Vertigo
Original VistaVision film poster designed by Saul Bass
Directed by	Alfred Hitchcock
Produced by	Uncredited: Alfred Hitchcock
Written by	Novel: Boileau-Narcejac Screenplay: Alec Coppel Samuel A. Taylor
Starring	James Stewart Kim Novak Barbara Bel Geddes Tom Helmore
Music by	Bernard Herrmann
Cinematography	Robert Burks, ASC
Editing by	George Tomasini
Distributed by	1958-1982 Paramount Pictures 1983-present: Universal Pictures Non-USA 1996: United International Pictures
Release date(s)	May 9, 1958 (U.S.A.)
Running time	128 minutes
Language	English
Budget	US$2,479,000
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Vertigo (1958) is a psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. The film tells the story of a retired policeman who falls in love with a mysterious woman he has been hired to follow. Although it received mixed reviews on its first release, it has since gained in esteem and is frequently listed among the greatest films ever made. It is widely regarded as the middle installment in a gripping Hitchcock trilogy about voyeurism, starting with Rear Window (1954) and ending with Psycho (1960). Download high resolution version (484x686, 58 KB)Vertigo dvd cover This is a DVD cover. ... Saul Bass (May 8, 1920 - April 25, 1996) was a graphic designer and Academy Award-winning filmmaker, but he is best known for his design on animated motion picture title sequences, which is thought of as the best such work ever seen. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 â€“ April 29, 1980) was an iconic and highly influential British-born film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 â€“ April 29, 1980) was an iconic and highly influential British-born film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... Boileau-Narcejac is the name by which Pierre Boileau (Paris, 28 April 1906 - Beaulieu-sur-Mer, 1989) and Pierre Ayraud, aka Thomas Narcejac (Rochefort-sur-Mer, 3 July 1908 - Nice, 1998) wrote. ... Samuel Taylor (June 13, 1912–May 26, 2000) was an American playwright and screenwriter. ... For other persons named James Stewart, see James Stewart (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Tom Helmore (4 January 1904 – 12 September 1995), was a British film actor. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Cinematographer Robert Burks (1909 - 1968) was known for being proficient in virtually every genre and equally at home with black-and-white or colour. ... George Tomasini (born April 20, 1909, died November 22, 1964) was the genius American film editor who often worked with very closely with film director Alfred Hitchcock. ... Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... Universal Pictures is the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal. ... United International Pictures (UIP) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures (owned by Viacom) and Universal Studios (owned by NBC Universal), to distribute some of the two studios films outside United States (including territories) and Canada. ... is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... USD redirects here. ... The year 1958 in film involved some significant events. ... Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the wide-ranging thriller genre. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 â€“ April 29, 1980) was an iconic and highly influential British-born film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... For other persons named James Stewart, see James Stewart (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... While there is no agreement upon the greatest film of all time, many publications and organizations have tried to determine the films considered the greatest ever. ... A trilogy is a set of three works of art, usually literature or film, that are connected and can be seen as a single work, as well as three individual ones. ... “Voyeur” redirects here. ... For the 1998 remake, see Rear Window (1998 film). ... Look up psycho in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Plot

San Francisco detective John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart) develops acrophobia (an extreme fear of heights) after a fellow police officer (Fred Graham) falls to his death during a rooftop chase. His acrophobia causes vertigo. He is forced to retire from police work, and is unable even to stand on a step-stool in the apartment of his friend Marjorie "Midge" Wood (Barbara Bel Geddes) without being paralyzed by fear and dizziness. This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... For other persons named James Stewart, see James Stewart (disambiguation). ... View through the glass floor of the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada. ... Vertigo, a specific type of dizziness, is a major symptom of a balance disorder. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak), staring at a portrait of Carlotta Valdes at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco

Scottie is later hired as a private detective by an old college acquaintance, Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore), who wants his beautiful blond wife Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak) followed. Elster is worried that she appears to have symptoms of a mental illness or spiritual possession. Scottie tails Madeleine, who spends her days visiting the grave and painting of Carlotta Valdes, a woman who killed herself one hundred years earlier. Scottie notices that Madeleine is wearing her hair exactly like Carlotta and that she wanders the city in a trance-like, obsessive state. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California. ... A private investigator, or PI, is a person who undertakes investigations. ... Tom Helmore (4 January 1904 – 12 September 1995), was a British film actor. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A mental illness or mental disorder refers to one of many mental health conditions characterized by distress, impaired cognitive functioning, atypical behavior, emotional dysregulation, and/or maladaptive behavior. ... Spiritual possession is a concept of many religions and tales, where it is believed that a demon may take temporary control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in behaviour. ...

In spite of the detective's former romantic involvement with Midge – they were even engaged for three weeks – Scottie is strongly attracted to Madeleine. He follows her to Fort Point at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, where she jumps into San Francisco Bay in what appears to be a suicide attempt. Scottie saves her and brings her to his apartment. On the phone with Gavin, Scottie learns that Carlotta was twenty-six when she killed herself, Madeleine's current age. Fort Point is located at the southern side of the Straits of the Golden Gate at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. ... The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay onto the Pacific Ocean. ... San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and the Golden Gate San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean. ...

Scottie and Madeleine at Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

When Madeleine and Scottie take a trip to see coastal redwoods at Big Basin Redwoods State Park, she enters into a reverie and experiences what appears to be Carlotta's past. She tells Scottie she has dreamed of Mission San Juan Bautista, and he takes her there in an effort to conquer her disturbing dreams. At the mission, Madeleine suddenly runs into the bell tower. Scottie's acrophobia prevents him from following her up the steep staircase. Through a window, he sees Madeleine plummet from the top of the tower to her death. Big Basin Redwoods State Park is a California state park, located in Santa Cruz County. ... Big Basin Redwoods State Park is a California state park, located in Santa Cruz County. ... Mission San Juan Bautista was founded on June 24, 1797. ...

Scottie suffers a nervous breakdown and flees the scene. At the inquest into Madeleine's death, Scottie is cleared of prosecution but severely criticized by the coroner for negligence, though Gavin reassures him, telling him that "we both know who really killed Madeleine", suggesting that she was possessed by Carlotta's spirit. Gavin tells Scottie that he intends to cope with his grief by leaving San Francisco to travel the world. Scottie's depression worsens and he is placed in a mental hospital, where he descends into catatonic passivity and suffers from terrifying nightmares. Midge tries to console him but realizes that he is still in love with Madeleine. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For the thrash metal band, see Coroner (band). ... On the Threshold of Eternity. ... Catatonia is a severe psychiatric and medical condition, characterized by, in catatonic stupor, a general absence of motor activity, and, in catatonic excitement, violent, hyperactive behavior directed at oneself or others but with no visible purpose. ...

Much later, Scottie, still brooding, begins to haunt the places where he had been with Madeleine. On one visit, he encounters a woman, Judy Barton, who bears a strong resemblance to Madeleine, although she has darker hair. In fact, in her looks, speech and deportment she seems quite vulgar in comparison with Madeleine's refined beauty. However, Scottie follows Judy to her hotel room, where she reluctantly tells him her story; she is a simple girl from Salina, Kansas, making a life for herself in San Francisco after a series of bad relationships. Salina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. ...

However, after Scottie leaves, the truth is revealed; Judy writes him a letter in which she admits (in flashback) that she was in fact Madeleine. Elster bribed her to act as a mentally unstable "Madeleine". The woman who fell from the tower was Elster's real wife, hurled, already dead, from the tower by her husband. Elster had hired Scottie to follow the false Madeleine simply in order to have someone reputable to corroborate his claims of his wife's suicidal tendencies. With no witnesses and Scottie's testimony supporting Madeleine's "insanity", Elster got away with murder by correctly calculating that Scottie's vertigo would prevent him from following "Madeleine" up the tower to see the truth. Having written the letter, Judy, who has already fallen in love with Scottie, and feels guilty for the pain she has caused him, destroys the letter almost as soon as she has written it. In literature, film, television and other media, a flashback (also called analepsis) is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. ...

Scottie becomes obsessed with Judy, but any romantic possibility between them is thwarted by his memory of Madeleine. Scottie insists that Judy dress like Madeleine; despite her protests, she eventually gives in. When Judy is completely made over as Madeleine, she goes back to her apartment, where Scottie is waiting. She deliberately tries to retain some hint of her own personality by not wearing her hair in Madeleine's style, but finally he persuades her to change even this small detail. She goes into the bathroom and emerges, just as Madeleine emerged from his bedroom – the film echoes the earlier scene – and as Scottie embraces her the past swirls about them and their relationship seems finally to be consummated, his obsession cured.

Scottie grows suspicious of Judy when he sees her wearing a red, jeweled pendant that he remembers Madeleine claiming to have inherited. He takes her to Mission San Juan Bautista and forces her to climb up the tower once more, telling her that he wants to re-enact the scene in which he failed to save Madeleine. As they inch to the top, she confesses the truth, and Scottie rages at her. (As he has now made it to the top of the tower, the emotional surge has conquered Scottie's acrophobia.)

Scottie (Jimmy Stewart) stands horrified on the ledge of Mission San Juan Bautista's bell tower.

Judy pleads to Scottie that she does love him, and his anger abates. The two embrace and the music begins to swell before, suddenly, a shadowy figure appears at the top of the stairs. Judy, frightened, backs away from the approaching shadow and steps backwards off the tower ledge, plunging to her death. The figure, a nun, whispers, "God, have mercy," and rings the tower bell as Scottie stares down at Judy's fallen body; the emotional shock has cured his vertigo – but at a terrible cost. Image File history File links Vertigo_bell_tower. ... Image File history File links Vertigo_bell_tower. ... For other persons named James Stewart, see James Stewart (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Nun (disambiguation). ...

A coda to the film, a 1-minute scene, was shot that showed a more-or-less healed Scotty and Midge listening to a radio report (with unseen SF radio announcer Dave McElhatton giving the report) of Gavin Elster's capture in Europe. This ending was mandated by European censorship requirements, however, and was not featured in the American cut of the film -- it is included as an extra in the restored DVD release. Dave McElhatton was a former evening news anchor for several decades in [[San Francisco, California]] in the United States. ...

Adaptation

The screenplay is an adaptation of the French novel Sueurs froides: d'entre les morts ("Cold Sweat: From Among the Dead") by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. Hitchcock had previously tried to buy the rights to the same authors' previous novel, Celle qui n'était plus, but he failed, and it was made instead by Henri-Georges Clouzot as Les Diaboliques^[1]. Although François Truffaut once suggested that D'Entre les morts was specifically written for Hitchcock by Boileau and Narcejac,^[2] Narcejac has subsequently denied that this was their intention.^{[citation needed]} However, Hitchcock's interest in their work meant that Paramount Pictures commissioned a synopsis of D'Entre les morts in 1954, before it had even been translated into English.^[3] Sample from a screenplay, showing dialogue and action descriptions. ... Sueurs froides: dentre les morts (Cold Sweat: From Among the Dead) is a 1954 roman policier (crime novel) by Pierre Boileau and Pierre Ayraud, aka Thomas Narcejac, writing as Boileau-Narcejac. ... Boileau-Narcejac is the name by which Pierre Boileau (Paris, 28 April 1906 - Beaulieu-sur-Mer, 1989) and Pierre Ayraud, aka Thomas Narcejac (Rochefort-sur-Mer, 3 July 1908 - Nice, 1998) wrote. ... Boileau-Narcejac is the name by which Pierre Boileau (Paris, 28 April 1906 - Beaulieu-sur-Mer, 1989) and Pierre Ayraud, aka Thomas Narcejac (Rochefort-sur-Mer, 3 July 1908 - Nice, 1998) wrote. ... Henri-Georges Clouzot (November 20, 1907 - January 12, 1977) was a French film director, screenwriter and producer. ... Les Diaboliques is a black-and-white film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot (U.K. title = The Fiends) based on the novel Celle qui nétait plus by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. ... François Roland Truffaut (French IPA: ) (February 6, 1932 – October 21, 1984) was one of the founders of the French New Wave in filmmaking, and remains an icon of the French film industry. ... Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ...

Hitchcock originally hired playwright Maxwell Anderson to write a screenplay, but rejected his work, which was entitled Darkling I Listen. (Hitchcock scholar Dan Aulier calls Anderson's screenplay a "standard B detective picture".)^[4] The final script was written by Samuel A. Taylor -- who was recommended to Hitchcock due to his knowledge of San Francisco -- ^[3] from notes by Hitchcock. Among Taylor's creations was the character of Midge.^[5] Taylor attempted to take sole credit for the screenplay, but Alec Coppel protested to the Screen Writers Guild, which determined that both writers were entitled to a credit.^[6] James Maxwell Anderson (15 December 1888 – 28 February 1959), better known as Maxwell Anderson was a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, author, poet, reporter and lyricist, and a founding member of The Playwrights Company (which included, at various times, Maxwell Anderson, S. N. Behrman, Elmer Rice, Robert E. Sherwood, Sidney Howard... Samuel Taylor (June 13, 1912–May 26, 2000) was an American playwright and screenwriter. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the collective bargaining representative, or labor union, for writers in the motion picture and television industries. ...

When actress Vera Miles, who was under personal contract to Hitchcock and had appeared on both his television show and in his film The Wrong Man, couldn't act in Vertigo due to pregnancy, the director declined to postpone shooting and cast Kim Novak as the feminine lead. (Ironically, by the time Novak had tied up prior film commitments and a vacation promised by Columbia Pictures, the studio that held her contract, Miles had completed her pregnancy and was available for the film. Hitchcock proceeded with Novak, nevertheless.) Vera Miles (born August 23, 1929 or 1930[1]) is an American actress. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Columbia Pictures logo from 1993 to the present Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. ...

Musical score

Main article: Vertigo (film score)

In a 2004 special issue by Sight and Sound devoted to Film Music, Martin Scorsese described the qualities of Herrmann's famous score. Sight and Sound is a British monthly magazine about film. ... A film score is the background music in a film, generally specially written for the film and often used to heighten emotions provoked by the imagery on the screen or by the dialogue. ... Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese (IPA: AmE: ; Ita: []) (b. ...

'S&S: What is your favourite film soundtrack music and why do you like it so much?'

"A big question. There are so many, and they all work so differently – from a big, beautiful score for full orchestra like Jerome Moross' for Wyler's The Big Country or David Raksin's for Force of Evil, to a more modern score with very spare instrumentation, like Giovanni Fusco's for L'Avventura or Hans Werner Henze's for Resnais' Muriel. I suppose that if I were hard-pressed to answer this question – and I suppose I am – I'd have to say Bernard Herrmann's score for Vertigo. Hitchcock's film is about obsession, which means that it's about circling back to the same moment, again and again. Which is probably why there are so many spirals and circles in the imagery – Stewart following Novak in the car, the staircase at the tower, the way Novak's hair is styled, the camera movement that circles around Stewart and Novak after she's completed her transformation in the hotel room, not to mention Saul Bass' brilliant opening credits, or that amazing animated dream sequence. And the music is also built around spirals and circles, fulfilment and despair. Herrmann really understood what Hitchcock was going for – he wanted to penetrate to the heart of obsession."[1]

Jerome Moross (August 1, 1913 - July 27, 1983) was an American stage and film composer and conductor. ... William Wyler (July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a prolific, Oscar-winning motion picture director. ... The Big Country was a 1958 American movie starring Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston, Burl Ives, Charles Bickford, and Chuck Connors. ... David Raksin (August 4, 1912 - August 9, 2004) was an American composer of music born in Philadelphia, PA. With over 100 film scores and 300 TV scores to his credit, he became known as the Grandfather of Film Music. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Giovanni Fusco (October 10, 1906, SantAgata dei Goti, Benevento – May 31, 1968, Rome) was an Italian composer, pianist and conductor, who has written numerous film scores since 1936, including those of Alain Resnais Hiroshima mon amour (1959) and La guerre est finie (1966) as well as of most of... Lavventura (The Adventure) is an Italian film written and directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. ... Hans Werner Henze (born July 1, 1926 in Gütersloh, Westphalia, Germany) is a composer well known for his left-wing political beliefs. ... Alain Resnais (born June 3, 1922 ) is a French film director whose early works are often grouped within the New Wave or Nouvelle Vague film movement. ... Muriel (French:Muriel ou le temps dun retour, literally Muriel, or the Time of Return) is a 1963 film by French film director Alain Resnais. ...

Responses

Contemporary response

Vertigo premiered in San Francisco on 9 May 1958. It performed averagely at the box office,^[7] and reviews were mixed. Variety's "Stef" said the film showed Hitchcock's "mastery", but was too long and slow for "what is basically only a psychological murder mystery".^[8] Similarly, the Los Angeles Times admired the scenery, but found the plot "too long" and felt it "bogs down" in "a maze of detail"; scholar Dan Aulier says that this review "sounded the tone that most popular critics would take with the film".^[9] However, the Los Angeles Examiner loved it, admiring the "excitement, action, romance, glamor and [the] crazy, off-beat love story".^[10] is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... This just IN !!!:paris hiltons new dog. ... The Los Angeles Herald Examiner building, located at the southwest corner of Broadway and 11th Streets, was largely designed by San Francisco architect Julia Morgan then associated with Los Angeles architects J. Martyn Haenke and William J. Dodd whose contribution to the design is not yet determined by scholars. ...

Vertigo was nominated for Academy Awards in two technical categories: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White or Color and Best Sound. Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. ... The Academy Award for Sound Mixing is an Academy Award that recognizes the finest or most aesthetic sound mixing or recording, and is generally awarded to the production sound mixers and re-recording mixers of the winning film. ...

In an interview with Francois Truffaut, Hitchcock stated that Vertigo was one of his favorite films, with some reservations.^[11] François Roland Truffaut (February 6, 1932–October 21, 1984) was one of the founders of the French New Wave in filmmaking, and remains an icon of the French film industry. ...

Re-evaluation

Scottie and Madeleine

In the 1960s, the French Cahiers du cinéma critics began re-evaluating Hitchcock as a serious artist rather than just a populist showman. However, even Francois Truffaut's important book of Hitchcock interviews mentions Vertigo very little. Dan Aulier has suggested that the real beginning of Vertigo's rise in adulation was the British-Canadian scholar Robin Wood's Hitchcock's Films (1968), which calls the film "Hitchcock's masterpiece to date and one of the four or five most profound and beautiful films the cinema has yet given us".^[12] Adding to its mystique was the fact that Vertigo was one of five films owned by the Hitchcock estate that was removed from circulation in 1973. When Vertigo was re-released in theaters in October 1983, and then on home video in October 1984, it achieved an impressive commercial success and laudatory reviews.^[13] Similarly adulatory reviews were written for the October 1996 of a restored print in 70mm and DTS sound at the Castro Theater in San Francisco.^[14] Cahiers du cinéma is an influential French film magazine founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. ... François Roland Truffaut (February 6, 1932–October 21, 1984) was one of the founders of the French New Wave in filmmaking, and remains an icon of the French film industry. ... Robin Wood (born February 23, 1931, in London, England) is a film critic and author, acclaimed for his reviews of films from Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks and Satyajit Ray, among others. ... For other uses, see October (disambiguation). ... For the Jimi Hendrix song, see 1983. ... For other uses, see October (disambiguation). ... This article is about the year. ... For other uses, see October (disambiguation). ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... In the motion picture industry, the expression 70mm is intended to refer to a format of film. ... DTS (also known as Digital Theater Systems), owned by DTS, Inc. ... Castro Theatre in San Francisco, California. ...

In 1989, Vertigo was recognized as a "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant" film by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry, going in the first year of the registry's voting. Construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building, from July 8, 1888 to May 15, 1894. ... The National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress. ...

The film ranked 4th and 2nd respectively in Sight and Sound's poll of the best films ever made, in 1992 and 2002 respectively. In 2005, Vertigo came in second (to Goodfellas) in British magazine Total Film's book, 100 Greatest Movies of All Time. Sight and Sound is a British monthly magazine about film. ... Goodfellas (also spelled GoodFellas) is an Academy Award winning 1990 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, the true story of mob informer Henry Hill. ... Total Film, published by Future Publishing, is the United Kingdoms second best-selling film magazine, after the longer-established Empire from Emap. ...

In 1998, the American Film Institute ranked the film #61 on its "100 Greatest movies" list. However, 10 years later, when a AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) was released to reflect changing cultural tastes, Vertigo catapulted into the top 10, reaching #9 on the list. AFI also ranked the film #18 on "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions", and #18 on "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills". This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The first of the AFI 100 Years. ... AFI’s 100 Years. ... Part of the AFI 100 Years. ... The 100 most heart-pounding American films as described by the AFI on the evening of June 12, 2001. ...

Restoration

James Stewart as Scottie watching the Kim Novak character at the Legion of Honor

In 1996, the film was given a lengthy and controversial restoration by Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz and re-released to theaters. The new print featured restored color and newly created audio, utilizing modern sound effects mixed in DTS digital surround sound. It was also exhibited for the first time in 70mm, a format similar in size to the VistaVision in which it had been originally filmed. Robert A. Harris is a film historian and preservationist who has restored and reconstructed a number of classic films. ... James C. Katz is a film historian and preservationist who has restored and reconstructed a number of classic films. ... DTS (also known as Digital Theater Systems), owned by DTS, Inc. ... 70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a high-resolution film stock, of superior quality to standard 35 mm motion picture film format. ... A VistaVision 35 mm horizontal camera film frame. ...

One bone of contention regarding the 1996 restoration was the decision to re-record the Foley sound effects from scratch (to allow Dolby-quality mixing for surround sound and stereo). Harris and Katz wanted to stay as close to possible to the original: "It was our intent to re-mix the original music tracks with dialogue culled from the old mono and new Foley and effects tracks, which were to have been created following Mr. Hitchcock's original notes. That was the intent. It is not what occurred, the studio having made the decision to re-invent the track anew."^[15] Harris and Katz sometimes added extra sound effects to camouflage defects in the old soundtrack ("hisses, pops and bangs"); in particular they added extra seagull cries and a foghorn to the scene at Cypress Point.^[16] The new mix has also been accused of putting too much emphasis on the score at the expense of the sound effects.^{[citation needed]} The 2005 Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection DVD contains the original mono track as an option. The Foley artist on a film crew is the person who creates many of the natural, everyday sound effects in a film, which are recorded during a session with a recording engineer. ... The Lone Cypress is a famous landmark in Pebble Beach This article is about the community. ...

Significant color correction was necessary because of the fading of original negatives. In some cases a new negative was created from the silver separation masters, but in many instances this was impossible because of differential separation shrinkage, and because the 1958 separations were poorly made. Technicolor films use three individual layers of film: one for each of the primary colors. In the case of Vertigo, these three separate layers had shrunk in different and erratic proportions, making re-alignment impossible. As such, significant amounts of computer assisted coloration were necessary. Although the results are not noticeable on viewing the film, some elements were as many as eight generations away from the original negative.

When such large portions of re-creation become necessary, then the danger of artistic license by the restorers becomes an issue, and the restorers received some criticism for their re-creation of colors that allegedly did not honor the director and cinematographer's intentions.^{[citation needed]} The restoration team argue that they did research on the colors used in the original locations, cars, wardrobe, and skin tones. One breakthrough moment came when the Ford Motor Company supplied a well-preserved green paint sample for a car used in the film. As the use of the color green in the film has artistic importance, matching a shade of green was a stroke of luck for restoration and provided a reference shade from which to work.^{[citation needed]} “Ford” redirects here. ...

Filming locations

Filmed from September to December 1957, Vertigo is notable for its extensive location footage of the San Francisco Bay Area, with its famous steep hills, expansive views, and tall, arching bridges. Some have noted that in the numerous driving scenes shot in the city, the main characters' cars are almost always pictured heading down the city's steeply inclined streets.^{[citation needed]} In October 1996, the restored print of Vertigo debuted at the historic Castro Theatre in San Francisco with a live on-stage introduction by surviving cast member Kim Novak, providing the city a chance to celebrate itself. (Ironically, one shot of the film shows Novak's character driving up Castro Street and making a now-illegal left turn onto 17th Street on the way to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor.) Bay Area redirects here. ... Castro Theatre in San Francisco, California. ... Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California. ...

Visiting the San Francisco film locations has something of a cult following as well as modest tourist appeal. Such a tour is featured in a subsection of Chris Marker's documentary montage Sans Soleil. Chris Marker (born July 29, 1921) is a French writer, photographer, film director, multimedia artist and documentary maker. ... Sans Soleil (Sunless in English) is a 1983 film by French director Chris Marker. ...

Areas that were shot on location (not recreated in a studio):^[17]

James Stewart

• The Mission San Juan Bautista, where Madeleine falls from the tower, is a real place, but the tower had to be matted in with a painting using studio effects; Hitchcock had first visited the mission before the tower was torn down due to dry rot, and was reportedly displeased to find it missing when he returned to film his scenes. The original tower was much smaller and less dramatic than the film's version.
• At Mission Dolores, for many years tourists could see the actual Carlotta Valdes headstone featured in the film (created by the props department). Eventually, the headstone was removed as the mission considered it disrespectful to the dead to house a tourist attraction grave for a fictional person.
• Madeleine jumps into the sea at Fort Point, underneath the Golden Gate Bridge.
• The gallery where Carlotta's painting appears is the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. The Carlotta Valdes portrait was lost after being removed from the gallery, but many of the other paintings in the background of the portrait scenes are still on view
• Muir Woods National Monument is in fact represented by Big Basin Redwoods State Park; however, the cutaway of the redwood tree showing its age is a replica of one that can still be found at Muir Woods.
• The coastal region where Scottie and Madeleine first kiss is Cypress Point, a well-known location along the 17 Mile Drive near Pebble Beach. However, the lone tree by which they kiss is in fact a prop brought specially to the location.^[18]
• The spectacular domed building past which Scottie and Judy walk is the Palace of Fine Arts.
• Coit Tower appears in many background shots; Hitchcock once said that he included it as a phallic symbol.
• Gavin and Madeleine's apartment building is "The Brocklebank" at 1000 Mason Street, which still looks essentially the same. It is aross the street from the Fairmont Hotel, where Hitchcock usually stayed when he visited and where many of the cast and crew stayed during filming.

Kim Novak

• The "McKittrick Hotel" was a privately-owned Victorian mansion from the 1880s at Gough and Eddy Streets. It was torn down in 1959 and is now an athletic practice field for Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory School.
• The sanatorium is 351 Buena Vista East, formerly St. Joseph's Hospital, now Park Hill condominiums. It looks much the same from the outside; the best view is from the Corona Heights neighborhood park.
• The Empire Hotel is a real place but is now called the York Hotel at 940 Sutter Street. Judy's room was created, but the flashing green neon of the "Hotel Empire" sign outside is based on the actual hotel's sign (it was replaced when the hotel was re-named).
• Ernie's Restaurant (847 Montgomery St.) was a real place in North Beach, not far from Scottie's apartment. It is no longer operating.
• Scottie's Apartment (900 Lombard St.) is a few blocks downhill from the "crookedest street in the world". Although the door has been repainted, the entrance is easily recognizable save for a few small changes to the patio. The doorbell and the mailbox, which Madeleine uses to deliver a note to Scottie, are exactly the same as they were in the movie.
• One short scene shows Union Square at dawn.

Mission San Juan Bautista was founded on June 24, 1797. ... Mats are available in a wide variety of colors and styles; this rack includes several hundred corner samples In the picture framing industry, a mat is a thin, flat piece of paper-based material included within a picture frame, which serves as additional decoration and to perform several other, more... Mission Basilica San Francisco de Asís Mission Basilica San Francisco de Asís, also known as Mission Dolores, was founded on October 9, 1776. ... Fort Point is located at the southern side of the Straits of the Golden Gate at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. ... The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay onto the Pacific Ocean. ... Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California. ... Muir Woods National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service in Marin County, California, 12 miles (19 km) north of San Francisco. ... Big Basin Redwoods State Park is a California state park, located in Santa Cruz County. ... The Lone Cypress is a famous landmark in Pebble Beach This article is about the community. ... The Lone Cypress The 17-Mile Drive is a scenic road through Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach, California much of which hugs the Pacific coastline and passes famous golf courses and mansions of the rich and famous. ... The Lone Cypress is a famous landmark in Pebble Beach This article is about the community. ... // The Palace of Fine Arts: 2004 For the opera house in Mexico City, see Palacio de Bellas Artes The Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco, California is a building originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. ... Coit Tower with statue of Columbus in foreground Coit Tower was built atop Telegraph Hill in 1933 at the bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit to beautify the City of San Francisco. ... Mural of Mercury in Pompeii. ... Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, commonly known as SH, SHC, or SHCP is a Catholic school in San Francisco, California. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Lombard Streets famed twists Lombard Street is an east-west street in San Francisco, California. ...

Cultural impact

• Director Brian DePalma made a mystery-thriller inspired by Vertigo in 1976 called Obsession with Cliff Robertson and Geneviève Bujold. Bernard Herrmann, who scored Vertigo, also scored Obsession.
• DePalma's 1984 movie Body Double also featured many plot elements from Vertigo.
• In Mel Brooks's film High Anxiety, which is a pastiche/homage to all Hitchcock films, the final scene takes place in a twisting staircase inside a bell tower, an obvious nod to Vertigo.
• South Korean director Park Chan-Wook once said that Vertigo was the film that made him want to be a director.^[19]
• Paul Verhoeven's Basic Instinct, which is also set in San Francisco, is often seen as a stylistic and thematic imitation of Vertigo, especially in regard to Sharon Stone's character Catherine Tramell.
• Faith No More's music video for their 1997 song "Last Cup Of Sorrow" is directly inspired by Vertigo, featuring a semi-parodic version of the film.
• The telenovela La Otra has some plot elements that parallel this film.
• The band Harvey Danger has a song on their album Where Have all the Merrymakers Gone? called "Carlotta Valdez", which describes the plot of the film.
• Maltese Eurovision song "Vertigo" may be lifted out of this movie, according to Maltese singer Enzo Gusman.
• Alejandro Amenabar's film Abre Los Ojos has been said to be a remake of Vertigo.^[20]
• The short film La Jetée by Chris Marker, about a time traveller trying to recapture his past, quotes some scenes from Vertigo directly (most notably, the characters discuss the place of their lives within a Redwood tree trunk's rings). In his essays, Marker has joked that his film is a remake of Vertigo set in Paris. Similarly, Terry Gilliam's feature-length adaptation of La Jetée, Twelve Monkeys, contains a scene in a movie theatre that is showing Vertigo.
• The 1993 miniseries Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, which aired on PBS, has many direct references to the film.
• Parts of the film were spoofed in the Goldie Hawn comedy Foul Play.
• A second season episode of the comedy series Sledge Hammer!, entitled "Vertical", faithfully parodies Vertigo throughout.
• The film was parodied on the Halloween episode of That '70s Show third season, where Eric Forman suffers from vertigo after almost falling from a roof of a small shed and seeing Fez falling while trying to lift him back up from where he was hanging.
• Dr. James Wilson (played by Robert Sean Leonard) on FOX's series House has several posters of the film on the walls of his office, and is even seen watching the film at the end of the episodes "House vs. God" and "Safe".
• In the Batman: The Animated Series episodes "Off Balance" & "Perchance To Dream", the climax in the church tower is identical to the one in the film. "Balance" even features a villain named Count Vertigo.
• In one episode of The Simpsons, "Principal Charming" in season 2, a scene depicts Principal Skinner ascending the school's bell tower (and experiencing the Vertigo zoom shot on the way up). The bell tower in The Simpsons is attached to Springfield Elementary School.
• Australian Director Douglas Horton's music-theatre production Phobia (first staged in 2003 by Chamber Made) is a homage to Hitchcock and Vertigo in particular.
• The opening chase sequence from The Matrix bears resemblance to Vertigo.^[21]
• In "Kaisha", the sixth season part one finale of The Sopranos, Christopher and Julianna are seen getting high at a showing of Vertigo
• The Long Blondes have a song called "Appropriation (By Any Other Name)". It has been said that this song is told from the point of view of Judy, due to lines such as "When I met you, I never wore dresses like that." and "You can't have me, make me act the same".
• In David Lynch's film Mulholland Drive (during the film's dream segment) while investigating Diane Selwyn's apartment the Betty Elms persona wears a light grey suit dress which, along with her blonde hair, is a reference the alike outfit worn by Madeleine.
• In David Lynch's TV series Twin Peaks, the character Madeleine Ferguson is named for the two principal characters of Vertigo (Madeleine Ester and John Ferguson). Madeleine Ferguson is the brunette, identical cousin of the deceased, blonde Laura Palmer; in one episode, Madeleine dons a blonde wig and dresses like Laura to sway the mind of Dr. Jacoby, who is obsessed with Laura. This plot device is a nod to Vertigo.
• Duran Duran have a song called "Vertigo (Do the Demolition)" on their 1986 album Notorious (also named for a Hitchcock classic).
• The film 12 Monkeys has a scene in that the two leads watch the scene from Vertigo in which Carlotta talks about her previous incarnation. This has parallels with the time-travel plot of 12 Monkeys. Later in the film, music from the score of Vertigo is heard, as Madeleine and Cole are talking about recapitulating fate.
• In Martin Scorsese's remake of the film Cape Fear, the camera close-up of Juliette Lewis's eye references the opening credits of Vertigo.

Brian De Palma (born September 11, 1940 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American film director. ... Obsession is a 1976 psychological thriller/mystery directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. ... Cliff Robertson. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Body Double is a 1984 film by Brian DePalma. ... High Anxiety is a 1977 comedy film directed by and starring Mel Brooks. ... Park Chan-wook (born August 23, 1963 in Tanyan) is a South Korean director and screenwriter. ... Paul Verhoeven (IPA: [pÊŒul vÉ›rhuvÉ™n]) (born July 18, 1938 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch film director, screenwriter, and film producer. ... Basic Instinct is a 1992 thriller film, directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. ... Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress, producer, and former fashion model. ... FNM redirects here. ... Last Cup of Sorrow is a song by Faith No More. ... La Otra (English: The Other [Woman]) is a Televisa telenovela that aired in the summer of 2002 on the Canal de las Estrellas channel in Mexico and in the fall of 2002-winter of 2003 on Univision in the United States. ... Harvey Danger is a rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1992, and rose to prominence in 1998 with the single Flagpole Sitta. The band released a new album in 2005, Little by Little. ... Look up Vertigo in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Alejandro Fernando Amen bar Cantos (born March 31, 1972) is a Chilean-born Spanish film director, widely considered one of the most important Spanish directors working today even though he has directed only four films. ... Open Your Eyes redirects here. ... La Jetée (The Jetty) is a 1962 28-minute black and white science fiction film by Chris Marker. ... Chris Marker (born July 29, 1921) is a French writer, photographer, film director, multimedia artist and documentary maker. ... Terrence Vance Gilliam (born November 22, 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, animator, and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. ... Twelve Monkeys is a 1995 science fiction film written by David and Janet Peoples and directed by Terry Gilliam. ... Armistead Jones Maupin Jr. ... 1st US edition cover of the first book in the Tales of the City series This article is about the novel series; see also Tales of the City (novel) and Tales of the City (miniseries) Tales of the City is a series of six books, originally serialized in the San... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an Academy Award-winning American actress, director and producer. ... Foul play may refer to: Crime. ... Sledge Hammer! was a satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. ... This article is about the holiday. ... That 70s Show is an American television sitcom that centered on the lives of a group of teenagers living in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976 to December 31, 1979. ... This article is about the character on the American TV series That 70s Show. For the character on the American TV series House, see Eric Foreman. ... Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. James Wilson on House Dr. James Wilson is a fictional character, portrayed by Robert Sean Leonard, on the American television drama House. ... Robert Sean Leonard (born Robert Lawrence Leonard on February 28, 1969, in Ridgewood, New Jersey) is a Tony Award-winning American actor who is most noted for his role as aspiring actor Neil Perry in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society. ... House, also known as House, M.D., is an American medical drama television series created by David Shore and executive produced by Shore and film director Bryan Singer. ... House vs. ... Safe is the sixteenth episode of the second season of House, which premiered on the FOX network on April 4, 2006. ... The animated Batman shoots his grappling gun from a rooftop in a scene from the episode, On Leather Wings. ... Off Balance is an episode of the critically acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series. ... Count Werner Vertigo is a DC Comics supervillain. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... Principal Charming is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons second season, airing on February 14, 1991. ... Chamber Made (formerly Chamber Made Opera) is an award-winning Australian production house for contemporary opera and music-theatre. ... This article is about the 1999 film. ... Kaisha is the 77th episode of the HBO original series, The Sopranos. ... This article is about the television series. ... The Long Blondes are a 5-piece English indie rock band from Sheffield. ... For other persons named David Lynch, see David Lynch (disambiguation). ... For the street in Los Angeles, see Mulholland Drive. ... For the hills in San Francisco, see Twin Peaks, San Francisco, California. ... Duran Duran are an English rock band notable for a long series of popular singles and vivid music videos. ... Notorious is the fourth album by Duran Duran. ... Notorious is a 1946 thriller directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman as two people whose lives become intimately entangled during an espionage operation. ... (Redirected from 12 Monkeys) Twelve Monkeys is a 1995 science fiction conspiracy theory movie directed by former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam and inspired by the short film La Jetée. ... (Redirected from 12 Monkeys) Twelve Monkeys is a 1995 science fiction conspiracy theory movie directed by former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam and inspired by the short film La Jetée. ... Cape Fear is a prominent headland jutting into the Atlantic Ocean from Bald Head Island on the coast of North Carolina in the southeastern United States. ...

References

Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 335th day of the year (336th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... François Roland Truffaut (French IPA: ) (February 6, 1932 – October 21, 1984) was one of the founders of the French New Wave in filmmaking, and remains an icon of the French film industry. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 â€“ April 29, 1980) was an iconic and highly influential British-born film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 335th day of the year (336th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Vertigo

• Vertigo at the Internet Movie Database
• Vertigo at the TCM Movie Database
• Filmsite.org in-depth review and analysis
• A Swimming in the Head Detailed critique of the 1996 restoration
• A Very Different "Slice of Cake:" Restoring Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo
• Vertigo: Then & Now Before and after images of San Francisco locations seen in the film
• Explanation to Vertigo's reference in Faith No More's music video for 'Last Cup Of Sorrow'
• Review of Vertigo
• Vertigo Eyegate Gallery
• Alfred Hitchcock Wiki:Vertigo (1958)

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