If you missed my first post where I explain what this is and how I’m scoring things, here you go.
This movie might have both the most evil movie character of all time, and the dumbest movie character of all time, but I’m not completely sure, so I’m going to talk it out here. Vertigo is a 1958 Alfred Hitchcock movie that stars Jimmy Stewart as detective John “Scottie” Ferguson. The movie introduces Scottie through a flashback where he and his partner are in pursuit of a suspect, when his partner falls from the roof of a highrise to his death. Scottie soon after retires from the police force because the incident causes him to suffer from acrophobia and vertigo.
Soon after, Scottie goes to meet up with an old acquaintance from college, a man named Gavin Elster. Gavin Elster is my nominee here for most evil movie character of all time, but to explain, I have to go into extreme spoiler territory, so if you don’t want a 66 year old movie spoiled for you, stop here.
Elster wants to hire Scottie to follow his wife, Madeleine, who he claims has been acting strange. Scottie accepts, and follows Madeleine to the grave of Carlotta Valdes, and then to the Legion of Honor art museum, where she spends time looking at the “Portrait of Carlotta.” Scottie inquires with a local historian about the life of this Carlotta Valdes, and he learns that Carlotta killed herself after her husband took their child and kicked her out of the house. Elster is concerned that Carlotta is possessing Madeleine, as Madeleine happens to be Carlotta’s great-granddaughter. Scottie continues to follow Madeleine, who he catches jumping into the San Francisco Bay. He pulls her out, and the two begin spending time together. A few days later, Madeleine recounts a nightmare that she had, which reminds Scottie of Mission San Juan Bautista, which was Carlotta’s childhood home. Once there, Madeleine runs away to ring the bell in the bell tower. Scottie, chasing after her, freezes because of his vertigo. When he comes to, he looks out the window to see Madeleine falling to her death.
So far, pretty crazy, right? Well it gets a little crazier, and I’ll get into that when I talk about the categories:
Entertainment Value- 2/2
After Madeleine’s death, Scottie, who had fallen in love with Madeleine, becomes depressed, and begins going to places where Madeleine would frequently go. On one of his stops, he sees a woman who reminds him of Madeleine. He follows her, and asks if he can ask her some questions. She introduces herself as Judy Barton, but a flashback shows us what really happened at the mission. When “Madeleine” ran up the stairs and got to the top, Gavin Elster threw the real Madeleine out the window, and Elster and Judy were able to sneak away in the commotion of the aftermath.
So Gavin, knowing that his old college friend had just suffered a tragedy that left him with a horrible fear of heights, pursued Judy, just to use her in an elaborate murder plot to kill his wife, knowing that Scottie would be there to witness the events as a suicide. He then ran away to Europe without Judy, who was left with just a payment from Gavin. When Judy reunites with Scottie, though, she doesn’t push him away, or pack up and move to another city1. No, she allows him to get close, and even starts to change her appearance to look more like Madeleine before Scottie eventually puts the pieces together and takes her back to the scene of the crime to confront her. Judy confesses at the top of the bell-tower, before a nun pops out and scares her, causing her to fall to her death and the film ends.
This is the craziest movie I’ve watched for this project in a while.
Correctness- 1/2
This movie is incredibly fun and entertaining but there is not a person of color in sight.
Influence- 2/2
This movie gets two points here because it’s Alfred Hitchcock, and he’s probably one of the five or ten most influential filmmakers in Hollywood history.
It also uses San Francisco as a location in a way that makes it truly seem like the most beautiful place on Earth2, and I think it’s a truly underrated film location.
“Rewatchability”- 2/2
There have been several movies recently where I have struggled or even skipped watching the movie a second time, but as soon as Vertigo ended, I was excited to watch it again to see if it all lined up, and if I could catch any details I may have missed. I honestly almost watched it a third time, but I was already taking way too much time to do this write-up, so that third viewing will have to wait.
Technical Score- 2/2
I can’t tell you how many shots in this movie made me think “wow” because they legitimately look like paintings of San Francisco. Also, the way the movie is filmed and structured to keep the audience in the dark about the murder plot until the movie flips about halfway and puts us in the position of knowing and seeing how Scottie figures it out is really fun, so credit to the filmmakers there.
Overall- 9/10
If this isn’t my favorite movie I’ve watched for this project, it’s definitely in the top three to five. Hopefully you have a chance to check it out, because I think it’s worth it.
You can rent Vertigo on the service of your choice.
Hasta luego,
Josh
Up Next: #60 Raiders of the Lost Ark (Available on Disney+)
This is why I think she’s in the running for dumbest movie character of all time.
It’s definitely up there, in my opinion.