John "Scottie" Ferguson is a San Francisco cop who decides to quit the service after his acrophobia results in him being unable to save the life of a colleague. Whilst taking it easy he gets a call from an old school friend, Gavin Elster, asking him if he wouldn't mind doing a little bit of detective work for him. The job is simply to tail his wife because she's obsessed with an ancestress who committed suicide, and the wife, Madeline, is showing signs of herself being suicidal. Ferguson tails her diligently and as the tail progresses, Ferguson himself starts to become ever obsessed about the demur blonde Madeline. As the story twists and turns, Ferguson's obsession will have far reaching consequences for both parties...

Vertigo is Alfred Hitchcock's most discussed, dissected and critically reappraised film, based on a novel by Pierre Boileau called D'Entre Les Morts, (also writer of Diabolique),Vertigo was not well liked on its release and unable to be viewed for some time due to copyright, the film was restored from a destroyed negative into a glorious 70mm print, and now in all its glory it can be seen as one of the greatest films to have ever been made. What is most striking about Vertigo, outside of Hitchcock baring his innermost that is, is that its plot on the surface is simplicity personified, but delving deeper, and repeat viewings are a necessity, its apparent that Vertigo is a chilling force of cinema, taking great delight in gnawing away at your perceptions, perhaps even your own capabilities as a human being.

Very much a film of two great halves, Vertigo first seems intent on being an almost ghost story like mystery. Once the prologue has introduced us to Ferguson's fear of heights, we then enter an almost dream like sequence of events as Ferguson tails the troubled Madeline, the suggestion of reincarnation bleakly leading to death hangs heavy as Hitchcock pulls his atmospheric strings. Then the film shifts into dark territory as obsessions and nods to Dante's Inferno and feverish dreams take control, Hitchcock, as we have come to learn over the years, lays out his soul for us the audience to partake in, the uneasy traits sitting side by side with fascination of the story. All of which is leading us to a spine tingling finale that is as hauntingly memorable as it is shocking, the end to our own dizzying journey that Alfred and his team have taken us on.

Technically the film is magnificent, the opening credits from Saul Bass brilliantly prep us for what is about to unfold, while Bernard Herrmann's score is as good as anything he ever did, unnerving one minute, swirlingly romantic the next, a truly incredible score. Hitchcock himself is firing from the top draw, introducing us to the brilliant zoom-forward-track-back camera technique to induce the feeling of Vertigo itself, with that merely a component of two hours of gorgeous texture lined with disturbing little peccadilloes. The two leads are arguably doing their respective career best work, James Stewart as Scottie Ferguson goes real deep to play it out with an edgy believability that decries his aw-shucks trademark of years since past. Kim Novak as Madeline is perhaps the quintessential Hitchcock blonde, perfect with the duality aspects of the role and playing off Stewart's ever creepy descent with seamlessly adroit skill. It however should be noted that Hitchcock and his loyal subjects had to work hard to get Novak right for the role, but the result proves that Novak had ability that sadly wasn't harnessed on too many other occasions.

Vertigo is a film that I myself wasn't too taken with on my first viewing, it's only during revisits that the piece has come to grab me by the soul and refuse to let go, it not only holds up on revisits, it also gets better with each subsequent viewing, it is simply a film that demands to be seen as many times as possible. Not only one of the greatest American films ever made, one of the greatest films ever made...period, so invest your soul in it, just the way that Hitchcock himself so clearly did. 10/10

It's rather strange that this film was a box office flop, as it's one of Alfred Hitchcock's better movies. The only problem with "Vertigo" is that in order to really enjoy it, you need to turn off your brain and just accept the movie. If you think the plot out TOO MUCH, you'll find yourself asking too many questions and not just enjoying the film...like my oldest daughter did.

The film is the story of a somewhat creepy ex-cop (James Stewart). When the film begins, he's emotionally scarred in an accident-an accident that leaves him with a HUGE case of psychologically-based vertigo. He decides to quit the job and is soon approached by an old friend--who wants to hire him to follow his emotionally disturbed wife. What happens next is very weird--and later becomes really creepy. I could say A LOT more but think it's best you just see the film--it has quite a few twists and turns that are bound to catch you by surprise.

Overall, a wonderfully original film. The only deficit, for some, is that although Stewart was a wonderful actor, he was too old for this role. Still, I could look past this and enjoyed it immensely.

I am a massive Hitchcock fan; this great director ain't called the Master of Suspense for nothing. Anyway, Vertigo is one of the truly great Hitchcocks. It is a thriller of undeniable complexity not only in plot but also in characterisation. It is implausible too i give you that. I will admit the first time I saw this, I didn't understand this, then again this is the sort of film that you need to see more than once. In all departments, this movie is a masterpiece and my all time favourite Hitchcock. For those who say this is the worst movie ever, you would beg to differ if you saw genuine crapfests like Disaster Movie, Home Alone 4, NeverEnding Story 3 and Superbabies:Baby Geniuses 2. They are a trillion times worse than this without a shadow of a doubt.

What makes this movie great? When I re watched this, I got goosebumps. It is quite chilling, suspenseful and extremely haunting. The complex plot tells of a retired cop with a terror of heights who is hired by Gavin Elster to follow his suicidal wife. In the end, he falls in love with her but can't stop her falling to her death. Months later he sees a woman bearing strong resemblance to her, and is drawn into a web of deceit and obsession. There are so many strong moments here, especially Scotty following Madeline up the tower only to witness her falling to her death, but also of the San Francissco locations giving a dreamlike quality to an already dark and complex movie. The screenplay is sophisticated and sharp as well. And I have to mention Bernard Hermann's score, it was phenomenal, along with Miklos Rosza's score for Spellbound and Hermann's for Psycho this is the most memorable score in any Hitchcock film, and is guaranteed to have your hairs standing up on the back of your necks.

The direction from Hitchcock is simply masterly. The cinematography isn't dated at all. It is stylish and full of contrasts of dark and bright colours, and is also very brooding and intense. I had very little problem with the film's pace and length; in fact let me rephrase that I had no problem with it. I felt actually that Torn Curtain had a much slower pace, and for me that film while good is one of my least favourite Hitchcock movies. The acting I thought was exceptional. Kim Novak starts off a little wooden, but she is certainly very beautiful and enigmatic. In the duel role of the suicidal wife and the woman bearing resemblance to her, she does an in general excellent job, considering both are extremely demanding roles. About James Stewart, whether he was a racist I don't know, but simply I don't care. Whether you are racist or not, it shouldn't matter when it comes to acting and films. What matters is that Stewart was a great actor who rarely gave a bad performance. In this film, he gives one of his best performances, shattering his Mister-Nice-Guy persona with a dark, brooding and truly complex characterisation. Barbara Bel Geddes also gives a terrific performance as Midge.

All in all, a superb film, that deserves recognition as one of Hitchcock's best films. Seriously, it is one of the most effective depictions of romantic fatalism in all of cinema. An unforgettable masterpiece, 10/10 Bethany Cox