Filmmaker reacts to Vertigo (1958) for the FIRST TIME!

Hope you enjoy my filmmaker reaction to Vertigo. :D
Full length reactions & Patreon only polls: / jamesvscinema
Original Movie: Vertigo (1958)
Ending Song: / charleycoin
Follow Me:
Instagram: / jamesadamsiii
Twitter: / jamesadamsiii
*Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. All rights belong to their respective owners.

[@JamesVSCinema]

What do would you say..the color green represents in this film? Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema Have a great day everyone! Jacob's Ladder next.

[@lauce3998]

When Kim Novak's character comes out of the shower in the room with her hair already as Scottie wants, it is a metaphor that she has completely undressed, she has taken off her panties according to Hitchcock in Truffaut's book. Green may be between ghostly and desire here, I really don't know. But this movie is visually orgasmic for the eyes.

[@lauce3998]

What if I am clear that this movie is about obsession. Hitchcock was obsessed with blondes and dressing his actresses in his own way, and Scottie here does the same, he is obsessed with finding a woman who only exists in his head. It is Hitch's most personal movie, it gives for hours and hours of psychoanalysis.

[@dlweiss]

Yeah, I'd say green is the color of longing/obsession in this story. The idea that it's a feeling that becomes SO intense that it's almost a sickness, a queasy feeling that drowns out everything else.

[@susannariera]

I hope you watch Rope someday, Hitchcock and Stewart together again, it takes place in real time and an only set, and being edited so as to appear as four long shots through the use of stitched together long takes.

[@richardkoch5941]

When ole girl appears as Stewart expected there towards the end, she seems to appear out of a green cloud... like a ghost coming back to life. Amazing. Haven't seen Jacob's Ladder yet, but I heard its really out there...

[@robertjewell9727]

In regards to the ending, there is a quiet element in Vertigo of a person or persons being haunted. It's part of the plot to make Scottie become a witness to a phony suicide, but this sense of haunting or of being haunted begins to enter both Scottie and Judy's interactions, Judy because of her guilt of falsely portraying a haunted woman and Scottie recreating Judy into Madeline as if bringing her back from the dead. After the feverish ascent of the tower at the finale and Judy's emotional rawness in her confession of love for Scottie, Judy actually thinks a ghost has entered the tower as a shadow and she is so frightened that she steps away from what she thinks is a specter and falls.

[@billolsen4360]

A good storyteller leaves thought provoking questions in your mind a the end of telling his tale

[@Fanfanbalibar]

@@billolsen4360 And sir Alfred was such a good storyteller !

[@christopherleodaniels7203]

Hey, James. Here’s a general rule of thumb. Once Kodak developed a 35mm color stock in 1953, that was fast enough (ASA 25) and clean enough to put through a camera, the arduous three-strip Technicolor process, started in the mid-thirties, was pretty much abandoned. So, roughly, if a film was in color in 1952 or before, it was the Technicolor process - and if it was in 1954 and beyond, it was shot on actual color film with all the color layers on one strip of film. Vertigo was filmed in 1957. Confusion comes in because the lab that processed most Hollywood movies was named Technicolor and still exists. Vertigo was shot on Eastman 25T 5248 ASA (ISO) 25, and ran through the camera horizontally instead of vertically, so each frame was to the left or right of each other. The shutter was modified so it could shoot 8 perforations across, using more of the negative and creating a Wide Screen movie - AKA VistaVision.

[@solaris263]

Let’s go!! Hitchcock’s stories never get old, I hope you enjoyed this one🤍

[@JamesVSCinema]

Definitely a good spin with this one!

[@danae8112]

My husband is a huge film buff, so on our honeymoon in SF we actually went to some of the places this was filmed (Mission Dolores, Muir Woods etc) and recreated some of the scenes for pictures. :)

[@fredzeppelin3969]

Indeed, the mission San Juan Bautista is just beautiful, and preserved so well. It's like stepping back in time. Even the graveyard that slopes down off the hill behind the main church is pristine. As you found out too, there is no bell tower, as it was a matte painting for the movie.

[@shortmorgan_]

an all time favorite of mine! the way Bernard Herrmann's score mimics the theme of obsession in the way the strings swirl and spiral is absolutely perfect

[@melanie62954]

Dude, if you love the way Hitchcock uses space, you MUST watch Rebecca!

[@ericbaker2169]

In my opinion, green is most associated with Madeline and represents rebirth--Judy is reborn as Madeline twice in the film. Red is associated with Scottie and represents caution---as in Scottie should be cautious dealing with Madeline. Midge also wears red in the scene with the painting. I think blue may represent guilt---Scottie wears a blue suit to the hearing and a blue sweater in the hospital. Purple is Judy trying to assert her own identity. Finally, yellow is Midge's color representing her sunny personality and her motherly, nurturing ways. If you ever watch it again, watch for towers, emphasizing the idea of heights, and spirals---Madeline's hair and the way Scottie is always following her downhill and turning like a spiral. Maybe symbolizes his descent into his obsession and the fantasy world created by Elster and Judy.

[@nicolasbls1738]

Hey there James, being in Film School for 2 years now and an avid Hitchcock fan, I wanted to answer some of your questions. I hope I won't be too long :) So, Hitchcock being a cinematic formalist, he has, throughout his career, adapted the filmmaking of his films to geometric shapes in accordance with the themes of these films. In Psycho, for example, it was a broken line in the middle (because Marion Crane dies at the middle of the film). Vertigo refers to the spiral that represents the plot in which James Stewart's character sinks as the film progresses. His real vertigo is a parallel to the fact that he falls in love, as if bewitched by the character of Kim Novak. Since it's this, at first, that prevents him from rescuing her at the top of the church, it represents the fatality of his "bewitchment". This is why Novak's character is blonde during the first half of the movie. The blonde woman in Hitchcock movies represents fatality. She always the one who pushes the man into vice when she doesn't represents the vice herself (Marion Crane in Psycho for example). The music composer, Bernard Hermann (the goat), has always adapted to Hitchcock's formal system in all his films. This created a tangle between the two, towards the end of Hitchcock's career, because many critics said that half of the success of his movies was due to his music compositions. Here, to match the spiral, Hermann created short patterns of musical loops. This is visionary since it is pre-minimalist. Yes you are right, it's indeed technicolor, a process overused by the big studio productions of the 1950s. The green, here, represents temptation or "bewitchment" and then, fear when she "came back" to life. The red represents the danger. This also matches other Hitchcock themes such as drive (often sexual and metaphorized because, at that time, Hollywood cinema was still, although less than before, under the aegis of the Hays code), fetishization or desire. His style, in general, is to infuse an undesirable situation into everyday scenes. Hitchcock always makes sure to tell the viewer something extra (usually dark) about his characters: for example, their murder or robbery intentions, previous crimes and misdemeanors, or their potential ghostly possession when they go to a museum to look at paintings. He always uses dramatic irony and forces these characters to hide something in everyday situations. This is where the Hitchcockian suspense comes from. This suspense is always intensify with a lot of camera movements and a time dilation of his scenes . It's brilliant because it changes the relationship that the viewer has with what he sees on the screen. Hitchcock forces us to root for these characters. In other words, he perverts our point of view. For example, many of the scenes with John Stewart in this film border on or even totally embrace voyeurism (another of his favorite themes). Which, by the way, didn't give him a good reputation with the American critics of the time who considered him as an average entertainer, using only cheap effects to entertain the audience. Eventually, he has been rehabilitated later by critics of the French New Wave who considered him as an "auteur". There, sorry, it was long. But it's really cool to see you continue your journey through Hitchcock's filmography. I strongly recommend North by Northwest, Rear Window and Strangers on a train which are 3 masterpieces (for the Patreon members if u read this comment :))

[@MsAppassionata]

James Stewart. You said John toward the end. 😁

[@nicolasbls1738]

@@MsAppassionata mb

[@totallytomanimation]

San Fran / the Bay Area was Hitchcock's favorite film location. The thing that gives Technicolor it's unique look was that 3 separate film strips, each exposed for their own unique color spectrum - red - green - blue - each were then run thru a dye solution specific to their color and then all three processed strips were exposed onto a single film stock to make the master copy. In the early days it was done in camera using a split prism behind the lens to separate the colors and expose them onto 3 seperate film strips - later they figured out how to expose one strip in camera, no longer needing to split the light using a prism and then that camera master was exposed onto 3 separate film strips separating the RGB - then those strips were run thru the dye and then exposed onto a single stock to combine the color info.

[@anthonymunn8633]

True,but by 1955,Technicolor discontinued the 3-strip process,and they adapted Eastmancolor negative to the printing process.

[@totallytomanimation]

@@anthonymunn8633 Not trying to get in a pissing match about it, but, I am correct in what I wrote. In the 50's they found a way to use a single color negative strip in camera. Then that camera negative was struck to 3 separate strips to separate the colors, RGB, and then struck those 3 RGB separated strips back to a single final master strip. But you correct in the timetable of adopting that new process and Eastman was responsible for this advancement.

[@billolsen4360]

And the sky is clear there, no L.A. smog. Air pollution from the San Francisco Bay area blows down into the Central Valley of California where it sits permanently between two mountain ranges.

[@richerchristophe9996]

one of my five favourite film of all time...( singing in the rain , vertigo , in the mood for love , hanna-bi ,kuch kuch hota hai ..) this is my personnal list :)

[@50ShadesofJoGray]

As this is my personal favorite movie of all time and I'd argue (strongly) that it's the greatest American film ever made, I cannot describe the levels of happiness that overtook me when I saw this thumbnail

[@50ShadesofJoGray]

Next Hitchcock: North by Northwest ⬆️↖️

[@Fanfanbalibar]

SO FUNNY AND THE WAY CARY GRANT PLAYS HIS CHARACTER ! @@50ShadesofJoGray

[@walterroux291]

The camera blocking in this film is phenomenal. Also, you're correct about the green, which is associated with sickness, nausea and... vertigo! But also, the colour red as an opposite to green, and all that red usually represents as a colour. And yellow with Midge as Joy and Serenity.

[@matthewconstantine5015]

I have such a weird relationship with this movie. I've been a Hitchcock fan since I was a kid. Rear Window was one of my favorite movies when I was young (it's still amazing). But for some reason, I didn't get around to watching Vertigo until I was in my 20s and I really didn't like it. Years later, in my early 30s I guess, I watched it again and was totally blown away. I loved it. Another decade, in my early 40s, I watched it again, this time getting a chance to see it on the big screen, and I hated it again. How crazy is that. I'll have to watch it again in my early 50s and see how it goes.

[@DelGuy03]

Thanks for saying this. I too have, let's say a mixed relationship with the movie. I do find it memorable (hard to forget, once seen), with a unique look and mood. The cinematography and music are justly praised as all-time movie achievements. It didn't do great, either critically or financially, on first release, and then it was one of the batch of Hitchcock movies that was kept out of distribution for years, and had been essentially impossible to see. It started to become "legendary" thanks to a few essays by those who had seen it, reinforced by the reactions when it was finally restored and rereleased. And now it's become enshrined as one of the greatest films of all time, which I think it isn't quite. For me, it's become as overrated as it was once underrated. I don't put it at either extreme. I admire it a lot, I think it's a really fine achievement, and I rewatch it occasionally. I dare say filmmakers are rightly fascinated by it. But there's other Hitchcock (not to mention movies directed by others) that means more to me, I guess. We each have our own perspectives.

[@ericjohnson9623]

@Joe Bloggs Yeah, Rear Window is fun and a technical marvel, but I think what makes Vertigo stand out to me is that it's one of the few Hitchcock films where the film doesn't really have a straight forward A to B narrative, or at least does until it suddenly doesn't. The final act elevates the film into much weirder territory where the typical Hitchcock suspense plot has been solved, and the rest of the movie is about this creep recreating a dead woman. It's a stranger, darker, more surreal, more bitter film than anything else Hitchcock did, Psycho included, and that's why it's special among them for me.

[@Fanfanbalibar]

I 100% agree with your statement ! @@ericjohnson9623

[@Stravinsky75]

21:25 is the famous dolly zoom shot used for the first time ever.

[@rustybarrel516]

Did they shoot it horizontally? Thought I saw that in a documentary.

[@delfordchaffin5617]

Shockingly far into the comments before any reference to the dolly zoom. 😮

[@cyborgoftheyear]

Vertigo is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I think one of the aspects (of many) that elevates it is the amazing soundtrack. I still listen to the soundtrack a lot, despite having first watched Vertigo 25 years ago.

[@danielflynn9141]

Well, you finally did it. You watched my all time favorite film. I think there is one single truth about this movie: every single frame of this movie is a painting.

[@mradriankool]

You have to do strangers on a train ( perhaps the most nail biting climax ever committed to film ) and Rebecca, 2 absolute stunners

[@movieswithsammykitty]

I hope you check out Shadow of a Doubt. It’s my favorite Hitchcock film, and I feel it goes under the radar a lot. Notorious is another incredible one! I love how dreamy this film looks at times, cause it draws you in like something supernatural is happening. Then it’s just like, nope.

[@michaelt6218]

Yes! I'll cast another enthusiastic vote for Shadow of a Doubt and for Notorious, two more of my favorite Hitchcocks. And let me also suggest The 39 Steps, from 1935. Not many have seen it, but it's totally great.

[@j.prt.979]

I agree the dreamlike look is incredible.

[@christopherleodaniels7203]

Two of his best. Daughter, Patricia Hitchcock and Hitch himself said ‘Shadow Of A Doubt’ was his personal favorite. Notorious is flat-out great.

[@fmellish71]

I grew up thinking that Rear Window was my favorite Hitchcock because it really was the movie that got me into old movies and didn't think all that much of Vertigo, but it managed to completely blow me away when I re-watched it a couple years ago. There's so much symbolism that lives in it and gives it such a suspended ethereal quality that's like I'm watching it outside of time. Green seems to me to be at least partly symbolic of possession/obsession; Madeline overcome or possessed by a specter of who she was in the past and her being the object of Scotti's obsession because of the glimpse into and rush of infinity he feels when he not only is in her presence, but also when he's overcome with vertigo or the feeling that his perception is extending into infinity with a fear of falling endlessly into the infinitesimal unknown, yet he succumbs to his desire to chase the infinitesimal unknown in the form of his anima figure, Madeline.

[@jonsher7682]

Before Hollywood and Los Angeles, the early film center was NYC with some of the leading figures living in mansion is nearby Larchmont, NY. San Francisco was a choice location because it is so scenic, and atmospheric, not because it was a center of the film industry.

[@danielchavez4403]

North by Northwest (1959) is another all time great of Hitchcock.

[@Fanfanbalibar]

Yes but "funny", not that amount of drama......

[@doncarlton4858]

One word for this film: Masterpiece. And Jimmy Stewart is such an underrated Actor. How many times have people said "Jimmy Stewart plays the same character every time". Not in this movie! Hitchcock so admired Stewart's acting that he chose him to carry in his masterwork! I think green was used for the weird, ghostly effect of lighting Kim Novak as a dead woman or ghost.

[@Fanfanbalibar]

Watch the great performance of Stewart as a lawyer in Otto Preminger's "Anatomy of a murder", if he isn't a great actor I am the Pope !

[@Jeff_Lichtman]

"What is happening with our mystery woman? Is she just taking on a persona?" - You caught this right from the beginning, James. Filmmakers love San Francisco because it has so many interesting locations. Unfortunately, shooting there has gotten so expensive that few films are made there any more. You didn't mention the score by Bernard Hermann. He used a whole-tone scale for the main theme, which gives it an unsettling, rootless feeling. Hitchcock used Hermann for several of his other movies, including Psycho and North by Northwest. Kim Novak did an excellent acting job in Vertigo. She played two characters who were really the same character. Her mannerisms, voice, facial expressions, etc. were different for Madeleine than for Judy. She did a gradual transition from Judy back to Madeleine that was seamless and believable. The dolly zoom/trombone shot when Scottie was going up the stairs to the bell tower is one of the two best-known examples of this technique. The other is in Jaws, when Chief Brody, while sitting on the beach, sees the shark attack on the boy. It's classic Hitchcock to show the audience the plot twist before he lets his main character in on it. This was one of the main ways Hitchcock built suspense, that he used in many of his films. Most other filmmakers would have kept the murder plot and Judy's identity secret from the audience as well.

[@davidkoury7097]

Thanks for your reactions James. It's not just green that is important but red also. The stop and go of vertigo, wanting to give in to it but also wanting to fight it. The red and green lights in the background of the opening scene, the red room with the green dress when he first sees her, both characters switching colors throughout the movie and many more examples can be found. When he follows her for the first time, right and left turns as he spirals down the streets of San Francisco (at least one of the reasons the city is chosen). The other theme is the question "Do you think the dead can possess the living?". Scottie's answer is no but he is possessed by MADeline. There's much more to this brilliant film which I consider his best. Hitchcock disagrees, he preferred "Shadow of a Doubt".

[@Fanfanbalibar]

Not the same kind of movie ! Shadow is a simple thriller/criminal movie shot in a small provincial town North of San Francisco !

[@davidkoury7097]

​@@Fanfanbalibar It's not just a simple thriller like North by Northwest. It's deeper than that. Simple but done so well.

[@fruzsimih7214]

There is an interesting interview with costume designer Edith Head (a true Hollywood legend who worked with Hitchcock many times) who says that she dressed Madeline in gray because the color does not go well with her light blond hair color. This should make the audience feel subliminally that something is 'not quite right'.

[@forfar1956]

I'd love it if you did some of his early film classics...39 Steps or The lady vanishes. It would be great to hear your thoughts.

[@MingoWayama]

I would put Spellbound in there as well, and Rebecca, also.

[@jetgnome]

The Lady Vanishes!! I loved that film.

[@michaelt6218]

The 39 Steps is one of my top five Hitchcock films. Absolutely brilliant!

[@bomber9912]

Vertigo in my opinion is a 100/100. In my opinion one of the best movies ever made. Hitchcock did it again.

[@jesstube6466]

one of the best films ever made in my opinion, there’s not much films as deep and thought provoking as this one

[@mymyersfamily]

FYI, Mel Brooks did a movie spoofing Hitchcock films including Psycho, the Birds, and Vertigo. It was called "High Anxiety." I think it's his third funniest movie after Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles. You are probably now in a great position to watch it / react to it.

[@Fanfanbalibar]

IT'S ANOTHER MEL BROOKS ' JEWEL

[@michaelt6218]

That is perhaps the greatest ending in cinema history - for maybe the *greatest film* in cinema history! Thanks for a superb reaction, James. You were totally under the Master's spell from start to finish. As for the meaning of the ending... I think Judy, already unstable emotionally and psychologically, is startled by the nun/apparition and steps back, then trips and accidentally falls to her (second) death. As you mentioned, the Stewart character, Scotty, has just overcome his vertigo and might be ready to move on, perhaps even to forgive Judy. But now it's "too late" (a line echoed several times in the film). It's too late for Judy, for Scotty, and certainly for the real Madeline. So what does the story mean at this point? Why did it all happen? What's the purpose of anything? I believe this is Hitchcock's most eloquent statement of our existential condition. Many of his films contain this underlying theme, but in Vertigo it is laid bare in devastating fashion. Look at Scotty's pose in the final shot - almost identical to his posture in the dream when he was falling into the grave. That's no accident. No matter what you or I do or how hard we try, in the end, for all of us, there is nothing but death and the grave.

[@candigram8588]

Notorious is a fantastic early Hitchcock that doesn't get mentioned enough xxx

[@rxtsec1]

My 2nd favorite of his after this

[@stephenriggs8177]

I first saw this as a midnight movie, in the early '80s. The theater and the late hour seemed perfect for the bizarre story unfolding before my eyes.

[@theblobconsumes4859]

I'm not sure if you caught it, but, this was the first film to use the dolly zoom.

[@jackcarl2772]

Everything in this film is about falling: Scottie 'falls' for Gavin's scheme, then falls for his 'wife', then falls into the open grave and into a white field during his crack-up. Madeleine (who is really Judy) falls for Scottie. Midge fell for Scottie a long time ago (and still wants him). Gavin's real wife is thrown from the tower. Judy falls from the same tower. Within moments of the film's opening, a police officer falls from a roof top. The jury falls for the story given out during the inquisition. Perhaps the last fall, not shown to us, would have been if Scottie decided to leap himself, after Judy fell off the tower. Vertigo is a perfect title.

[@susannariera]

Best movie ever! I was so traumatized as a child by the nigthmare scene!!! Kim Novak was so misterious and James Stewart, as always, pure perfection. 🙌🙌🙌

[@JamesVSCinema]

Nailed it, brilliant performances all around!

[@issi529]

Indeed, one of the greatest films out there.

[@garypaterson1477]

Your content is always such a joy to watch and this is no exception, great stuff, never change man, the passion and fun you have is infectious.. as always, stay awesome and stay geunine... much love

[@sipatron6141]

"Always green, ever living." ;)

[@johnclaeys9514]

If you want to see what are considered the two most beautifully photographed Technicolor films of all time…look into Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes, by British auteurs Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, from the mid 1940’s. Both are considered the best of the best. Check ‘em out.

[@gammaanteria]

I would add "Tales of Hoffmann" (1951) by Powell and Pressburger to the list (though it's not quite as consistently great as "Black Narcissus" and "The Red Shoes," and probably wouldn't make for a great film reaction video, it is on the same tier as them in terms of being visually stunning)

[@johnclaeys9514]

Another favorite of theirs for me is 1950’s Gone To Earth, with Jennifer Jones. It was influential to Kate Bush for her album and especially the title song Hounds of Love. Also technicolor.

[@liteflightify]

This is right up there with Mulholland Dr, Chinatown and Sunset Boulevard as my favorite noirs and some of my favorite American movies ever.

[@joannwoodworth8920]

Possibly James Stewart’s best performance. He’s best remembered for his aw-shucks, good guy persona. But his character in this movie is both emotionally damaged and creepily obsessive. A great psychological thriller.

[@shortmorgan_]

One of the only times he broke that type cast, so so good

[@susannariera]

James Stewart is always perfect, comedy, drama, western, bbf with a rabbit...one of the best actors ever.

[@texas9392]

One of my favourite Movie🙏🏽

[@DelGuy03]

Thanks for reacting to this! Among the contributors who made it the unforgettable movie it is, let's not forget the cinematography of Robert Burks and the music of Bernard Herrmann, two masters of their crafts. And the acting of that great actress Barbara Bel Geddes as Midge -- I love her character as much as you do (smart underappreciated women in glasses recur in Hitchcock, as you'll see when you get to Strangers on a Train). As for San Francisco... no, it was never a "center of moviemaking." But Hitchcock liked to shoot there, as did other directors when they could and it was appropriate. At a manageable distance from LA, it provided a very camera-ready, unique cityscape conducive to the telling of interesting stories. I hope you'll watch Rear Window. It's gradually climbing to the very top of my Hitchcock pantheon, and it offers you another James Stewart performance, other good acting, some nice bits of humor, a new approach to music, and a unique shooting "location."

[@gregall2178]

A second for Rear Window 🙂

[@henrikeatworld]

I think you would enjoy Rope, by Hitchcock, it's filmed like it's shot in one piece without cuts. It starts with a murder, (literally in the first minute, so not a spoiler) so the audience know at all times what's going on, but the characters on screen are none the wiser, it's an incredibly tense movie :)

[@stephenriggs8177]

Stewart and Novak reunited, years later, for Bell, Book and Candle, Stewart's last film as a leading man. Bell, Book and Candle was a much more lighthearted film, and it was lots of fun.

[@johnny-vu6rl]

it actually came out the same year!

[@dimitrisnikoloulis4071]

The top one classic film by Master Hitchcock. James Stewart and Kim Novak bearing the film as the protagonistic dynamic duo. The plot is so extrordinary builded up not only in script but to the cinematography. The vertigo effects ( dolly zoom ) at camera so brilliant performed . The subtle soundtrack of Bernard Herrmann makes the film so captivating. Credits to Saul Bass for his brilliant opening visual titles. Bass , Hitchcock and Herrmann did it again 2 years later, with Psycho. 1960!

[@Fanfanbalibar]

I totally agree with this analysis since the 1st time in 1959 in Parus (France) when at age 15 I watched it for the first time !

[@Fanfanbalibar]

Read "PARIS", not the wrong spelling !

[@erikalars]

So fun watching your reaction to the end of this one 😂

[@gammaanteria]

"Vertigo" goes in quite a different direction relative to most Hitchcock movies--it is focusing mostly on a mood and emotion, rather than concerns of plot, action, etc. (for those concerns, the excellence lies in films like "Rear Window" and "North by Northwest"). The screenwriter of "Vertigo," Samuel Taylor (in the accompanying DVD documentary) said it quite well: "In those first talks, we decided that the more emotion there was in the man [Jimmy Stewart/Scotty], the stronger the picture would be...and he [Hitchcock] found without even thinking about it, that he was making a picture that went much deeper than most of his pictures. Just because the basic story--not the plot!--but the basic story, had a true human emotion." It is interesting here that Taylor distinguishes between 'story' and plot. I find there is a real darkness underlying it: its themes of trauma and guilt, trying to resurrect and recover a profound loss, trying to 'fix' the past and make it right again, and the irony that who Scotty pined for, the wellspring of all this infatuation and obsession--Madeleine--was an illusion that never really existed in the first place.

[@Fanfanbalibar]

excellent analysis !

[@krisbrown6692]

This is my favorite Hitchcock film. I just really love the camera effect used during the vertigo scenes, such a simple technique but so effective.

[@peteriuliano5846]

the city of san francisco lovingly rendered and the beautiful cinematography

[@garybrockie6327]

Let me recommend Hitchcock’s Notorious from 1946.

[@jtt6650]

San Francisco is a beautiful mysterious city, that’s why and I think the shade is kelly green.

[@edwardtoyebo9690]

I have this on BluRay. Vertigo was filmed in VistaVision, where, instead of Up to Down, the filmstrips inside the camera went from Left to Right. This process was expensive, but the image quality was superior to other techniques at the time. The best way to watch this one, fully restored with color correction. If you can, see Vertigo in 70MM with Digital Sound on a big screen.

[@TheDaringPastry1313]

You have to watch 1954's Rear Window by Hitchcock! There is a modern film that follows the same type of formula, but don't want to say it in case you have seen it. James Stewart is in it as well.

[@jennifertaylor6328]

I'd love to see a reaction to Rebecca, an earlier Hitchcock film!

[@Texpantego]

Saw this on the big screen at a revival. A totally different experience than a PC monitor.

[@euro-trashling]

San Francisco wasn't the capital of Hollywood. It was always LA and most movies/shows still for the most part took place in LA across all decades. But there's just this interesting trend where certain decades are obsessed with specific locations outside of LA. In the 50's and 60's it was SF then in the 70's and 80's it was NY, in the 90's it was NY and SF again, in the 2000's it was mostly NY too, and now it seems every show and movie takes place in LA county.

[@Uncle_T]

Your face at 19:20 - Priceless! 😁 It's a twist and a half for sure.

[@mrsnaythomas9773]

This was a good one. Rear Window is one of my favorites.

[@gregall2178]

Very happy to see you including more older films. I'd like to see your reaction to 3 of my favorites... Rear Window - Stewart and Hitchcock again... Sullivan's Travels - Comedy with a message The Best Years Of Our Lives - a good choice to recognize Veteran's Day (November 11).

[@Fanfanbalibar]

The one with Redford and Streisand???????????

[@BbB-rc1zd]

Love to see people react to oldie movie. You should try watching La Strada from Federico Fellini.

[@Fanfanbalibar]

We’ll cry….

[@laurenherda2415]

I love this film so much!!!!

[@gammaanteria]

P.S. There is a great commentary on the driving scene (where Scotty is trailing 'Madeleine' through the hilly San Francisco city streets) and Hitchcock's deliberate use of editing on KZbin called 'Spot the movie subliminals - Hitchcock's Vertigo (driving scene)' by the user Collative Learning. It is quite revelatory--I myself always wondered, over the years and the many times I had seen the movie--what the purpose of that prolonged scene was and why Scotty became frustrated!

[@joeriggi87]

love the use of color and the cinematography in this film.

[@kareningram6093]

One of my fav Hitchcock films, with one of my fav lead actors, and one of my fav composers. Great movie. I see it as like a Greek tragedy where everybody loses, even the good guys. I'm glad you noticed the usage of green. I'm not sure what it means, either, but it's spooky, isn't it? Spiral patterns are also heavily featured (the twisty hair bun, the flower bouquet, the stairwell, etc.) to play into the theme of vertigo, which is defined as "a sensation of whirling and loss of balance, associated particularly with looking down from a great height". This was also the first movie to use the Hitchcock Shot, otherwise known as the Dolly Zoom, where the background either grows or shrinks while the foreground remains static.

[@brettcoster4781]

Alfred Hitchcock was, throughout his career, heavily influenced by the few years he spent in Germany, during the silent era, at UfA. He of course built on that early experience, but the German expressionism and other techniques show in his films. He had the advantage of using colour to denote mood or plot points in his later films, and he used them very well.

[@Fanfanbalibar]

Yes, instead of stuffing our brains with useless words, words, words!

[@saudidmarie]

"Stop jumping into water!" And with that comment, I became a subscriber. 😅

[@irollerblade13]

I had to redo a scene with just photos Vertigo my first year of film school and got my two friends to do it. It was fun to direct.

[@talltulip]

The fact that Scotty took off all of Madeleine's wet clothes, including her bra and panties, so he could hang them up to dry, was MAJORLY scandalous to audiences in 1958. Also, being from the SF Bay area and having worked there for 15 years, the scenes where he is following her in the car all over San Francisco are so cool to see. I think that SF was used more in films because it has more beautiful architecture than LA has (I believe). I never lived in LA, so I'm no expert, but much of the architecture in SF is really beautiful. Plus the hills, the redwoods, the bay, the Pacific, the bridges.... all of it is so much more visually appealing than the landscapes around southern California, which is naturally an arid area. I think there may be more film noir filmed in SoCal, but those are usually in black and white, and often filmed at night, so beautiful scenery would be out of place.

[@christiandivine3807]

Spielberg was the first person to re-use the "reverse zoom" shot in JAWS.

[@sallyh5413]

Hitchcock also worked with Jimmy Stewart in 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' which in my opinion is a masterpiece, definitely check that one out. ✌

[@Ayns.L14A]

Its strangle seeing Barbara Bel Geddes (Midge in this), growing up with her as Miss Ellie from the tv show "Dallas" seeing just how pretty she was back then, Also Ellen Corby (Grandma Walton) as the hotel manager....

[@petegerardini2455]

San Francisco being used in films probably goes back to Charlie Chaplin having his studio located in Niles, along with others. Niles is now incorporated into the city of Fremont. Which is at the bottom East side of the San Francisco bay. Scenes for "Rebecca of Sunny Brook Farm" & "It Ain't Hay" were film in Pleasanton, north east of Niles. The film "When Harald Meet Maude" was shot in the Bay Area. There's a tourist map made in the '80 showing filming locations for major movies in the City, Bay Area, and down to further out locations. Like San Battista where the church tower is in Vertigo.

[@magicknight13]

I love this movie, it's absolutely phenomenal! I never noticed until you mentioned it that there is a lot of green in the film! You would enjoy watching To catch a thief also from Hitchcock, and Harvey also with James Stewart, it's such a heartwarming, hilarious and very unique movie!

[@Fanfanbalibar]

I do prefer the beautiful blonde. Than rabbits !

[@caliscribe2120]

We in Los Angeles are jealous of San Francisco because they are what we are not. San Francisco is a true city, with its own soul and personality(no matter how weird and disfunctional those maybe), while LA is a collection of hundreds of suburbs looking for a city center (and collective soul. )

[@robabiera733]

North By Northwest!

[@edwarddawson7849]

Aesthetically beautiful film.

[@lauce3998]

For me this is the best movie of ever. MASTERPIECE.

[@smadaf]

"No way that was perfectly synced up like that!" Maybe it's in front of a process-screen.

[@johnnehrich9601]

Color is subjective but I would consider "jade" to be a slightly more bluish green, that of copper oxide. I was going to call the shade here as "apple green" but that tends to be brighter and a bit more yellow. Now I'm thinking "emerald."

[@jeffbassin630]

Great review and comments on this classic Hitchcock film - considered by many to be among his best.

[@scottybelle9]

This makes a fantastic double feature with Marnie (1964) both are truly psychological thrillers. As for the color green, I always associate it with the initial cause of his vertigo. Falling in love and falling to his death are both fears for this guy. Vertigo has a lot of rewatch value because it's so densely packed. My favorite scene is the red bar scene. It's a room without an entrance or an exit -- Novak seems to vanish into the wall. The burning intensity of the light as she poses in perfect profile. And there's no heed paid to the 180-degree rule because we're not meant to pay attention to the physical placement of the characters. It's all about their emotional state. A great film.

[@glennopenshaw7837]

They pay homage to that opening shot of him climbing up the ladder on the roof in The Matrix. When the cops climb up the ladder on the roof chase. It's shot almost exactly the same.

[@Divamarja_CA]

I’m going to add a bit more color & background on the Bay Area (native). 1. Hitchcock and his family kept a house in the Santa Cruz Mountains (45 miles south of SF, maybe?) and was up this way on a regular basis. Shooting on location would have been easy for him! 2. While SF was never an epicenter of filmmaking, about 30 miles SE was Niles. Niles was one of the shooting locations of the Essanay Film Co (its other locale was Chicago) from roughly 1915-1919, before rolling up and everyone moving down to LA. In Niles you’d see Charlie Chaplin, Bronco Billy Anderson, Norma Talmadge, Mary Pickford, etc. it was in Niles that Chaplin introduced his Tramp persona. 3. Niles, incorporated into Fremont about 65 years ago, has the Essanay Silent Film Museum & Theatre, showing silent films and special programming from the 30s in their original 1916 theatre on the weekends. They’re currently in post-Covid recovery! 4. Niles has a cottage industry built around the silent film era, with weekend-long festivals for Chaplin and Bronco Billy, plus they’re involved with the annual SF Silent Film Festival. I’ve even attended a Buster Keaton film festival there!

[@StrongStyleFiction]

Technicolor just didnt capture color better than any other system before it or during olden age Hollywood, but also retained kt better as well. Eastman had a terrible issue with fading and degredation. There is an awesome documentary on Technicolor on the extras disc of the Adventures of Robin Hood blu ray. The 1938 film with Errol Flynn and an absolute classic film.

[@nealabbott6520]

green symbolizes insanity in the movie, and red symbolizes passion

[@marennicholson5444]

I had to write a shot by shot analysis of Vertigo in film school which meant I had to stop and start certain scenes over and over a million times. I haven’t been able to watch it since lol.

[@hamiltonburger4574]

If you REALLY want to see how Hitchcock utilizes "space", watch Rope. The entire movie takes place in One room and shot in One continuous take.

[@richard_n]

James I took a film class that focused on Hitchcock for the entire semester. To say the guy was ahead of his time is an understatement. Pretty much everything in his movies had some sort of significance. One of the great things he did in Vertigo was to reveal to the audience that Madeleine and Judy are the same person while the main character is in the dark. This created immense tension for the viewer because you are wondering whether John is going to find out and what will happen when he does. Hitchcock was the master at manipulating the audience. James I highly recommend that you go online and find a good college textbook on Alfred Hitchcock and read it. It will increase your filmmaking understanding exponentially.

[@facepalmedgodzilla7999]

As both a movie lover and from SF, I don't completely know why more movies back then took place in SF. My guess is a change in scenery and nice backdrops and only being a 6 hour drive or 1 hour flight away from LA was probably a factor too. Plus I'm guessing shooting in SF was more financially doable then as compared to the past couple decades where most people know it's more expensive nowadays unfortunately

[@jimbowie2976]

Niles Canyon in Fremont Ca. was where many of the movies were made before they moved to Hollywwod around 1918. Beautiful Still Today

[@jimbowie2976]

Need nothing! Keep up the good work.

[@Pancrasio-it9qd]

Great

[@jamespepper8671]

San Francisco in 1958 was the center of the West Coast. All of the troops that fought in world war II went through San Franisco. Everyone who went west probably was there at one time or another, it had a large population of new yorkers there and the city streets were perfect for filming city scenes. And you have these missions nearby, the roads, are treachorus. The scene with the tree and the waves in the background, that is a famous tree in Pebble Beach. Most actors had their homes all long the coast going into Oregon. LA was just not as iconic as San Francisco. All the troops that went to Korea also were sent through San Francisco. The flights on the Pan Am clippers went through San Francisco on the way to Hawaii.

[@johnmavroudis2054]

Love your commentary, as usual... Love the fact that you're thinking like a director, and I feel I learn a lot from your thoughts. Some other classic films you'll love: "A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH" (by the brilliant British directing duo of Powell and Pressburger), "FAIL SAFE" (incredible Nuclear showdown film starring Henry Fonda and directed by Sidney Lumet), "SEVEN DAYS IN MAY" (another brilliant turn from Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster & Ava Gardner, directed by the great John Frankenheimer), ...speaking of Frankenheimer... he directed one of the truly great films in "THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE" (It's AMAAAAAAAZING... Frank Sinatra in his greatest role... and a plot that will blow your mind)... Finally... a couple of more contemporary films that are brilliant: "PLEASANTVILLE" and "STRANGER THAN FICTION"... Cheers!

[@xmtryanx]

Please give North by Northwest a shot.... it's one of Hitchcocks best, and such an amazing comedy!

[@jamiefuller8100]

My personal favorite collaboration between Hitchcock and Stewart is Rope

[@steveshute3810]

The opening scene of The Matrix definitely seems like an homage to the opening scene of Vertigo.

[@Fanfanbalibar]

Really?

[@celinhabr1]

Freaking brilliant movie!

[@jonc2648]

For Hitchcock Technicolor check out The Man Who Knew Too Much (also a Jimmy Stewart film). North By Northwest also.

[@lepuuttelu]

To me it's clear that at the end, she simply got frightened and startled by the figure coming in from the shadows. Her already agitated state presumably exacerbated this reaction.

[@Fanfanbalibar]

Sûre, that was enough to have her fall….