Vertigo (film)
Paramount Pictures commissioned a synopsis of the French novel D'entre les morts in 1954, before it had even been translated into English. The original book appeared as The Living and the Dead in 1956. Hitchcock originally hired playwright Maxwell Anderson to write a screenplay titled Darkling, I Listen. This title came from John Keats's 1819 poem Ode to a Nightingale. Anderson was sixty-eight years old when he worked on the project during Hitchcock's absence abroad. He submitted his treatment in September 1956. A second version written by Alec Coppel left the director dissatisfied. Samuel A. Taylor wrote the final script based on notes provided by the director. Taylor created the character Midge, who did not exist in the source material. Screen Writers Guild arbitration determined that both Coppel and Taylor deserved credit for the screenplay. Herbert Coleman, the associate producer, felt removing the letter writing scene was a mistake. James Stewart mediated between Coleman and Hitchcock. Stewart told Coleman that the picture was not that important. Paramount head Barney Balaban ordered the scene put back. Balaban insisted the film remain exactly as it was.
Principal photography began on location in San Francisco in September 1957 under the working title From Among the Dead. The production filmed at Mission San Juan Bautista, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, and Cypress Point on 17-Mile Drive. The rooftop chase took place on Taylor Street between 1302 and 1360. Scottie's apartment sat at 900 Lombard Street, one block downhill from the crookedest street in the world. The scene where Madeleine falls from the tower required a bell tower much larger than the actual mission had. Hitchcock added this using scale models, matte paintings, and trick photography at Paramount Studios. The film stock used was Eastman 25 ASA tungsten-balanced 5248 with processing by Technicolor. This marked the first time a dolly zoom appeared in cinema history. The technique involved moving the camera physically away while simultaneously zooming in to distort perspective. A model of the tower shaft was constructed because filming the shot on a full-sized set proved difficult. The special sequence designed by artist John Ferren included rotating patterns created by animator John Whitney. Whitney used a Kerrison Predictor, a mechanical computer originally built during World War II to aim anti-aircraft cannons.
Vertigo premiered in San Francisco on the 9th of May 1958, at the Stage Door Theater. The film earned $3.2 million in North American distributor rentals against its cost of $2,479,000. It broke even upon original release but earned significantly less than other Hitchcock productions. Variety wrote that the film showed mastery but felt it was too long and slow for what is basically only a psychological murder mystery. Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times found the plot took too long to unfold. He stated the story bogged down in a maze of detail. The New York Post review noted that Hitchcock's surfaces were so smooth he thought he could get away with murder in logic departments. Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post praised the film as a wonderful weirdie. John McCarten of The New Yorker wrote derisively that Hitchcock had never before indulged in such farfetched nonsense. In England, reception was if anything rather less friendly. Of twenty-eight newspaper and magazine reviews looked at by Charles Barr, six were favorable with reservations, nine were very mixed, and thirteen were almost wholly negative. Orson Welles disliked the film, telling Henry Jaglom that it was worse than Rear Window.
In 1989, Vertigo became one of the first twenty-five films selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. It appeared repeatedly in polls of the best films by the American Film Institute. A 2007 ranking placed it as the ninth-greatest American film ever made. The film replaced Citizen Kane as the greatest film ever made in the 2012 Sight & Sound Greatest Films of All Time poll. It came in second place in the 2022 edition of that same poll. Dan Auiler suggested the real beginning of re-evaluation was the 1968 publication of Robin Wood's book Hitchcock's Films. Wood called it Hitchcock's masterpiece to date and one of four or five most profound films cinema has given us. Every ten years since 1952, the British Film Institute magazine Sight and Sound asks leading critics to compile a list of ten greatest films. In 1962 and 1972, Vertigo did not enter the top ten. Only in 1982 after Hitchcock's death did it enter at seventh place. By 1992 it advanced to fourth place, by 2002 to second, and in 2012 to first place overall. Martin Scorsese viewed the film with friends during its original run and later recalled responding very strongly despite poor reception.
In October 1996, the restored print of Vertigo debuted at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco with a live introduction by Kim Novak. The new print featured restored color and newly created audio using DTS digital surround sound. Significant color correction was necessary because of fading original negatives. Some elements were as many as eight generations away from the original negative. The entire Judy's Apartment sequence required computer-assisted coloration. The Ford Motor Company supplied a well-preserved green paint sample for a car used in the film. Matching this shade provided an important reference for restoration. Harris and Katz added extra seagull cries and a foghorn to the scene at Cypress Point to camouflage old soundtrack hiss. A 4K restoration presented at the Castro Theatre in October 2014 removed some excessive Foley sounds added in 1996. Vertigo was first released on DVD in March 1998. It appeared on Blu-ray on the 25th of September 2012, as part of the Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection. An Ultra HD Blu-ray arrived in September 2020 as part of the first volume of The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection.
The San Francisco locations have become celebrated among fans with organized tours across the area. In March 1997, French magazine Les Inrockuptibles published a special issue about these locations titled Dans le décor. Directors Martin Scorsese and Denis Villeneuve list Vertigo among their favorite films of all time. One on Top of the Other, a 1969 giallo film directed by Lucio Fulci, is heavily influenced by the movie. Brian De Palma's 1976 film Obsession draws heavily from its plot elements. David Lynch's Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive are reportedly influenced by it. Twin Peaks features a Doppelgänger character named Maddy Ferguson inspired by the source material. Harvey Danger released a song called Carlotta Valdez on their 1997 album Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone. Lady Gaga included lyrics referencing Psycho and Vertigo shtick in her 2009 single Bad Romance. A 2021 adventure video game by Pendulo Studios contains a plot inspired but not directly adapted from the film. In March 2023, Paramount Pictures acquired remake rights with Steven Knight set to write the script.
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Common questions
When was the film Vertigo released?
Vertigo premiered in San Francisco on the 9th of May 1958, at the Stage Door Theater. The film earned $3.2 million in North American distributor rentals against its cost of $2,479,000.
Who wrote the screenplay for Vertigo?
Samuel A. Taylor wrote the final script based on notes provided by the director after Screen Writers Guild arbitration determined that both Alec Coppel and Taylor deserved credit for the screenplay. Hitchcock originally hired playwright Maxwell Anderson to write a screenplay titled Darkling before Anderson submitted his treatment in September 1956.
Where did principal photography take place for Vertigo?
Principal photography began on location in San Francisco in September 1957 under the working title From Among the Dead. The production filmed at Mission San Juan Bautista, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, and Cypress Point on 17-Mile Drive.
What is the significance of the dolly zoom technique used in Vertigo?
This marked the first time a dolly zoom appeared in cinema history involving moving the camera physically away while simultaneously zooming in to distort perspective. A model of the tower shaft was constructed because filming the shot on a full-sized set proved difficult.
How has the critical reception of Vertigo changed over time?
Vertigo replaced Citizen Kane as the greatest film ever made in the 2012 Sight & Sound Greatest Films of All Time poll and came in second place in the 2022 edition of that same poll. In 1989, Vertigo became one of the first twenty-five films selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.