on "Vertigo" (1958)

 

James Stewart seems to have lost his vertigo in addition to other things as well

Star Rating: **** (4/4 Stars)
Alfred Hitchcock’s Technicolor Film Noir "Vertigo" cannot be described without the use of one word. Brilliant. It is a masterpiece featuring two mesmerizing characters that come together through fear, love, lust and mystery.

One of these characters is James Stewart as John "Scottie" Ferguson, a detective who witnesses a fellow policeman fall to his death from a rooftop and develops a fear of heights. It interferes with his police duties and eventually causes him to quit the force. However, Scottie is called by a friend of his to do one last job—shadow this friend’s wife who has been acting suspiciously lately. The wife, Madeline, played by Kim Novak, is a mystical and mysterious woman, whose beauty and presence is simply haunting. And she does indeed act strangely. She visits a museum and stares at a painting of her great grandmother and visits the cemetery where her great grandmother is buried. It would seem she is revisiting the grief of losing her great grandmother. However, the plot thickens during Scottie’s investigations when he makes the predictable mistake of falling in love with Madeline. But not even the prospect of love can save her from committing suicide to end her psychological torment.

Now Scottie is on the lookout for a new lover. He finds Judy, who resembles Madeline. What particularly struck me about this film is the relationship Scottie has with the Judy. He is intrigued by her for her resemblance to Madeline, (of course Judy is also played by Kim Novak). She allows him into her life, and Scottie indirectly falls in love with her, while he is falling in love with Madeline all over again. He makes her over to look “exactly like she did.” He starts by buying new clothes for his lover and then having her hair cut and dyed to the same length and color that Madeline had.

I couldn’t believe the selfishness and the control Stewart brings to the screen in these scenes. I found myself thinking, “This is really the same gentle boyish patriot from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” What an excellent actor James Stewart is to transition from one personality to another.

From time to time, Hitchcock seems to experiment with the theory of a dead character indirectly controlling the actions of a living character. He presented us with Rebecca, whose premise was a social bride whose memory haunts the memory of the living. Also, not long after "Vertigo" would come Psycho, featuring the ultimate mama’s boy who refuses to let his mother die. I won’t get further into that—that’s another story. "Vertigo" plays with the same themes, but with different results.

First we have Madeline, supposedly possessed by her dead great grandmother, and grief stricken by her death. This drives her to an early suicide. Later we have Scottie, possessed by his love for Madeline, completely remaking another woman in his dead lover’s image. Psychology and love play two major themes here, and the result is unsettling, disturbing and one of the great treasures of the screen. "Vertigo" has to be seen to be believed.