Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Vertigo

John “Scottie” Ferguson is a former San Francisco cop who left his position, in large part as a result of his severe vertigo. Feeling rather at odds with himself, he sits at home, his best friend and companion Marjorie ‘Midge’ Wood (Barbara Bel Geddes), who is also his ex-fiance.  She is trying to cheer him up, lift him out of the doldrums, give him purpose, but so far her efforts are to no avail – even when she makes it clear she still has feelings for him. But he doesn’t take the bait, assuming he is even aware of her attempts. Then his friend Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) approaches him with a job he’d like Scottie to do – namely, follow his wife Madeleine (Kim Novak). Not that he thinks she is cheating on him, nothing like that, but he is concerned about her, thinks she has changed, and wants to know what is going on with her and is she in any danger because of it.

Scottie follows the woman, and soon discovers that she has a strange routine, beginning with the art

museum where she sits and stares for hours at a painting of a woman. Oddly, he begins to notice similarities between her and the woman – a necklace that Madeleine wears that looks like the one in the  painting, the way Madeleine wears a curl in her hair just like the subject of the painting, whose name turns out to be Caroline Valdez. Scottie looks into the history of that woman as he continues to tail Madeleine, discovering the other places she goes, such as the restaurant where she regularly dines alone, and the small hotel where she has a room, but never sleeps there.

Scottie ends up following her to San Francisco Bay where, to his horror, he watches her throw herself into  the Bay. He dives in after her and rescues her then takes her to his apartment to recover. The next day  she disappears and the cycle continues…. until he finds himself in the position of falling in love with her and his emotions vie with his sense of duty to his friend. Until things escalate beyond his power to control…

Vertigo is an Alfred Hitchcock film from 1958, but this is the first time I’ve watched it. Surprising, considering how much I enjoy Hitchcock films. It’s definitely a psychological thriller, and I was surprised at some of the twists and turns, to my amazement. It’s very well-done and fast paced and yet not too fast, building up tension but in an almost sensual way, aided by the excellent sound track and directions.

I read that the film did not do well at the box office largely because of the audience’s perception of Jimmy as a villain, and they were used to seeing him as wholesome characters . But I disagree. I don’t believe Scottie was the villain here, there are better candidates for that role. I have to say I am not really enamored of Kim Novak and her acting, but I suspect I am in the minority there. I don’t think she expresses emotions very well, and the big reason she was cast is because she fit the type of Hitchock’s “blondes”, as we now know.

That being said, I think this film was beautifully done, had an interesting and engaging story, a great cast – you may remember Barbara Bel Geddes from Dallas, she played Miss Ellie, the Ewing matriarch – and also Ellen Corby, who was Grandma Walton on the Waltons, appears as a hotel manager. I very much enjoyed this film and would highly recommend. I’ll give this film 4.5 Stars.