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499 comments in total

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199 out of 263 people found the following comment useful :-
A Standard Rave, 10 July 2002

Author: james.king@optusnet.com.au from Sydney, Australia

Starting in 1958, Alfred Hitchcock directed a remarkable sequence of films in a row, each of them a classic; Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963). Never has a director made four such genuinely great movies in such a short space of time, either before or since.

The pick of this high standard bunch is undoubtedly Vertigo. From the opening titles, with their circling spiral imagery, to the dramatic final scene this is a movie that takes you to a different time and place. Specifically, to a San Francisco of the past; full of deserted parks, discrete rooming houses, oddly menacing art galleries and florists where the customers enter and exit through the back door. Through this landscape wanders Jimmy Stewart, towering in the lead roll as a former detective recently retired after a bungled arrest leaves him with chronic vertigo. Plot machinations lead him to the alluring Kim Novak (one of Hitchcock's famous "blondes"), the young wife of a friend who has started behaving rather oddly.

"To reveal more," as Leonard Maltin wrote, "would be unthinkable."

While the performances of Novak and Stewart are memorable, the movie is really set apart by the intelligent script and the stylistic touches provided by the director. Hitchcock is in his very best form creating hypnotic scenes and a general sense of unease and dread in even the most banal of situations. He is aided in this by the wonderful score of Bernard Herrman. A particular favourite of mine is the extended (largely silent) segment where Stewart follows Novak for the first time. Nothing much happens, but the atmosphere of these scenes is enough to keep you on the edge of your seat!

One of the all-time greats. They definitely don't make them like this anymore.

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153 out of 213 people found the following comment useful :-
Distinctive & Unforgettable Masterpiece, 19 June 2001
Author: Snow Leopard from Ohio

One of the many things that made Hitchcock such a great director is that he did not just stick to the same formula time after time; all of his best movies have their own unique feel and characteristics. "Vertigo" is particularly distinctive, both as a complex story filled with suspense, and as a fascinating study in psychological tension. While it lacks the humor of some of Hitchcock's other masterpieces, and sometimes moves rather slowly, it is unforgettable, and a great achievement by the director and his cast.

If you have never seen it, you will enjoy it more if you do not know too much about the plot, although the actual story is somewhat secondary to the ways that the characters are tested and their weaknesses exposed by the various events. Hitchcock uses a complicated story, interesting characters, lavish visual detail, and deliberate pacing, plus a fine musical score by the incomparable Bernard Hermann, to produce a mysterious, almost unearthly, atmosphere. The tension rarely lets up, and the viewer is caught up completely in it, at times almost to the point of discomfort. It's the kind of film that repays careful attention, as almost every moment is filled with significant detail.

There are also some great acting performances. Jimmy Stewart is outstanding in a role far different from his usual screen persona. He enables the viewer to sympathize completely with him, even as we cringe at many of his character's actions and decisions. Kim Novak is completely convincing in a difficult dual role, and the movie would not have been as compelling without her fine performance. The rest of the cast all have much smaller roles, but are all quite good too, especially Barbara Bel Geddes as Scottie's (Stewart's) old friend, who provides important insight into Scottie's character.

"Vertigo" is a classic by any standard. It's a must-see that remains just as impressive with each viewing.

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137 out of 202 people found the following comment useful :-
Beyond Amazing, 25 October 2005

Author: legend21 from United States

Over the years, this film has been regarded as one of Hitchcock's masterpieces. Its been called the most personal, emotional, and complex of Hitchcock's films. I agree with all of these things except for one, this film IS Hitchcock's masterpiece work. All of the others pale in comparison to this. There are phenomenal performances here by Jimmy Stewart who plays the biggest anti-hero of his career and Kim Novak whose stunning beauty and exceptional personalities shine through this dark film. Barbara Bel Geddes provides great support as well. Everything about this film, the cinematography, the story, the depth, etc. leaves you mystified and transfixed on this dizzying, surreal artwork of a film. It truly is flawless. If you are a Hitchcock fan and haven't seen this you need to get up right now and buy, not rent, this as soon as possible!

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147 out of 228 people found the following comment useful :-
My favorite movie of alltime!, 25 August 1999

Author: Carlos Garcia from West New York, New Jersey

I have seen ALOT of movies in my life, but none have moved me the way Vertigo has...It's simply brilliant...the more times one views it, the more one picks up from it...a true masterpiece from the master himself...When I think Vertigo, I think the colors red and green...when I think Vertigo I think obsession with love, and the film itself...This movie is so deep that you could write a thesis on it and keep adding to it from time to time...Hitchcock really gave his all in this picture...it's about the ultimate love...wanting to achieve the ultimate love, and, as happens in life, never having love turn out to be the way we want it to be...all star performances by Stewart, Novak and Bel Geddes make this visually stunning masterpiece a true film classic...Newly restored, the DVD version simply blows you out of the water....I have seen the movie about 20 times now, and everytime I love it more...Vertigo is the ultimate cult film for me, as I keep going back to it more and more...considering it's dark storyline, it must be a glut for punishment, but Hitch only keeps me wanting more....10 stars...only because I can't give it 100 stars!

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87 out of 134 people found the following comment useful :-
Detective Obsessed, 3 December 2005

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Although it got at best mixed reviews when first released, Vertigo is now considered one of Alfred Hitchcock's classic films. A tribute to the players, the director, and the composer of that haunting musical score that will stay with you forever.

The music is probably more important here than in most films, let alone most Hitchcock films. Because for most of the first half of the film and a great deal of the second half, it is without dialogue. In fact Kim Novak does not have a spoken line until about 48 minutes into the little more than 2 hour feature. She's under James Stewart's surveillance and the whole story of his growing obsession with her is told through his facial expressions and through Bernard Herrmann's music.

Stewart is a cop retired on disability who is hired by an old college friend Tom Helmore to follow his wife. Helmore tells Stewart a tale about his wife falling under the spirit of her dead great grandmother who committed suicide. The wife he's following is played by Kim Novak. Novak in fact makes a suicide attempt and by jumping into San Francisco bay and Stewart jumps in and saves her.

In a brief prologue the reason for Stewart's disability is told. While on the police force, he lost a man while pursuing the suspect in a rooftop chase. Another cop was killed trying to save Stewart who had slipped and was hanging on to a roof gutter for his dear life. After that Stewart acquired an understandable fear of heights with accompanying dizziness, vertigo.

Later on at an old mission which has significance for Novak's family, Novak runs up to the top of the bell tower and Stewart because of his Vertigo can't pursue her to prevent her from jumping off and taking her life.

Later on he spots Kim Novak again with a different color hair and this time essentially stalks her until they meet. By now he's totally obsessed with the dead Novak who he fell in love with.

Alfred Hitchcock is plumbing some depths of the human psyche in Vertigo. Certainly good old all American Jimmy Stewart would not be one you would think of casting as a voyeur and a stalker. But he pulls off the performance in probably the film with the least dialogue Alfred Hitchcock ever made since sound came in.

Kim Novak is hauntingly beautiful in Vertigo, she has to be or the whole plot would make no sense. Barbara Bel Geddes is in this also as Stewart's girl friend who finds herself losing him to an obsession with a ghost. She also serves as a sounding board for Stewart as he expresses some of his feelings to her.

This was the first of two films Stewart and Novak made together. Ironically enough the second one, Bell Book and Candle, is about a witch played by Novak who actually uses witchcraft to ensnare Stewart. Given Stewart's obsession with Novak in Vertigo, if Hitchcock had thrown in witchcraft into the plot, the audience would certainly have believed it.

Of course this is an Alfred Hitchcock film and therefore not all is as it seems. I can't sat any more, but there are no happy endings for anyone in this haunting film.

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60 out of 97 people found the following comment useful :-
Get Lost in It., 6 July 2002
Author: tfrizzell from United States

Along with "Psycho", Hitchcock's best film that wraps itself around the viewer very fast and never does let go. San Francisco detective Jimmy Stewart is slowly going crazy due to a failed mission which did not work because of his intense fear of heights. This is all front-page news of course and Stewart is shamed about the whole event. But a ray of light shines as he gets a job to watch a man's wife (Kim Novak) who is supposedly having an affair with another man. Stewart believes this is his chance to put the past behind him, but sometimes the future is even darker. Stewart falls in love with Novak and the love turns into a dark and twisted obsession that becomes deeper and deeper as the film progresses. When tragedy strikes, that is the end. Right? Not quite. An amazing screenplay and arguably Hitchcock's greatest directing venture make the film solid and Stewart's stunning performance raises the whole project to a classic level. Somewhat ignored around the awards circuit in 1958, but ages beautifully as the years go by. 5 stars out of 5.

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81 out of 140 people found the following comment useful :-
The Dizzy Heights of Excellence, 29 April 2004

Author: rbrb

Retired detective, who is scared of heights, is hired to follow another mans wife and there follows intrigue, mystery and suspense. A super melodrama! The acting,directing, sets, costumes, script, music, etc are all excellent. And near the start of the film there is one brilliant 10 minute period when there is no dialogue but the action is controlled only by the music. A sensational analysis of the movie is by Roger Ebert: see external reviews. This picture is worthy of maximum marks.

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21 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
A fascinating psychological suspense masterpiece which worked on the audience on several levels..., 9 February 2009

Author: ironside (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Scottie Ferguson is a retired detective with a paralyzing fear of heights… He had quit detective work after he sees a colleague falling to his death, and nearly he looses his own life at the same time while chasing a crook across some San Francisco rooftops…

An old college friend gives him the job of following his blonde wife Madeleine who had some kind of mental problem or might even be possessed from beyond the grave by a figure from the past whose portrait she stares at in a museum…

Scottie follows Madeleine around San Francisco and when she tries to drown herself in San Francisco Bay, he rescues her and falls promptly in love with her… But Scottie' s vertigo made him powerless to save her when she climbed to the top of the bell tower at the mission at San Juan Batista, and jumped from the tower to her fatal end…

Scottie must spend the second part of the movie regaining from the trauma… His loyal ex-fiancée Midge helps him overcome his psychological torment…

One year later, completely recovered from his nervous breakdown, he meets a red-haired woman who seems the living image of Madeleine...

Stewart gives a terrific performance of a man recognizing his own limits, suffering by his acrophobia... When he is given the chance to pursue this enigmatic woman, his boring life takes on new meaning... He is drawn into her romantic obsession with the past… Madeline makes him feel important in her life… This is something totally new to his world: a lovely straight-forward woman who takes him into a haunting dream... When he fails to keep her alive, his real world was suddenly shattered…

Stewart delivers an accurate portrait of an annoyed human being searching for the unattainable… He is a pragmatic man dealing with events in the light of his intuition…

Kim Novak is so delicate as Madeleine… Her performance is skilled and highly refined… She is a pretty woman, very sensitive, not sensual, yet conscious of her charm and magic…

This fascinating suspense masterpiece reveals something new with each viewing…

Note: Hitchcock appears after eleven minutes of the beginning of the film, walking past a Shipbuilding Co.

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38 out of 64 people found the following comment useful :-
Among the very best., 12 August 2001

Author: dbdumonteil

In Boileau-Narcejac's French novel "D'Entre les Morts"= from among the Dead"),the revelation only comes in the last pages,but Hitchcock lets the cat out of the bag long before the end. Boileau-Narcejac's novel is a pure detective story,but the Master wanted more:the movie already outdistances the book in a first part visually wonderful,with memorable scenes,wrapped in mystery ,such as the one with the sequoia,symbol of immortality or the one down by the sea,to rival with the best romantic movies of all time.In the second part,Hitchcock explains in the Truffaut's book,we know but Scottie( James Stewart) does not .And he tries to recreate a dead woman,to transform Judy into Madeleine.This folie à deux ends where the first tragedy occurred ,which gives the movie a strength that the book had not.Read it and you'll realize how its end ,speaking in terms of cinema,had to be modified for the screen.That's Hitchcock's genius.

When Boileau/Narcejac learned that Hitchcock wanted to transfer "Celle Qui N'Etait PLus " (=les Diaboliques" )to the screen,they immediately wrote "D'Entre les Morts " on the same pattern for Hitchcock to direct.

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50 out of 88 people found the following comment useful :-
Hitchcock's most stunning achievement. A fascinating masterpiece which improves with each year and viewing., 15 January 2003
Author: Infofreak from Perth, Australia

I get a bit tongue-tied talking about Hitchcock's greatest movies because they are just so remarkable, so astonishing, so entertaining, so multi-levelled, that it's very difficult to put into words what makes them great. Hitchcock made some of the greatest movies ever made, and 'Vertigo', though by no means his most accessible film, is quite possibly his crowning achievement. It is without any doubt a masterpiece, and I cannot fault it in any way. Every time I watch it I am knocked out, and every time I see something new, some nuance or moment that I appreciate more than I did the previous viewing. Jimmy Stewart, one of the most popular movie star in Hollywood history, gives a remarkable performance throughout, one of the best in his career. Stewart had worked with Hitchcock before, and had always been superb, especially in the much copied suspense classic 'Rear Window' a few years prior to this, but he plays against type in 'Vertigo' and is jaw-droppingly good. It's difficult to remember now that 'Vertigo' is regarded as a movie milestone, that it received many bad reviews when it was originally released, and was a relative failure for Hitchcock. A lot of this had to do with Stewart's intense performance I think, and also the difficult subject matter. 'Vertigo' is essentially a tale of sexual obsession, something most people were probably not expecting at the time! Almost as good as Stewart is Kim Novak ('The Man With The Golden Arm') in a role that she will always be remembered for. 'Vertigo' is a virtuoso piece from Hitchcock, and a movie that will no doubt continue to inspire other film makers over the years to come. However the most important thing about it is that it is still wonderful viewing, and a movie experience that you will never forget. In my mind it is one of the three of four greatest American movies. Simply astonishing.

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