I know Vertigo has been hyped massively among film cognoscenti - didn’t it get voted best movie evah - like a decade or so ago on a BFI poll? It looks really stylish in places and has its moments - but always feels too overwrought and just a bit...silly?
Vertigo is about a straight guy who can't get off unless he kills the pussy he fucks. It's there in the text and visually. How many times and when does Stewart step through a stylized vagina to get completion?
I still hate Vertigo. Very misogynistic, sick film. Speaks volumes that whoever votes at BFI voted for this. And I used to like BFI.
Vertigo is so dreamy. It's such a pleasure to watch. Kim Novak was perfect for the role, even though she wasn't a great actress. Just like Tippi was perfect for The Birds.
Barbara Bel Geddes doesn't get enough praise for her performance in Vertigo. She's sublime in it. I can't understand why she didn't get an Oscar nomination.
I honestly don't think VERTIGO would be nearly as revered today if Vera Miles had played the lead. That was a very fortunate piece of casting.
There was something truly hypnotic about Novak's looks that made her a true screen icon. She was at her best playing love objects, like here and in PICNIC.
I was a teenager when I first saw Vertigo. It was playing on TV as part of a week long Hitchcock festival, and I was watching it with my mom, who of course had seen it before. After Madeline died, I got confused and a little restless. I asked out loud, "where is this going?" My mom said, "just keep watching."
Then Scottie starts seeing this red-headed Judy girl from Salina, Kansas, and I wondered out loud, "what is this about? why is he attracted to her?" My mom said, "just keep watching."
Then we see a close up of Judy's face and she looks directly into the camera, and now I'm freaking out. We hear her letter to Scottie about how she loved him, and then we see her tear it up. Then my jaw dropped open and I looked at my mom and said, "WHAT?! She's the same girl?! Played by the same actress?!" I was totally duped into thinking there were two different actresses playing two different characters. My mom loved it. I can only imagine what it was like to see this movie in the theater and have the same reaction.