Five Things to Watch for in Vertigo

On December 4, Facets is screening Vertigo in 35mm, which will be followed by a Film Dialogue with detective novelist Sara Paretsky and psychologist James W. Anderson. I will leave the post-screening discussion topic up to our notable guests, but I thought I would offer a viewing guide for Vertigo. Below is a list of shots, scenes, and ideas to consider while watching the film.

1. Look for Hitchcock’s cameo appearance early in the film when Jimmy Stewart’s character goes to Gavin Elster’s office. Hitchcock walks in front of the office carrying a trumpet case. While Hitchcock’s cameos make for a fun parlor game, the real question is why he did it. Many have speculated over the years, but a point to consider is Hitchcock’s career-long quest to be recognized as the creative center of his films during an era when directors weren’t given their due. In the studio system of the Golden Age, producers had financial and creative control, while audiences went to the movies to see stars. Directors lacked the recognition they enjoy today. Like an artist’s signature on a canvas, Hitchcock’s cameos link him directly to his film, giving him a public recognition other directors envied.

2. Hitchcock was not pleased with the letter-writing scene after seeing the final cut screened before a preview audience. He cut it over the objections of other members of the production staff. The film was financed and released through Paramount Pictures, and when Paramount president Barney Balaban discovered the additional edit, he ordered the letter-writing scene restored. While watching Vertigo, try to imagine the film without the scene. Who do you think was right? Hitchcock or Balaban?

3. Hitchcock used the star image of Jimmy Stewart to add to the complexity of his character. During the Golden Age, when the star system and the images of stars were a primary part of the film industry, audiences were accustomed to viewing a movie character through the lens of the star’s image. The star system has since evolved and eroded; today, we are accustomed to viewing a character as a performance by a star, and we judge it on believability or credibility. Stewart’s star image was as the everyman who was the moral center of the film. He was the nice guy with integrity and principles who put women on a pedestal, an image that was cemented in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. During the 1950s, he purposefully accepted roles that tweaked that image, including Vertigo. For audiences of the era, part of the shock of this film—and Rear Window to some degree—was to see Jimmy Stewart doing things onscreen that went against his star image. Hitchcock manipulated audience expectations of Stewart to make his sexually obsessed character seem less and less sympathetic as the story unfolded.

4. Color is important in the film, not for purposes of realism but because of color symbolism. Hitchcock used green in Vertigo to suggest something other-worldly or uncanny, perhaps because of an old stage tradition in which ghosts were depicted in green lighting. In Vertigo, it is associated with Kim Novak’s character. When Scottie first sees Madeleine in Ernie’s Restaurant, she wears a dramatic green wrap; later, in his apartment, as he becomes more withdrawn from the outside world and immersed in his dreamy obsession, Scottie wears a green sweater. Judy, who seems to be the ghost of Madeleine, first appears wearing a green dress, and her cheap room is illuminated at night by the building’s green neon sign. Green is not only a symbol for the uncanny but its repeated use serves as a warning for audiences that something is not right with Madeleine, Judy, or Scottie’s unhealthy attraction to them. 

  5. Hitchcock made his first two films in Germany during the Expressionist era of the 1920s. His visual symbols, style, and themes owe much to this artistic and cinematic movement. The most obvious in Vertigo is the spiral shape. To the Expressionists, spirals symbolized chaos and disorder. The opening credits of Vertigo feature a spiral emerging from a woman’s eye, telegraphing the idea that the chaos of this film stems from a woman. As Scottie observes Madeleine in the museum sitting in front of a portrait of her ancestor, the camera zooms in on the back of her head to reveal a tightly wound bun that mimics a spiral. Vertigo also uses a type of shot that the Germans invented, which is a winding staircase filmed from above. This type of shot, which is now a cliché in horror films or thrillers, is from the perspective of someone standing on the top floor looking downward as the stairs wind around in a spiral shape. This type of shot suggests chaos, or something spinning out of control. The most jarring spiral in Vertigo is the one formed by the winding stairs of the bell tower as revealed from Scottie’s perspective. As he chases Madeleine up the stairs, his acrophobia takes over, and he loses control of the situation.

For more information on the Vertigo screening, click here. As studios are sounding the death knell of 35mm, it is getting harder to see classics projected on film, which was the way they were intended to be seen. If you would like to see more of this type of programming at Facets, please support our efforts by attending.   –Susan Doll