Don't Look Down, You've Got Vertigo! (1958)

Today I decided to check out a classic Hitchcock film that I had seen on many "great films" lists. Vertigo is famed for being the first movie to develop a certain camera technique, that at the time was revolutionary. I had no idea at all what the movie was about, and I didn't recognize any of the actors either, so I was sort of just going into this on faith. Both on those lists, and on Mr. Hitchcock's name. You'll find my thoughts on the other side of the jump. But whatever you do, don't look down!


This is going to be a hard movie to explain the story, because it's completely divided into two distinct parts. In fact, I don't think I can talk about the second part of the movie at all. So I won't!

We start off with John 'Scottie' Ferguson in a foot chase after a thief. The chase has lead to the roofs and he nearly falls and suffers his first bout of acrophobia, a fear of heights. This causes him to retire from the police force, but he remains a detective while he takes some time off. An old friend contacts him and asks him to follow his wife. He says she's having missing time and can't remember where she's been. The husband has a startling theory that she's being possessed by a ghost! It sounds impossible, but could it be true?!

John's acrophobia makes him nearly fall to his death while on a police chase

Ok, so maybe I stretched that story description a bit. Everything I said is true, but the movie is more about John (James Stewart) falling in love with the beautiful Madeleine (Kim Novak) than it is about the ghost. Then things take a strange twist about halfway through, and it seems as if not he's possessed by the spirit! But that's it, I can say no more!

While the story had me confused and interested and I could never tell where it was going, I can't really say that I enjoyed the movie. I had a really hard time buying the acting of the characters even though it was much more dramatic and passionate in the love story than that of the characters of yesterday's Forbidden Planet. But even so, it just didn't work for me. I never really bought their relationship because it just seemed to hokey. It didn't help that for the most time Kim Novak is the utter definition of a damsel in distress. She's just always out of it and scared, oh but thank goodness John is there to kiss her and make her feel better. *sigh* the 50s.

She's just so scared! You best kiss her because she's such a scared, frail woman... riiight.

I really liked the detective and supernatural angle it took at the start, but that doesn't last last too long before it becomes a basic 50s romance movie. Then the S hits the F and I can't really say anything about the last half, but I can say it also feels like a totally different movie.

The movie is titled "Vertigo" and yet it seems like John's acrophobia only becomes significant once or twice in the whole movie. The special camera effect used in this movie is the technique of pulling the camera back while simultaneously zooming in. This is what gives the effect of a hallway or corridor that seems to stretch out and get longer. Or in this case, a great height becoming even higher. It at least plays a decent sized role in the end of the movie. Still, I found the title to be a little misleading as I was expecting more.

Whoa! What was in those brownies? OH, ghosts? Damn...

On the bright side, I wasn't able to predict the ending, or even most of what happened in the movie at all. I never could see where it was going, so it stayed pretty fresh. Looking back on it now though, it seemed a little confused as to even what kind of film it was going to be. I don't think I could recommend this movie. While the plot sounds cool on paper, that supernatural element doesn't last. It's much more of a mystery and a romance to be honest, and it was just really hard to buy personally.