A retired San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.
Cinematography
The dolly zoom invented here, still unmatched.
Score
Herrmann's Wagnerian romance equals obsession in sound.
Direction
Hitchcock's most personal, most unhinged masterpiece.
Director
Alfred Hitchcock
James Stewart
Det. John 'Scottie' Ferguson
Kim Novak
Madeleine Elster / Judy Barton
Barbara Bel Geddes
Marjorie 'Midge' Wood
Tom Helmore
Gavin Elster
Henry Jones
Coroner
Raymond Bailey
Scottie's Doctor
Ellen Corby
Manager of McKittrick Hotel
Konstantin Shayne
Pop Leibel
Lee Patrick
Car Owner Mistaken for Madeleine
Bess Flowers
Diner at Ernie's (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock
Man Walking Past Elster's Office (uncredited)
Sara Taft
Nun (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The dolly zoom took weeks to perfect; the camera physically zoomed out while dollied in, creating spatial disorientation that mirrors Scottie's vertigo.
Flopped on release, Vertigo was reclaimed by French New Wave critics who placed Hitchcock among auteurs—now regularly battles Citizen Kane for greatest-ever status.
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