Hitchcock Retrospective – Vertigo Review

Hi, this is John Delancey and you are listening

to the GeekCast Radio Network. Hello and welcome

to episode 211 of the Cinema Geeks. I'm one of

your Cinema Geeks Optima Solo and joining me

today, as he usually is, the Comic Concierge.

How we doing, Dan? that are you Maybe tap it

a little bit to the left for the next shot. But

she was doing this real interesting thing where

like she would set the ball at the top of the

ramp and then she would back up a step. And for

someone who's never seen like Dragon Ball Z,

she was she was summoning some type of power

from somewhere with both hands and then would

like do like a walk up and then hit the ball

very softly and then it would go down the ramp

and do its thing. So the first time she hit Two

or three pins and you would have thought she

would have just like won the world series she

was ecstatic so that was worth it so Today we

are back at it making another step through our

Alfred Hitchcock retrospective We just covered

rear window last week and we are now on number

seven of the films We've covered in his filmography

and today we're dealing with the 1958 american

psychological thriller which i feel like the

descriptions for his films are not that there's

no point. They're they're all similar genre right

like they're all some type of thriller or suspense

so this one is vertigo obviously one of his most

famous films. I'm based on nineteen fifty four

novel as a lot of his films were based on novels

or plays or things of that nature. The novel

in english was called from among the dead. A

screenplay by Alec Koppel and Samuel A. Taylor,

and this one stars Jimmy Stewart, which we've

seen before here a couple times as a former San

Francisco police detective who has retired after

an incident in the line of duty which caused

him to develop an extreme fear of heights accompanied

by vertigo. He is hired as a private investigator

to report on the strange behavior of an acquaintance's

wife who was played by Kim Novak. As we talked

about in episode 210, Dan, this is a re -watch

for both of us. I believe there's only two of

the films we're covering this entire time that

are rewatches for both of us. That would be Rear

Window and Vertigo. So why don't you reiterate

or tell the listeners again what your experience

is was with Vertigo and kind of how that led

into your impression this time on the rewatch.

Like you mentioned, I did see it before, but

it was over 10 years ago. It was quite some time

over a decade, probably 13, 14 years ago. When

I mentioned last time when I first watched it,

you know, I I didn't have it didn't hit me I

didn't walk away like odd By it like so many

people are you know, it's it's tough So it was

weird going into it this time because on one

hand I have my past experience where I had mixed

feelings towards it on the other hand You obviously

have this is what a if I stop movie of all time.

It is loved by so many So it's like I had competing

expectations going in it going into it Be watching

it. Uh, I will say be watching it a second time

I definitely enjoyed it more this time around

than the first time I think for I didn't remember

much of it. Honestly, like I like watching it

It was almost like watching it the first time

because there was very little that stuck with

me for whatever reason but You know going through

it. It was interesting like going through this

retrospective because There's so many movies.

I try not to do it, but I keep comparing it to

other films but going into this and with those

expectations, those mixed expectations, there

were elements certainly that I appreciated with

the movie. I think I can understand where so

many, especially directors, love this film because

I think Hitchcock is doing a lot of interesting

things here. We can get into that. But my apprehension

or the thing that stopped me from loving it or

or having that same type of admiration. The center

of this movie, it's a love story really, a weird

love story, but a love story nonetheless. And

that love story between James Stewart's character

and Kim Novak, it is the driving force of the

film. And I never connected with it. And the

movie I kept going back to was notorious. And

I found I saw a lot of comparisons with those

two films because Like notorious you have a character

who has a job to do and during that job he ends

up falling in love with the person he's supposed

to be you know protecting or whatever you want

to say and similar situations here Where I found

the love story notorious very captivating and

felt like the chemistry was there Here it just

felt awkward and I know maybe that's part of

it because it is an awkward situation and like

the convoluted nature of what's really happening,

but I never really I Don't know. I understood

James Jim Stewart's or Jimmy Stewart's like admiration

for her but like that I never felt that returned

and Beyond, you know, appreciating it on a technical

level, score is amazing. It's so strong. I was

actually listening to watching this in the living

room and my son came out and said, can you turn

that down? The music is making me so tense. I

can't, it was bothering him so much. And he wasn't

watching it. He just heard the music. And I think

it was, it was very effective score, but I don't

know. I didn't, I couldn't connect with it. I,

I, to me, you know, I don't want to say this

is the worst movie we've seen in this retrospective.

I don't think there's a bad film yet, but I didn't

walk away from this thinking this is, and this

is a bad thing to put on anything, like one of

the best movies I've ever seen. I can understand

there's some impressive use of the camera, some

interesting techniques that Alfred Hitchcock

is using, but I was never wowed. I was never

enthralled. And this is a thriller, but I don't

think I was never thrilled by it because I just

couldn't get invested. In its central romance.

This is the central narrative that was driving

it and maybe you have to let that go But I couldn't

so because of that I walked away a bit mixed

All right. So like you I had seen this before

a little bit longer of a time stretch in between

because I want to say this is probably close

to At least 20 years ago when I saw it the first

time as I talked about this is one of the ones

that I actually watched with my mom which we

didn't watch a ton of movies together like in

my Teenage to adult years like we watched obviously

a ton of films together growing up as a youngster

But we didn't do a lot of watching films together

As we were both adults, I guess you could say

so we decided to go through and we watched, you

know quite a few old classic AFI Films that reached

its top 100 this rear window citizen Kane 2001

a space odyssey we watched Philadelphia story,

you know a couple a couple like that. I'm missing

a few um, Chinatown, et cetera. And like you,

I had very not negative reactions from the first

time I saw it. It was more of a confused reaction,

I guess, because when I watched it the first

time, I, I didn't understand the love. I understood

the like, I understood it being revered as a

good film. that I would never take question with.

But at the time, I didn't understand why it was

ranked as high as it was on so many different

lists. So I was underwhelmed, or I guess, or

maybe the expectations were just too high for

it to meet on the first watch. So I was very

interested coming into this with having much

lower expectations now because I knew I hadn't

really gone for it hook line and sinker the first

time. So I kind of came into this, the bar was

lower. So I thought, Having that, you know, it

might be very similar to What I experienced with

the rear window in a way where I actually really

enjoyed that film the first time but even so

watching it the second time within this retrospective

having the conversations with you looking at

it as we went through some of this other films

like it got elevated even more for me when we

watched it last week and so I was anticipating

or curious if vertigo would do the same thing

for me on a second watch and Unfortunately, if

we have any listeners left, we're probably going

to make them mad because it didn't work for me

this time either. I agree that there's, I don't,

I would never call this a bad film first off.

So if I come across in any way negative during

this record, I'm still not saying this is a bad

film. Like you said, I don't think we've seen

what I would call a bad film in this journey.

Maybe it's rough because I We just covered her

rear window last week and I just go for that

one so much that it was hard to come right after

that one. But I respect the camera work. I respect

the filming of this story and how all the technical

aspects are done. The score is good. I think

the acting performances are for the most part

great. I think. Jimmy Stewart in this is. I don't

think there's many things you could say bad about

his performance here. I definitely would prefer

this performance over his performance in Rope.

I don't think I would take this performance over

his performance in rear window, but I think he's

good. I think it's like that's like a one A1B

conversation as far as like his performances

go. I think that's great. I think Novak is actually

really fun to watch and interesting to watch.

Especially with what she's tasked to do in this

film, which is like almost play three characters

in a way so like I not like literally but like

there's definitely like three different parts

of her character and I think it's very interesting

how she takes that on and That I think she's

pretty successful with that There was definitely

some moments about the story that I had forgotten

when especially when it came to her character

that Had forgotten and were like new to me again

on this rewatch most of the other bits and pieces

I had remembered there was just a couple things

that Came about that. I was like, oh, yeah, I

forgot they did this or something of that nature.

What? Makes it not work for me overall though

as far as like on I say not work I mean like

not work as like something I would put as the

best film of all time and that in that like framework

number one is And maybe it's because we've just

covered a number of Hitchcock films and and most

of them are thrillers or suspensions as we mentioned

like I don't think we've watched one so far that

is not considered with one of those two words

and What we really talked about especially with

39 steps notorious like the first like Two three

four films that we covered. I think we mentioned

it a number of times in those episodes. We may

not have mentioned it as much in the more recent

episodes, but that doesn't make it not true.

But in those first films that we covered, I think

we both really enjoyed how the pacing worked

and how it seemed like there was not a dull moment.

There was not a lull. Not saying that movies

can't have those. Like sometimes you need that

to like digest. You need that to like ponder

on what the movie's saying and things of that

nature. But I felt like in this film, more than

any of the other ones we've watched, there were

some moments and times throughout the movie that

we were going at a slower pace and I don't 100

% know if it was necessary or that there were

certain things that lulled me almost out of it

didn't take me out of the movie I don't I think

that's too strong but just like made me appreciate

how much I liked the pacing and like the the

lack of wasted moments And again, wasted is probably

too strong of a word too, but I think you get

what I'm saying a little bit. Like I just felt

like there was moving, it was moving at a brisk

or pace or at least at a giving us scenes and

moments that all felt like they were important.

Like when you go back through some of those earlier

films, there's, and if you were tasked to like

do like a re cut or a re edit it, like I don't

think there's many moments you take out of any

of those films. I'm not saying I, I'm not saying

I can key in on moments that I would take out

of this film. But I just got the feeling that

there was something with that. It was making

it drag for me a little bit. Did you have that

effect at all on you? None. No, I can see where

you're coming from, because there's a lot of

silence in this movie, like even more so than

like rear window. There's like there's because,

you know, Jim Jimmy Stewart, it's cameras following

him. He's following her. And it's a lot of him

driving. And there's a lot of shots of him driving

and all the focus is completely on. Him and it's

a lot of them just going around him observing

and it's interesting watching this right after

we're window because there's there's so much

observation within this compared to Along with

with a rear window. I think the difference here

though is there's not as much happening in that

observation because you're Yeah, that person

and it's in those scenes like it is there's it's

a lot of like, you know That's what we're gonna

drive over here Go to the cemetery, go to the

flower shop and it becomes a bit repetitive.

Uh, so I could, I, I do think those scenes, the

sense of like, you know, editing, uh, today compared

to back then, like it, or even some of the films

that we've gone through so far, he did allow

those scenes to just kind of have just a steady

flow to them where we're going to watch this

car go from point A to point B and that's it.

That's going to be like a good, a good drive

up and. Uh, so I I do think and i've mentioned

before I do appreciate his patience as a director

because I don't think people talk about that

a lot and we we've seen it with rear window and

we saw it here, but I guess What the difference

is here, I guess And there isn't as much I think

in the sense of what's within that patience Like

not much is happening. It's a lot of just watching

this woman and I think you know, the point there

is obviously you're trying to Show that obsession.

So he's slowly kind of being captivated by her.

Yeah. Like, but, but when, for me, when not like

not buying that relationship or like just feeling

it almost more awkward than anything, it, it

didn't lead to it. It didn't lead to anything

grandiose or where it felt like it, I don't know.

I could understand. Cause like you said, it,

it definitely takes time, but I don't feel like

it ended up. getting any place eventually that

I was all that enthralled with compared to past

films. And I'm not saying I need something that's

like going a mile a minute or action upon action.

It just felt like there was some moments where

I didn't understand why we were, I guess, pausing

as much. I mean, I know some of it's intentional.

Well, I mean, all of it's probably intentional,

but I get like some of it makes sense and some

of it adds to some of the feel of the film. And

it's not that it was slow. It was just like it.

it felt slow. Like there's a difference between

being slow and feeling slow to me. And I'm actually

with you 100 % on the relationship between Kim

Novak and Jimmy Stewart's character. Like I guess

I had forgotten a little bit of how that comes

about in the film. And I was watching this with

my wife and I literally leaned over to her as

soon as he, as soon as I think they, I don't

know if it was when they kissed for the first

time or whatever the case may be, but I leaned

over to her and was like, oh, well, I guess they've

fallen in love really quickly and oddly. It just

seemed like I didn't buy the lead up to it. Yes,

he was watching her and things of that nature,

but there wasn't enough to me interactions between

the two that... Developed that enough for me

to buy it and then I didn't think the chemistry

Was there as much as I've seen with some of his

other characters in their relationship, so I'm

with you a hundred percent on that that Didn't

work for me either And it kind of and I get like

kind of it makes sense because obviously she's

playing a part She's supposed she wants him to

fall in love with him. So that's part of it It's

like that's kind of the whole plan, but then

she was supposed to also actually fall in love

with him Right now within that and I don't know

if it's just maybe like if it's just Looking

through it too much with modernized, but it's

also like no she's in her early 20s here. He's

49 It's also made me feel really old because

he's 49 talking about retiring. I'm like that's

one definitely lives in a different economy than

we do but uh But yeah, it's interesting though

because in rear window she's this there's a similar

age difference, but it doesn't yeah come across

quite the same Yeah, I think to that that relationships

were in better because we talked about like just

you know it one they have better chemistry and

I think I don't know like I'm not gonna say but

you know Jimmy Stewart had a bad performance,

but I'll be even like going back and reading

some of the Reviews because when this first came

out, it actually was far more mixed It was one

of his more mixed films and throughout time like

in a sense of like reaction from critics and

then as time went on it became It became more

lauded and things like that So I mean, you know,

we're having a similar reaction and looking at

some of those people did say like Jimmy Stewart

in some places He acted really big here in times

and I don't know if that always worked per se

I can see that So there's another thing too.

Like I know everybody always says it's the what

is it? It's the the how It is not the what it

is or whatever the the Ebert quote Siskel or

Ebert quote is that it's not necessarily you

shouldn't get stuck in the details of a film

or some of the you know plot holes or different

things like that like you're supposed to feel

and like enjoy that and I understand that to

a point however I do have a problem when there's

some things within the storytelling or plot mechanics

to me that just when they don't make sense it

it in this case it does take me out of the film

a little bit so and we're going to refer to a

couple different things here, but the main one,

which is the exact and I even knew it was coming

and I still had the exact same reaction. So they

open this film up. With his. Telling or kind

of a replaying of what is causing him to have

this extreme fear of heights and vertigo, right?

Like they they they lay the groundwork for that

perfectly. I'm fine. I'm there 100%, right? Like

I feel that. the tension, I feel where it's coming

from, I buy why he's having this dilemma and

this situation from a mental and physical aspect,

right? Get all that. Then they have a sequence

in his friend's apartment, I believe it is. I'm

gonna get the character's name wrong here. Midge,

is that his friend? Marjorie or Midge, right?

So then there's a scene between her and Scotty

here, and they're, they're discussing this vertigo

and the dizziness and whatnot. And then they're

talking about taking these little steps, right?

And he's stepping up on a step stool that has

three steps, I believe. And he's talking about

being able to do it little by little and he steps

on the one and then he steps on the two. And

then he gets on the third one, gets a little

overconfident immediately the vertigo and the

dizziness kicks in and he's basically falling

off of the step stool or having an episode, right?

And I'm buying it now even you know, I'm still

with it. Like I understand why it happened I'm

seeing it them showing it like how much it's

gonna handicap him and how much it's gonna restrict

his abilities and I'm there for all of that and

Then they immediately well, maybe not immediately

but like within a very short time have sequences

where he is going upstairs or Looking over cliffs

and doing all this other stuff and there's no

sign of him being scared or having vertigo or

anything else and It seems like it's very convenient

for me when they play that note and when they

don't and I don't understand why they don't play

it at every instance not because it would become

repetitive but because Like we've we've laid

the groundwork that he can't even go up three

steps on a stepladder So there's moments when

he's way higher than that and It's not affecting

him and that bothers me. It takes me out of a

film in that respect because now I'm Anticipating

it happening every time he puts himself in that

situation and when it doesn't It doesn't make

sense to me from a story standpoint. I know that's

getting like really like bogged down in the details

or like Letting something that shouldn't bother

me bother me, but they do it almost immediately

and then they do it like two or three more times

Yeah, I didn't have an issue with that because

I I took it as it wasn't the three steps of the

step stool It was he got off the three steps

and then it caused him to look down Outside the

window and it was looking down outside the window

would cause the right but there's another there's

another situation where he goes up to Up another

couple flight of stairs or something. I don't

remember if it's the same sequence or like a

little bit later, but he's he's on like a second

third Fourth floor of whatever a building at

some point. I can't remember if it's an apartment

or if it's one of the other buildings But he

looks out of a window down towards the cars below

and it doesn't happen Yeah So like it was times

like that where I can get where he can like trick

himself into like oh I need to go up these stairs

because of something tense or something like

I feel like there's some like he does towards

the end like he's trying to go up the stairs

because not the end I guess the the first time

you think it's about to be the end when he's

going up the the stairs at the wherever the farmhouse

or whatever you want to call that like he has

moments where the pressure or the the suspense

of the moment or the the dire need of the moment

will will require him to do that and he does

it in a way like that he's triggered into doing

it without remembering that he has the condition

and then he'll look down and then and they do

show that at times where all of a sudden once

he realizes what he's doing or where he's at

or how high he is it happens But there's other

times where he's going up that way and then even

looks out windows down like a couple of floors

and there's no sign of his dizziness or vertigo.

And for some reason, that's a big hang up with

me. I don't know why. I honestly didn't notice

it. It wasn't. Gotcha. The other thing that bothers

me in this one is I feel like there's very convenient

times where certain characters are either completely

dropped from the story or picked up with like

It seems like specifically Midge and Gavin. So

Gavin is playing Kim Novak's husband and Midge

is playing John Ferguson or Jimmy Stewart's,

I guess, former relationship slash best friend,

we could call her. And I didn't understand or

100 % get on board with how much of those guys,

those two characters come and go. to the point

where we have a scene or a sequence where Scottie

has basically had a breakdown more so than he

was already having, like when he believes there's

something tragic that's happened and he's basically

in a, I would call that a psych ward or maybe

not a psych ward, but you know, some type of

medical building where he's trying to recover

from his depression or kind of like almost like

a catatonic state. And at that point, they decide

to bring Midge back into the story. She's been

gone for a while, but they bring her back in

the story. She's caring for him, like meeting

with the doctors, trying to make sure he's okay,

like doing all of this stuff, like going above

and beyond to try to like help him recover from

this. And then after that sequence, we never

see her for the rest of the movie. And it seems

to me. weird Like I don't know if there was a

sequence I got cut that was supposed to be in

the film later but it's it's weird to do that

and have her like Putting forth all that time

and then it's not like they don't have a they

don't have a blowing up They don't have a like

a difference of a they don't have falling out.

They don't have a There's nothing after that

Like we immediately switched to a sequence where

he's recovered apparently from all that and she

just is gone from the movie Yeah, I guess I didn't

yeah, go ahead but no go ahead I To me. I just

took that cuz she asked the doctor how long it's

gonna take six months to a year I took it as

maybe she just at that point is like she she

was there dropped him off, but it wasn't necessarily

Her role to stay there the entire time. So I

just took it as you know I can see that she's

I kind of wish they would have done something

then like something to like show like maybe on

her way out or like something that signified

that she was wiping her hands of it or giving

up on him or something, even though I don't 100

% buy that her character would do that, because

we really get the feeling that she's hook, line,

and sinker in love with this guy, in a way. Whether

it's romantic love or just a caring friend love,

she definitely goes out of her way to try to

help him in multiple points in the movie. Yeah,

I guess to me I just I get it but I also don't

know if like that scene would really add anything

to me like I don't know if I get actually to

me it was like it was let's get to what the movie

is what what the focus is and at that point it's

all about his obsession and I think the fact

that he is not even like inclined to Reach out

to anyone else or have you know, or have relationship

with anyone else is I think more right of the

fact that he's not If anything, he's not fully

recovered. So yeah, I get it. Like I get like,

it is, it is convenient, but I also think just

the sense of, you know, sometimes it's like,

does it really get you anything that you, you

need for the story? And I don't, I don't know

if it would per se, but at least for me. Yeah,

no, I get it. Um, another thing I wanted to get

your opinion, like when he's going up the, the

spiral stairs or whatever in that building to

try to. Get to her before she gets to the top

which is gonna ultimately lead to Her quote -unquote

death sorry for the spoiler alerts for a 50 some

year old movie, but Did you at all get a chuckle

or a laugh at how they filmed the body flying

out of the window in that situation? It was pretty

funny and I First I'm like wait was it a dummy

and like we knew it was that was I know there

was a twist I remember the twist I'm like, oh,

maybe it was that it's a dummy but then I'm like

I saw people that are people that were there

Yeah, I thought it was I let it I mean obviously

it's you know technology of the day But yeah,

yeah, I'm not fault. It was it was it was pretty

funny. It was it was and it was one of those

things where like almost like, Austin Powers

asked her something like that. I think it was

the timing for me. It's the timing from the point

she would have taken her first step to the top

level to the point where the body's already flying

out of the window was like a half of a millisecond.

And it was just like, it was very quick. So my

wife and I were like dying for a second on that

one. Yeah, not fault in the movie. The scream

also, because the scream, it was one of the,

it was, it felt like it wasn't the Wilhelm Helm

scream, but it was, it felt like one of those

like really classic, you know, so yeah. Did you,

did you, so the second time they're in that room,

we'll say the tower or whatever. Did you buy

the fact? Granted any nun in the dark is coming

at you is probably scary But did you buy a hundred

percent like that sequence of events when the

nun appears and then we have our second? tragedy

in that tower I Don't know I'm conflicted on

it cuz at first I'm like did she think I thought

maybe in her mind She was seeing the ghost of

the woman. She killed was that she I don't know

like I wasn't fully Clear on like what where

that reaction came from? I didn't at that point.

It didn't seem like she was wracked with guilt

or regarding what happened Yeah, it was a moment

that I was confused at for like a couple seconds

like Wait, I missed something Yeah, I did think

more could have been done to that because at

that point it doesn't you know, perhaps you could

say she's guilty because she's trying to make

up for it regarding a Getting his love back,

but it felt like she was guilty. She felt guilt

regarding what he did what? What she did to him,

but the wife that they murdered like that was

that she seemed to like not even that even Really

pass her by at all. It wasn't really something

that concerned her. So yeah that I mean, I guess

it's at this point, you know I don't know if

you spoil a movie that's older than almost, you

know Forever you're sold. But right when that

happened when she made that jump. I was like

wait, did she think? She was being I don't know.

It didn't work for me. That was part of it, too

It didn't work for me because number one like

you're saying it has to be there either has to

be more guilt about what has happened or they

have to Because for a long time they're playing

the fact that this character is being controlled

is not the right word, but like almost like hypnotized

through this real life person that she's related

to. And that it's like this out of body experience

that she's being drawn to these different places

and like really affected by this, like almost

like a supernatural presence. Right. And, but

you lose any part of that when You learn the

first twist and the fact that she's literally

just playing a role in all of that and it's all

fake But I feel like if they would have like

planted some seeds that like in the process of

doing all that that she was like somewhat affected

maybe by that maybe I would have bought more

into like even even if they try to play it up

as if like Somehow that connection was still

Haunting her or bothering her in a way, but they

don't do that either because they've basically

like completely cut that off of the film because

It's it's all a ruse that they're you know artificially

doing so I'm like if you don't have the connection

to that and you don't have a sense where she's

just like riddled with guilt and if the scares

not Like if she wasn't in a precarious enough

position for just a startled action to like Cause

her to do what happens. So like I couldn't buy

it I was trying to find a way to buy it like

I literally was thinking about it for quite a

few moments after the film like Which way do

I need to interpret this for it to work for me

and I couldn't find one yeah, I understand the

poetic nature of it and like again, like how

it how it ties in to like, you know thematic

resonance of the film, but You know the narrative

piece the logic of it even like, you know, and

if I was More with the movie at that point if

if I was more engaged with it I could probably

I into it more but it just felt like another

situation where things were happening that seemed

to happen and Not in ways that felt Organic enough

for me in a way in a way that made me feel like

okay this makes sense regarding decisions people

are making Yeah, like to me like they almost

have to one way would have been to tie it back

into like i guess the sequence where she jumps

into the lake or something like that but like

at that point we know what she was doing was

you know intentional so like it's hard to make

that tie in work anymore so i don't know any

other like parts or side characters or anything

else that you um that caught your attention or

you wanted to discuss that we haven't had a chance

to yet Yeah, so I mean I feel like I want to

talk about some things I did enjoy we mentioned

the camera work But didn't get into it a lot,

but I'd one thing I did like even those scenes

we talked about where not a lot was happening

I I did find the cat like how It's got use this

camera here It was actually very similar to that

aware window and he just the way he would track

individuals and track a scene loud to play out

I found that interesting and also A random thing

I thought was really great was actually Mitch's

office. I think it was her office and How it

would use you mentioned like seeing a lot of

heights but like what I noticed was you often

would see that like her window was wide open

and You know, there was always that There is

a lot of shots of the horizon in the distance

and I thought that worked well with the movie

in general like there's so many things like you

could just not that making screenshots of a movie

makes it good, but I could see which is why I

understand why so many directors of this film

because like the cinematography, you know, how

it's, you know, utilizing that obviously to tie

into the idea of vertigo. There's so many things

you can point to and it's gorgeously made. But

within that, it's like getting, you know, a gorgeous

package that is fantastic. But then you open

it and like what's inside is a bit empty. And

that's kind of what I felt like watching it.

But I did appreciate that. I actually did like

the character image. I thought she had a good

balance. I honestly felt like her connection

with Jimmy Stewart was much more, I felt it much

more than elsewhere. And I got that more. But

outside of that, there really weren't that many

of the characters. She did create one of the

creepiest paintings, though, I've seen in film.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then she's like so mad at herself

for doing it. And I was like, well, you did that.

That's like, how did you think that was gonna

go? Also too, like the whole, the Gavin character,

you don't get much about him, like he wants to

kill his wife, but I don't know. I feel like

too though, like, I feel like in that situation

I somewhat appreciate it though, because I feel

like even though we don't get a lot about his

situation and his wife, the the and he likes

his wife he just doesn't like this weird person

who keeps flipping into so like I do appreciate

the fact that like they don't really give you

any breadcrumbs for that because I think so many

films like to do that and it usually becomes

too obvious but you're right like we don't get

a lot with this character and he definitely does

like like Mitch come in and then disappear and

then like randomly come back in and like there's

a lot of like bringing in those two characters

in and out The plot they come up is pretty impressive

like all those the machinations they come up

with in order to He's like, you know, he's like

a super villain with everything he does So yeah,

definitely commitment. I don't know big -time

commitment on both people to pull this off It

was interesting too. When like Kim Novak shows

back up at first I'm like that's not the same

person like I don't look anything. I like I'm

like, oh they didn't like because I didn't remember

what happened and I'm watching it I'm like you

think they would at least get someone that actually

looked like him know that for this part and then

not And I'm like, oh, I'm an idiot. That is sir.

Like I didn't get but I think it was eyebrows

Just threw me off. Yes. Yes Apparently in the

50s, they were way better at changing someone's

hair color 100 percent, like very quickly than

I feel like they are even today, because usually

it's like a whole long process you have to go

through. And it's like stages. They're just like,

nope, immediately back to blonde. Probably probably

the chemicals were a lot worse for you. More

effective. Right. I do, though. That's why I

give her character some credit, even though I

don't feel like she had the same chemistry with

Jimmy Stewart, as like we said, with some other

characters of some other films. the fact that

she's playing the the wife and then she's also

playing the wife that is crazy and then she's

also playing this other character that's pretending

not to be the wife like it was an interesting

like yeah whatever whatever dichotomy is with

three is that a trichotomy I don't know I'm making

up words here but like it's like an interesting

thing that she's tasked with and I think she

does do a good job of that because like you I

was completely questioning whether that was actually

her or not Yeah, I think I don't have an issue

with her performance alone. It's just them and

together Yeah, no, no, I agree and like and I

like I said I know that's kind of part of it

because it's It's because where she's supposed

to be playing a part and then at the end that's

all it's meant to be awkward but it just I was

like, what am I investing in in here? And I like

you said it's not what it's about. It's how it's

about but the how it's about didn't necessarily

Right all me as much and so again like we mentioned

it. I'm looking at this picture in the sense

of trying to understand it in the in the grand

scheme of what we're looking at Hitchcock wise

and You know isolated obviously it's a well -made

film. That's no question about it But I don't

have the admiration or the it didn't have the

impact on me personally as Even some of them

most the movies we've gone through so far, right?

How did you like the last thing and then I'll

kind of get to some of my final thoughts But

how did you like the I don't know what you would

call it the like the sequence where it was like

the animation slash. Like that that came out

of nowhere, but I kind of liked what they did

with it. I like the ambition of it. I'll get

like I do think there's a lot of ambition in

this and that I appreciated. I don't know if

it like I don't like the. Became a bit psychedelic

in the second. Yes, that's the word I was looking

for. Yeah, so, you know, hey, man, and wasn't

quite the 60s yet. So I don't know if that helped,

if that helped lead into, you know, what came

first with that or like you saw, or what came

next. But yeah, I did like the approach of it.

And I think it came at the right time. And it

did give it a little bit of a different flavor

as it entered into that third act. Yeah, I agree.

I wasn't expecting it and I was like, oh, Alfred

Hitchcock's like doing something new here. Like

I haven't seen anything quite like this. Like

I guess we got the flash camera sequence in rear

window, but this is a whole different thing.

Was there any other like trivia bits that you

didn't get the chance to share or any final thoughts

that you want to give for Vertigo here? The only

other trivia bit, because I didn't know this

beforehand, but apparently Julie Stewart wears

a toupee. I had no idea and I was and I was amazed

by that because like in this he's like grayish

hair but I guess he means that he went he started

going bald during World War II and he was wearing

it the entire time because I was always impressed

with his hair because it's so like perfectly

you know uh it's just like it is it's perfect

it doesn't move but that's because he has a toupee

which I just thought was rather I don't know

it was interesting seeing that because I never

would have guessed that so I wouldn't look at

no impact on the quality of the movie or anything

like that was just It I watched it through prime

and sometimes it shows up in that like trivia

thing. Oh, I gotcha Yeah, I don't like I tried

not for that to pop up, but sometimes it does

I came up and I'm like, oh, that's Yeah, I didn't

get a chance to watch any like the special features

on this one, unfortunately But I did just because

we've mentioned it in a few other ones just like

rear window It does have a perfect score on Metacritic

It does actually have a lower score on Rotten

Tomatoes than Rear Window. I think Rear Window

was at 98 % and this one's at a 93%. But this

one typically gets ranked higher on a lot of

those AFI slash, you know, other publications

that put out like the best of or the best films

of all time. I feel like Vertigo always seems

to score better than Rear Window for some reason

on that. My thoughts, I was looking back through

some of the comments, especially like the contemporary

Critics and things like that and one of them

kind of summed it up for me This was one of the

reviews that got posted in the New York Post

originally and it said let's admit it right now

Itchcock surfaces are so smooth. He thinks he

can get away with murder in the logic and realism

departments If you want to tear your vertical

apart, it rips easily on the other hand There's

no denying that James Stewart's unactorish acting

carries a heavy air of reality into the picture

and Kim Novak's Somnambulistic behavior called

for by the script is something she can do to

perfection It's doubtful that vertigo can take

equal rank with the best of the Hitchcock studies

It has too many holes and then it goes on to

say some other stuff. So obviously he's wrong

because it does Get ranked as one of the best

Hitchcock films But I do like I do agree with

him that like if you want to tear vertigo apart,

I do think it rips easily I do think there's

some holes in there and but It's Hitchcock. So

there's a lot of other good stuff that kind of

negate this. I don't think this is a bad film

in any way, shape or form. I think it's a good

film. I think it's worth watching. I think if

you haven't seen it, you should watch it. Probably

not after this review because we've spoiled everything

for you. But outside of that, I don't go ahead.

I just don't think I can put it like it's not

going to rank in one spoiler alert for when we

do our awards. It's not going to be in my top

three. Yeah. I think it's movies any movie fan

should see definitely But again, it's not I don't

have the admiration for it. Like it's not like

I'm a queer window I feel like after it like

I could watch that again. Yes this one I I didn't

necessarily feel that way. It's just like I'm

I'll probably be good for another ten years or

so Yeah, it's not one of those that I would watch

and say like I'm never gonna watch this film

again like there are some times where I rewatch

a film and It's either it either like I think

the second watch is important. I don't know I

was thinking about this the other weekend I don't

know if I shared it with you or not, but I feel

like the second watch is like where Where you

determine if something's gonna be like in a regular

rotation with you or if it's gonna be the last

time you watch it like Yeah, I'll watch anything

the first time and then the second time is I

think where I don't watch a lot of movies a second

time But if you watch it the second time, I think

that's where I usually make a decision where

I'm good on that one Like hey, I should watch

this every couple years or I need to show this

to somebody next time I hear somebody hasn't

seen it or something like that. So Yeah, maybe

another another decade or so. I'll give it another

shot but that does it for this review of vertigo

we have three left to cover and that would be

19 I think it's 59 is North by Northwest and

then we have psycho from 1960 and the birds from

1963. Dan, North by Northwest, what's your experience?

What are you walking into it with as far as baggage

goes? That's what I have seen. It's still been

a while. I think I, the first time I watched

it was when it first came on Blu -ray and I bought

the Blu -ray and I really liked it. Another one

I really enjoyed. I remember thinking it was

more of a like word. Vertigo or suspension. It's

just my taste I can't even say words But it definitely

felt more like the summer blockbuster Alfred

Hitchcock because it's there's a lot of big set

pieces And so and so it felt almost like more

bombastic, but it was a lot of fun So I'm interested

in going back like you said that second watch

to see like does it hold up? And you know, it

was one of the first his cock films I saw though

can looking back at what we've done so far would

it and where will where will rank or like how

does it hold up that i don't know so i'm really

excited to go watch it again and this will be

a first watch for me as will the remaining films

so i'm interested to see all of them this is

also kind of interesting because starting with

vertigo we are actually watching these like these

are the these four films were released in order

like there's no other films that he's releasing

in between any of those it goes vertigo north

by northwest psycho and the birds like That's

his filmography one one right after the other.

So it's gonna be kind of interesting to watch

those in that respect as well So if you have

any thoughts or feedback or want to let us know

why we are so wrong about our take on Vertigo

Which I'm sure there will be plenty of people

that think that there's a couple different ways

that you can get into contact with us You can

search out Dan and all of his other content by

searching the comic concierge on most social

platforms Just put that in there and I'm sure

you'll find him He does a lot of great comic

content, uh on a regular basis and what number

are you now on your on your are you at 500 already?

Oh for my your my yeah, i'm for uh at twitter

I track and well all the social media is what

i'm reading. Uh, I am at like for the year 684

comics I was gonna say you made that goal of

500 and I could tell after the first month that

that was gonna be uh annihilated Yeah, there's

like there's a trend or hashtag on social media.

My 500 comic goal. I don't know where it started

from, but I was doing that this year so. So what

is your actual goal now? Are you trying to hit

like 2000? I don't know. I don't really have

one. I just I'm just I like. Yeah, I just I'm

just reading I I'm crazy because I actually I

do that and I actually have an Excel spreadsheet

where I track all the comics I read by John and

so it's But then I can get a pivot table and

check to see like what are my most love it, right?

I don't know. I'm weird like that, but it's like

it's I appreciate all of that It's like it. It's

like a dopamine hit. I don't know why it's like,

you know after a long day at work and listen

to podcasts while Tracking my comics is a good

way to like, you know settle down for the night

I'm here for it. If you want to search out any

of my content, you can search out either the

Geek Showcase on YouTube and see some of the

content there. Hopefully there will be some more

content added soon. And you can also search me

out on the social media for at least for Twitter,

Facebook, and I think I have an Instagram. That's

at Optimus Solo. You can leave us comments as

far as the show handle, which is the Cinema Geeks,

or you can check out all the other Geek Cast.

radio network stuff by going to their website

or searching them on their social medias as well.

So that does it for Vertigo. Join us next time

for more Alfred Hitchcock content with the Cinema

Geeks.