Vertigo (1958) Letter Scene (Spoilers)

Marilyn should have starred in the movie, it's a shame she never got to work with Hitchcock

OP, do not write thoughtful well written text, then use the hoary, corny, and shitty expression "what say you". That ruined your post for me and inclined me not to engage.

Did he ever get to fuck her before he knocked her off the roof?

R3 I would say yes. After the famous “Scene D’Amour” fades to black, Judy is in a different outfit and has put her “face on” after having to fix her makeup. Subtle (or not so subtle) 1950s film code speak that they had just had a romp at it.

You answered your own question, Op, the reveal creates suspense for the remaining of the movie, instead of a big reveal at the end. It also allows for the viewer to accommodate for longer what actually is an extremely unlikely scenario. But it does feel a little bit unticlimatic.

Letter Scene

The really mystery in VERTIGO is Kim Novak’s greasy eyebrows.

OP, I agree with you. It's not like anyone should be shocked that Madeleine is really "Judy" anyways.

I was more shocked her carpet matched her drapes!

The famous Hitchcock example of the difference between shock and suspense illustrates the principle.

If you have a family chatting over breakfast and at the end of the scene a bomb goes off under the table, you get a good shock.

If you show the bomb being planted and have the same scene, the chat will make the audience jump out their seats hoping someone notices the bomb.

Hitchcock/Truffaut is still one of the best books on dramatic storytelling.

Great points R10. It amazes me how many modern viewers who watch Vertigo think that Judy’s reveal in the letter writing scene harms the picture. I don’t know if it’s from years of watching movies from the likes of M. Night Shyamalan and Christopher Nolan (who to their credit have each made good films, well in Shyamalan’s case, one good film), but not every movie needs a twist ending. In fact, I think having Judy’s truth revealed to the audience at the end along with Scottie would damage the final product. That scene allows us to understand Judy and her motivations. She doesn’t run because of the immense guilt she carries for what she did to Scottie. This change in POV is what gives the film its haunting power. Removing the letter scene would destroy that for cheap thrills and a final “gotcha moment” at the end.

Also, I should have put a poll option in my original post: keep or cut the letter scene. My apologies.

R11, the scene was criticized from the time the film premiered. This is not something modern viewers started.

I think there is a difference now though. Because rewatching has become so easy and so common, the rules may be a little different. Most of the viewers of The Sixth Sense have seen it before, so they are seeing it as if they knew there was a bomb under the breakfast table.

I did not know the secret in Inception (I still do not) and found it too dull to watch. A lot of people told me that it gets better after the first 90 minutes. It makes me think that the second half of Vertigo would probably be pretty dull if you did not know they were the same woman

R2 has stated his boundaries.

OP you must be the only one who doesn’t realize that the second half of Vertigo is a dream in catatonic Scotty’s head.

The character of Judy and her story arc is so tragic (as is Scottie’s for that matter). They are both doomed from the second they run into each other again. Yet while tragic, the whole thing is so hauntingly beautiful. .

Renee Zellweger as Judy.

Keep the scene. The film is really about the appalling impossibility of loving someone whom you belatedly realise never actually existed.We need time to feel that pain and loss with the hero. Even though the scenario is quite a far-fetched one, haven't most of us had that experience of building up an image in our heads of someone to love who was never actually there?

Mmmm, no.

Why didn’t Hitchcock sexually assault Novak, when he harassed so many of his other actresses?

Marilyn should have starred in this movie

The scene itself and its place in the story worked for me. Except, echoing R6, for Judy's eyebrows.

The double role in the movie is already unbelievable with Novak. That someone would not recognize Monroe would have been absurd. But from an acting standpoint, she would have been sensational.

Hitchcock was unsure whether he wanted to include the letter scene. Most of the previews played without it. It was a last minute decision to put it back in the release version after he had initially cut it.

For me, Kim Novak is just about perfect in the role of Judy. I think Marilyn Monroe was used to great effect in some of her films, but I just don’t see her here and I’m honestly baffled by her repeated mentions in this thread.