Amazon.com essential video: Although it wasn't a box-office success when originally released in 1958, Vertigo has since taken its deserved place as Alfred Hitchcock's greatest, most spellbinding, most deeply personal achievement. In fact, it consistently ranks among the top 10 movies ever made in the once-a-decade Sight & Sound international critics poll, placing at number 4 in the most recent survey. (Universal Pictures' spectacularly gorgeous 1996 restoration and rerelease of this 1958 Paramount production was a tremendous success with the public, too.) James Stewart plays a retired police detective who is hired by an old friend to follow his wife (a superb Kim Novak, in what becomes a double role), whom he suspects of being possessed by the spirit of a dead madwoman. The detective and the disturbed woman fall ('fall' is indeed the operative word) in love and...well, to give away any more of the story would be criminal. Shot around San Francisco (the Golden Gate Bridge and the Palace of the Legion of Honor are significant locations) and elsewhere in Northern California (the redwoods, Mission San Juan Batista) in rapturous Technicolor, Vertigo is as lovely as it is haunting. --Jim Emerson
Digital Life Reviews
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - 4 stars out of 4
The Bottom Line:
Vertigo begins as a typical Hitchcock movie, with a typical "aww-shucks" performance from James Stewart, before turning everything on its head and emerging as a great film about obsession that stands as one of the best films "The Master" ever made and perhaps one of the best of all time.
Rating: - The Strange Mrs. Allister
The film begins with a woman's face - her eyes look bloodshot. Then the credits roll. There is a chase on the rooftops. One man slips and falls to his death. The other survives with a foot injury. [Does he look out his Rear Window?] Acrophobic? Can a cantilevered brassiere be revolutionary? John Ferguson is "available", like other Frisco bachelors. Is his problem curable? [Is there subtle humor here?] San Francisco is changing since the war. [Shipping was moving across the bay.] John is hired to follow another man's wife; there is fear from the dead. Reluctantly, Scotty accepts for an old friend. Scotty's Dodge follows the Jaguar. [The cars date the picture.] Isn't he following too closely?
The Mission Dolores is an old historical church. "Carlotta Valdes 1831-1857". Next the Museum. Whose picture is on the wall? Then the McKittrick Hotel. "It does seem silly." Did she drop her tail? Scotty will consult ... Read More
Rating: - The vertigo comes from trying to make sense of the plot
Overrated. And here's why (spoilers ahead):
The main character is a detective who lets both criminals we see him encounter escape and who manages to stand around while two women and a policeman are killed. While the murderer in the main part of the story has the good sense to leave town, the accomplice hangs around like nothing has happened and then proceeds to enter a seriously twisted affair with the detective. Now if you were a murderer with a carefully thought out master plan to get away with killing your wife, would you leave your accomplice knocking around the same town you killed your wife in, able to implicate you at any time? Uhhhh no.
Then there's the big final love affair. Our detective hero is obsessive, controlling, and obviously mentally ill from the first time she meets him BUT she falls for him anyway. It is increasingly obvious as the affair goes on, that the only way it makes ... Read More
Rating: - Classic Hitchcock! Beautifully restored!
What's not to love about this restored version of Hitchcock's most arty, if not most entertaining work? The visual impact of this movie is enhanced by the restoration. Repeat viewing reveals the importance of color as symbol, and the incredible use of San Francisco's sweeping scenery as a character in the drama. This is Hitchcock at his most thoughtful and introspective, though, so viewers new to this film should be forewarned that the pacing may be a bit slow for modern tastes, but well worth it. The added documentaries are also well worth watching.
Digital
Life Shop
Alfred Hitchcock items subject to availability. Some restrictions
may apply. DVD
Vertigo (Collector's Edition) presented by digi2005.com Digi2005.com is
an Amazon.com
Associate
Digital Life Music News:
Analyst bases Apple target on iPhone potential
Marketwatch - That was in Apple's December 2004 quarter, when Apple sold 4.6 million iPods, while industry forecasters were looking for iPod sales of about 8 million. The iPod eventually took off, with more than 100 million of the music- and video-playing devices ...
more News
- 4 stars out of 4
- The Strange Mrs. Allister
- The vertigo comes from trying to make sense of the plot
