Vertigo was awfully impressive! (Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo)

This is an interesting video. Whether you liked the movie or not, you can sure appreciate this analysis.

Are you referring to the authorized sequel novel to The Big Sleep, by Robert B. Parker, entitled Perchance to Dream? If so, no, I haven't read it. I'm surprised it hasn't been turned into a film.

Several times I did start to read Poodle Springs, Chandler's unfinished novel, subsequently finished by Parker. But don't recall ever finishing it. I did read Playback, Chandler's final finished novel (developed from a screen play of his). Now I'm reading The Long Goodbye again.

Or, if you are referring to the later film remake of The Big Sleep in 1978 set in London, starring Robert Mitchum, yes, I have seen that and it's very good. Not as good as the original though.

~Doc

Nice to hear the other adaptation may be worth a watch. And yes, I was talking about the "approved" sequel since Chandler kind of went monster of the week with each story. I love reading them! I liked Farewell my Lovely a lot, more so than the High Window. I guess Long Goodbye will take me awhile. I've got two in front of it, dunno if I'll read the novellas. They haven't seemed very connected other than a few mentions of past events in earlier stories. The mountain one seems interesting, too, not sure which one that is. Big Sleep was aching for a sequel, though, I felt, so I need to get on that!

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I don't know anymore. don't think I did. Maybe I did. I just don't know anymore. Let me sleep. Just let me...F***K YOU CARE?

I think it's interesting that Hitchcock stated that he felt there was one flaw in the story. I thought he was going to say that Scottie didn't have vertigo, but acrophobia. Vertigo has nothing to do with a fear of heights. Of course "acrophobia" doesn't roll off the tongue for a title as does "vertigo"..

Anyway, he said that "...The husband was planning to throw his wife down from the top of the tower. But how could he know that James Stewart wouldn't make it up those stairs? Because he became dizzy? How could he be sure of that?"

Funny, that's the one possible plot foil that I never considered.

~Doc

You may be referring to Lady in the Lake. Much of the story took place in the fictional "Little Fawn Lake", presumably Lake Arrowhead, in the San Bernardino mountains not far from L.A.

It was made into an interesting film starring Robert Montgomery. But I always felt that it deserved a better production. The book was much more absorbing.

~Doc

Great find, Jabs. It's an accurate and intuitive analysis of the blocking of an early and integral scene in Vertigo.

~Doc

Hell Novak's likely up their with INGRID BERGMAN.

If you enjoyed this, you should check out more videos from the same channel. Most of the analyses in there are very good.

Vertigo is cinematic perfection at the highest level, and to me, easily one of the best films ever made.

Probably the grandfather of all romance thriller films, an amazing atmosphere and a brilliant screen presence by kim novak,she s a beauty and her acting is sublime, a film that goes down as the essence of the thriller type, a genius behind the camera, and a brilliant director

One thing about Vertigo is, is that Hitchcock decided to reveal the twist early on, before the main character finds out about it near the end. Usually in movies, the director will save the audience from knowing the twist until the main character does. For example, The Sixth Sense, Oldboy, etc.

But in Vertigo, the director reveals it earlier on before the main character finds out. I was told before that Hitchcock did this so we would have more sympathy for the Madeleine character, as we journey with Madeliene through the last half of the story. Which makes sense.

However, if Vertigo were to come out today, in the age of streaming services, would Hitchcock have chosen to keep the twist hidden until Scottie found out? Because in today's age, people can be surprised and shocked by a twist, but then easily watch the movie again with little pay and instant access, and then have the sympathy for the character the second time around, now that they know the twist.

But back then, since people only saw movies in theaters once typically, perhaps Hitchcock felt he had to spoil the twist early on, for the audience, for them to get the full experience of it, knowing that they will not likely see the movie again anytime soon, compared to today?

Vertigo is a better representation of Hitchcock's style than Psycho, not just through the genres but through the visuals.

Huh?

He probably meant to say vertigo instead

On another note, leaving vertigo aside, from the movies of that era, i remember i really enjoyed: Dark Passage, but some people say the movie goes downhill after the hour mark...i found it very engaging

Check again

Vertigo was one of the nominations in the 25th Hall of Fame, it won. I watched it for that HoF and rated it a 4/5 but noted the film had two glaring problems:
****Spoilers Ahead****

The bell tower murder scene which is shown & explained in a flashback way too early in the film. There was no need for Hitch to include a flashback explanation for the audience on how the bell tower 'suicide' worked. This flashback happens after Stewart has met a mysterious woman who looks just like the dead Madeline. The audience knows she's Kim Novak...It's the mystery as to what's happened that drives the tension in the film...Is this other Kim Novak a figment of James Stewart's troubled psyche? He did have a mental break down after the suicide of Madeline. OR is the new Kim Novak part of a devious scheme? Or even a long lost twin sister who has no connection to the other Madeline? But Hitch 'shoots his wad' way to fast by conceding to the audience the mystery of the film.

The dream sequence, Hitch was known for his crowd pleasing 'camera tricks' that he performed in most all of his later films. In other Hitch films these are fun kitsch and fit well with Hitch's style of block buster entertainment. But here in the more maturely filmed Vertigo it just looks silly, like today's bad CG added just for a thrill....The initial dream scene works great with Stewart in bed with neon lights coloring his face from green to purple (that's odd looking enough)....then he wakes up from his nightmare with a scream, that alone would've said more about Stewart's condition than the candy coated, animated dream stuff.

I enjoy Hitchcock/s 40's output more than his 50's catalogue

Vertigo is a masterpiece. Simple.