer would unreservedly be Vertigo. No other film made before or after it has left a more lasting impression on me than this one. Each new viewing of Vertigo leaves me as dazzled and moved as I was when I first watched it 28 years ago. For me, Vertigo is an already great film made greater by repeated viewings. To this viewer, Vertigo is the embodiment of perfection. Former Chicago Reader film critic Dave Kehr summed up Vertigo as the most intensely personal movie to emerge from the Hollywood cinema. Kehr is totally right on that. What else left is there for me to say except that Vertigo is (for myself) the greatest film ever made.

Click here to read former Chicago Reader film critic Dave Kehr’s review of Vertigo

Click here to view the film’s original theatrical trailer

Click here to view the film’s 1996 Restoration trailer

Click here to view the film’s 60th anniversary 4K Restoration trailer

Click here to view the documentary on Vertigo’s 1996 Restoration from 1997 entitled Obsessed with Vertigo

Click here to read former Chicago Reader film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum’s insightful 2006 essay on actress Kim Novak entitled Kim Novak as Midwestern Independent

Click here to view another insightful youtube video link to a 2020 CBS Sunday Morning Profile on actress Kim Novak

Click here to view yet another insightful youtube video link to late TCM (Turner Classic Movies) host Robert Osborne’s 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival interview with Kim Novak

Also, click here to view a youtube video link to a 1964 episode of the 1960’s NBC documentary series entitled Hollywood and the Stars: In Search of Kim Novak

Click here to read my 2022 blog entry regarding my Top 10 Favorite Films of All-Time

Click here to read my 2023 blog entry regarding my Top 100 Favorite Films of All-Time

Let me conclude this blog entry with two questions for my dear readers:

What parts of my Vertigo essay stood out the for you readers in particular?

What links in my Vertigo essay did you readers love the most?

Also, I hope that I covered a lot of ground in helping all of you dear readers understand why I love Vertigo so much.