James Stewart and Kim Novak are appealing on numerous levels, the former mainly because he doesn't wander far from the amiable joe we have come to expect (even though he does weird-out near the conclusion) and the latter because she maintains a veneer of vulnerability that we can relate to. Also the acting here seems histrionic not that people actually spoke like that in the 50s but the audiences liked such dictionally refined dialogue back then as opposed to the lines of modern-day scripts that more accurately portray the way individuals speak. Hitchcock had to be more subtle in 1958, where I'm sure a work like this, that seems tame by today's standards, appeared bizarre and risqué. It is unfair to compare this film to the suspense thrillers of today which are subjected to more realism in sex and violence. An interesting psychological piece that richly displays Hitchcock's talents. At the Capitol (Broadway at 51st Street). VERTIGO, screen play by Alec Coppel and Samuel Taylor based on the novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock for Paramount Pictures. It will stop you, if you're a quick thinker. Tom Helmore is sleek as the husband and Barbara Bel Geddes is sweet as the nice girl who loves the detective and has to watch him drifting away.One more thing: there is a big hole-a big question-mark-at a critical point. Stewart, as usual, manages to act awfully tense in a casual way, and Miss Novak is really quite amazing in-well, here is a bit of a hint-dual roles. What is this thing that invades the moody person of his loved one, the wife of another man? And how can he free her from this demon-and from her husband?That's all we will tell you! Now-Second hint: This fascinating mystery is based upon a tale written by the same fellows, Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, who wrote the story from which was taken that excellent French mystery, "Diabolique." That film, if you remember, told of a terribly devious plot to simulate a murder that didn't happen.There! No more hints! Coming or not?What more's to say? Well, nothing, except that "Vertigo" is performed in the manner expected of all performers in Hitchcock films. Naturally, our fellow saves her and finds himself falling in love.Still the mystery haunts him. And he has no doubt about it when, one day at Old Fort Point, beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, she flings herself desperately and suicidally into the bay. Then she goes to the art museum, the Palace of the Legion of Honor in Golden Gate Park, and sits staring at the portrait of this beauty as though she were in a daze.Slowly, the gum-shoe realizes that, somehow, this dizzy dame has spells when she thinks she's animated by the personality of this tragic lady of the past. Seems that this chic and silent beauty, who the magnate says loves him very much, is given to mysterious wanderings in and about that dramatic city with the startling views-and, believe us, it is dramatic, as seen in color and Vista Vision in this film.She goes to the Mission Dolores and places flowers on the grave of a famous San Francisco beauty who died years ago. "Vertigo" opened yesterday at the Capitol.However, if you are a skeptic and want to know just a little more about this typically Hitchcock picture, which has James Stewart and Kim Novak as its stars, let us give you two hints that should be helpful.The first hint is that the story begins with this long-legged ex-detective, a known sufferer from acrophobia (fear of heights), being hired by a San Francisco magnate to shadow his strangely acting wife. And, believe us, that secret is so clever, even though it is devilishly far-fetched, that we wouldn't want to risk at all disturbing your inevitable enjoyment of the film.If that recommendation is sufficient, read no further. That is as fair a thumbnail digest as we can hastily contrive to give you a gist of this picture without giving the secret away. YOU might say that Alfred Hitchcock's latest mystery melodrama, "Vertigo," is all about how a dizzy fellow chases after a dizzy dame, the fellow being an ex-detective and the dame being-well, you guess.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |