American Film Institute's Top 100 Films: No. 9That's the kind of greeting a girl likes! Not this "Hello-you-look-wonderful" stuff, just a good straight "Who do you know that's an authority on San Francisco's history?" - Midge Wood
Like many of Hitchcock's films, Vertigo was enjoyable, suspenseful and.... confusing. For me at least. In typical Hitchcock fashion, the film featured a case of mistaken identity. Regardless of the plot twists that left me questioning (I eventually did catch on) it was undoubtably one of his finer films.
It was nice to see Jimmy Stewart in a role other than George Bailey. After being subjected to It's A Wonderful Life over and over again when I was younger, I have had a great distain for the actor. Yet, watching him here in a completely different role - one nothing sort of an obsessive sexual predator - it was a great experience. His drawl still irks me, but his acting is quite good. One character I enjoyed, and was sad to see did not have a larger role, was Barbara Bel Geddes' Midge. She added the humor element to the film, although being a scary movie, much humor was not needed. I especially enjoyed the exchange between her and Scottie about the bra being designed by an aeronautical engineer - a reference to Howard Hughes, who had a bra specifically designed for one of his films to feature ..... well you know.
The camera angles, score and simple camera effects all enhanced the viewing greatly. Even now that the film is over, I have some unanswered questions - but that makes the film that much better. Definitely one I would re-watch. As always, it was fun looking for Hitch's cameo, although I missed it. For any future viewers, it's around 11 minutes into the movie. Great plot, great twists, good suspense.
3.5 stars out of 5
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