The 1001 Diaries

Review: Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock

Detective John Ferguson has retired from the San Francisco Police department after a tragic accident in which another officer is killed, and John (who is often referred to as Scotty) discovers he has acrophobia (fear of heights) and vertigo. Shortly after his retirement, an old college friend asks him to look after his wife, who disappears during the day with no memory of what she has done. As she appears to grow more suicidal, John becomes more obsessed with her, and the results have some unexpected and tragic consequences.

Before watching Vertigo, my Hitchcock knowledge was quite lacking. I’ve never seen any Hitchcock movie before, with the notable exception of Psycho, which is one of my all-time favorite movies. So Vertigo was a real treat for me.

The movie had a very unsettled feeling to it throughout, which I suppose is true of all Hitchcock movies. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. And the second half of the movie was downright creepy. I kept wondering how far Jimmy Stewart’s character, John, was going to take things with Joan (Kim Novak).

The ending was one that actually didn’t surprise me as much as I expected it would, though I didn’t really expect it to end on such an unhappy note. And I wondered, “Is that what was supposed to happen?” I also wish there had been more of a conclusion with the story line involving Barbara Bel Geddes’ character, Midge. It was like it got to a certain point, then left it all up in the air.

Overall, though, I thought it was a great movie. It was beautifully shot, and it seems strange to me that it was considered a box office failure at the time of its release. If you’re one of the few people who hasn’t yet seen it, I would definitely recommend it!

Buy this movie on Amazon