Vertigo Falls

Weekend in Hitchcock's Pleasure Garden

2012-03-10T10:44:00.000-08:00

Hitchcock's first feature as director, The Pleasure Garden--presented here from YouTube.

Cast and Crew

Directed by:
Alfred Hitchcock
Alma Reville - assistant director

Starring:
Virginia Valli - Patsy Brand
Carmelita Geraghty - Jill Cheyne
Miles Mander - Levett
John Stuart - Hugh Fielding
Georg H Schnell - Oscar Hamilton
Karl Falkenberg - Prinz Ivan
Ferdinand Martini - Mr Sidey
Florence Helminger - Mrs Sidey
Lewis Brody
Nita Naldi - Levet's Native Lover (unconfirmed)

Produced by:
Michael Balcon
Erich Pommer

Written by:
Oliver Sandys - original novel
Eliot Stannard

Photographed by:
Gaetano di Ventimiglia

Art Direction by:
Ludwig Reiber

Other crew:
Alma Reville - continuity

TCM to honor Novak at Classic Film Festival

2012-03-07T08:58:00.002-08:00

Kim Novak circa 1958

Kim Novak will be feted at next month's TCM Classic Film Festival when the actress will join Hollywood stars in concrete at the famed Graumann's Chinese Theater before a screening of Vertigo. Novak will introduce the film. More on the festival and its full schedule here.

For a fascinating interview with Novak about the upcoming TCM Fest and her recent comments on Best Picture winner The Artist's use of the love theme from Vertigo.

"It was very painful," said Novak. "When I said it was like a rape, that was how it felt to me. I had experienced in my youth being raped, and so I identified with a real act that had been done to me. I didn't use that word lightly. I had been raped as a child. It was a rape I never told about, so when I experienced this one, I felt the need to express it."

You will find the rest of the interview from yesterday's York Daily Record out of York, PA here.

Cindy Sherman Retro Opens at MoMA

2012-03-07T08:36:00.001-08:00

Cindy Sherman Retrospective at MoMA

Cindy Sherman, whose brilliant work includes provocative re-interpretations of Hitchcock's work through mixed medium, is enjoying a very well received (and overdue) retrospective at NY' Museum of Modern Art.

You can read more on Sherman, her work and her reflections on the exhibit here. For the exhibition, MoMA has a great site which give's a full range of Sherman's talent. I discovered her work as my Vertigo world inevitably enlarged. One of the unique qualities of Vertigo in juxtaposition to the rest of the Hitchcock canon is its broad influence in art worlds outside of film.

Breaking news:Kim Novak Named SF Cinematic Icon

2012-02-24T11:38:00.000-08:00

Kim Novak named SF Cinematic Icon

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Kim Novak, the blond actress best known for her roles in the 1950s, including her sultry performance in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, will receive the San Francisco Cinematic Icon Award from Standing Ovations on June 14.

The gala event, whose theme this year is "The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of: San Francisco and the Movies," will be held at the Old Mint in San Francisco.

"San Francisco has always been my favorite city of all time," Novak said. "I was privileged to feel a part of this magical place in two films - 'Pal Joey' with Frank Sinatra and 'Vertigo.'

"It will be like coming home again."

Standing Ovations is a benefit for the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society. Get more information about the gala at (415) 710-7332 or plumtree@comcast.net.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/23/DDV71NBJO1.DTL#ixzz1nKUQaXMQ

Hedren hits Heights before UK: Marnie intro in Minn.

2012-02-24T11:28:00.000-08:00

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn. — Minnesota native Tippi Hedren is coming to the Twin Cities next month to introduce a free screening of Alfred Hitchcock's "Marnie."

Hedren stars in the 1964 psychological study of a compulsive thief who's forced to marry business owner Sean Connery after he catches her stealing.

Hedren and Turner Classic Movies host and film critic Leonard Maltin will introduce "Marnie" on March 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights. It's part of TCM's 10-day "Road to Hollywood" tour leading up to the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood.

Although the screening is free, tickets are required. The free tickets may be obtained online.
___
Online:
http://www.tcm.com/roadtohollywood

Free Friday Hitch: Sabotage (1937)

2012-02-24T10:23:00.000-08:00

Sabotage (released as The Woman Alone in the US)

Based on Joseph Conrad's equally troubling novel Secret Agent (and, so the confusion begins--Hitch had directed a year earlier Secret Agent, based on a Somerset Maugham story), Sabotage is Hitchcock at his darkest and most daring. Hitch is pushing the envelope visually and pushing the audience. He would later re-assess the wisdom of a certain scene--but, in my opinion, the bomb going off is exactly the film's point and it would have been treacle without having audiences understand the real cost of suicide bombs,

The film is remarkably contemporary in plot and theme--this is a sad commentary on our global politics and not Hitch/Conrad's prescience.

Sabotage is streamed to you through youtube.com. The details of cast and crew follow. I think this is a bit Hitchcock perfection--not one of his perfect trifles, like To Catch a Thief, but more in the mordant pudding of Shadow of a Doubt and Vertigo.

Cast and Crew

Directed by:
Alfred Hitchcock

Starring:
Sylvia Sidney - Mrs Verloc
Oskar Homolka - Karl Anton Verloc, Owner of Bijou Cinema
John Loder - Detective Sergeant Ted Spencer, Scotland Yard
Desmond Tester - Steve Verloc, Mrs Verloc's brother
Joyce Barbour - Renee
Matthew Boulton - Scotland Yard Superintendent. Talbot
S J Warmington - Insp. Hollingshead, Scotland Yard
William Dewhurst - The Professor / Bird Shop Owner / Bomb Maker
Clare Greet - Mrs Jones, the Cook

Produced by:
Michael Balcon
Ivor Montagu

Written by:
Joseph Conrad - original novel
Charles Bennett
Helen Simpson

Photographed by:
Bernard Knowles

Edited by:
Charles Frend

Music by:
Louis Levy - composer (uncredited)

Costume Design by:
Joe Strassner

The Hitchcock Clan (circa 1954)

2012-02-24T05:00:00.000-08:00

While doing research for a new project, I came across this wonderful photo over at the Hitchcock Wiki. It is the traditional family portrait setting with Hitch, Alma, their daughter Pat, her husband, Joseph O'Connell and their first two daughters, Mary and Tere (a third, Katie was not yet born). I'm sure the family has plenty of these, but there are few photos of the entire Hitch clan in circulation. The photo was taken circa 1954.

From left to right Tere, Pat, Joseph, Mary and Alma

Rare 35mm Correspondent Print to Screen in LA Oscar Weekend

2012-02-23T11:16:00.000-08:00

A rare 35mm print of FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940), Alfred Hitchcock's second U.S. film, screens this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24-25, on a double bill with JOURNEY INTO FEAR (1943) at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles, CA.

East meets Hitch:Gun Master's Hitch Homage

2012-02-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

Kareena performing Mujra in Agent Vinod

From the PuneMirror.in:

Director Sriram Raghavan

Who is Agent Vinod? Is he a James Bond?

Sriram Raghavan: The film is an action-packed spy thriller set in today’s times. I am a big fan of old Indian spy thrillers like Aankhen of Dharmendra and Hitchcock films. It’s a mix of such stories. Mithun’s Gun Master was very successful and they made two of them.

But, later, there hasn’t been such a film. After the old Agent Vinod’s release, there were no spy films for almost 10 years. If our film does well then there can be more Agent Vinod stories.

For More details, go here.

'Tippi' Croydon Bound for Hitch and Hollywood Concert

2012-02-23T10:49:00.000-08:00

'Tippi' Hedren and Sir Alfred Hitchcock

'Tippi' Hedren will be debuting her Hitchcock and Hollywood Concert show in the UK at Fairfield Halls in Croydon March 17th. Hedren has been making the press the last few weeks as she shares her divided feelings about Hitchcock.

Hardeep Martharu writing in the Kingston Guardian, explains that Tippi, now 82, was the apple of Hitchcock’s eye when he first spotted her in a TV advert in the 1960s. But after grooming her to be a star, he kept her under contract and stopped her from working for almost two years. The Orchestra’s Artistic Director John Boyden says: "It’s a unique opportunity in Croydon to hear a very interesting lady speak about her links to film history. It will be quite a racy story."

According to the Kingston Guardian,the American conductor John Farrer will be conducting and is a personal friend of Tippi’s. Farrer put on the same show in California four years ago and he suggested they bring it to Croydon.

You're never too old for Hitch: Winter Hitch continues

2012-02-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

In our occasional series of Hitchcock sightings this winter, here's a small one, but it's not the size . . .you get the idea.

Hitchcock thriller to be screened Friday at Florham Park seniors' movie matinee - New Jersey Hills: Local news, breaking news, local sports, New Jersey sports, arts, obituaries, offers and deals in Harding, Chester, Mendham, Roxbury, Mount Arlington, Randolph, Mine Hill, Bedminster, Bernardsville, Far Hills, Peapack-Gladstone, Watchung, Warren, Long Hill, Tewksbury, Reading, Califon, Lebanon, Clinton, High Bridge, Morristown, Hanover, Florham Park, Madison, Chatham, Mount Olive, Caldwell, Essex Fells, Fairfield, Roseland, Denville, Dover, Rockaway, Boonton, Montville, Mountain Lakes, Verona, Cedar Grove: News

It's been busy. . .

2012-02-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

Just not here. I've moved to a new apartment, with a great view, near good friends and with plenty of room to sit, dream and write. So, sorry for the Vertigo Falls lite of late. The dust is settling on the move, and I'll be back with more regular updates on all things Vertigo and Hitchcock.

Be patient, will be back soon!

Free Friday Hitchcock Screenings: Foreign Correspondent (Hulu/Criterion)

2012-02-17T12:50:00.000-08:00

Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent

This is Hitchcock's best "war" film (made about and during WWII--Notorious was released after the war) somehow balances humor, suspense and patriotism with an almost Lubitsch-like elegance and control. Foreign Correspondent is closer in tone and overall effect to North by Northwest then that film's more direct antecedents Saboteur or The 39 Steps. FC is a four star movie, yet for some reason doesn't get a lot of play and attention. Maybe it's time, my fair citizens of Vertigo Falls, for a few weeks on this little "foreign" number from the Master. And, it does feel foreign. Perhaps part of the appeal of this film (and maybe the reason for the slight disconnect with American audiences) is it's independent/international feel. I like to think of it Hitchcock's first British film made in America.

The film runs above, courtesy of Hulu. If you have HuluPlus, you can watch this great film on the big screen and without interruption. The film's details are below (from and linked to hitchcockwiki.com).

Next Friday, another Hitchcock classic!

(NB For Netflix subscribers, Trouble with Harry, Vertigo and Frenzy are currently available for screening--add 'em to your cue of Hitchcock Presents, and most of his sound British films)

Cast and Crew

Directed by:
Alfred Hitchcock

Starring:
Joel McCrea - John Jones
George Sanders - Scott ffolliott
Laraine Day - Carol Fisher
Herbert Marshall - Stephen Fisher
Albert Bassermann - Van Meer
Robert Benchley - Stebbins
Edmund Gwenn - Rowley
Eduardo Ciannelli - Mr Krug
Harry Davenport - Mr Powers
Martin Kosleck - Tramp
Frances Carson - Mrs Sprague
Ian Wolfe - Stiles
Charles Wagenheim - Assassin
Eddie Conrad - Latvian
Charles Halton - Bradley
Barbara Pepper - Dorine
Emory Parnell - "Mohican" Captain
Roy Gordon - Mr Brood
Gertrude Hoffman - Mrs Benson
Marten Lamont - Captain
Barry Bernard - Steward

Produced by:
Walter Wanger

Written by:
Robert Benchley
Charles Bennett
Joan Harrison
Ben Hecht

Photographed by:
Rudolph Maté

Edited by:
Dorothy Spencer

Music by:
Alfred Newman

Costume Design by:
I Magnin

Happy Valentine's Day: No need to keep you in suspense

2012-02-14T07:55:00.000-08:00

But it should be clear that this site would be just another lonely outpost on the Hitchcock highway without your visits and ongoing support. Thank you from the honorary Mayor of Vertigo Falls (the unofficial honeymoon destination of all thrill seeking travelers).

Hitchcock knew the value of the well-timed buss! Happy Valentine's Day
Alma Reville and Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock online: Notorious (at Hulu)

2012-02-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Alfred Hitchcock on the set of Notorious (1946)

One of Alfred Hitchcock's best films, Notorious (1946), is currently available free, online through the Hulu web site. There will be bearable commercial interruptions (unless you have HuluPlus, then you're on your own without commercials to prop up your viewing!).
Notorious is one of my favorite all-time films, and ranks in Hitch's top five (and that's a tough crowd). It is just about perfect on every level--and it is wildly and darkly romantic. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman are at the black and white zenith here.

Notorious:

http://www.hulu.com/embed/T-T7HhzmQpmfaCogMzDH6Q"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> http://www.hulu.com/embed/T-T7HhzmQpmfaCogMzDH6Q" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="512" height="288" allowFullScreen="true">

Cast and Crew

Directed by:
Alfred Hitchcock

Starring:
Cary Grant - T R Devlin
Ingrid Bergman - Alicia Huberman
Claude Rains - Alexander Sebastian
Louis Calhern - Captain Paul Prescott
Leopoldine Konstantin - Madame Sebastian
Reinhold Schünzel - Doctor Anderson
Moroni Olsen - Walter Beardsley
Ivan Triesault - Eric Mathis
Alex Minotis - Joseph, the Butler

Produced by:
Alfred Hitchcock

Written by:
Ben Hecht

Photographed by:
Ted Tetzlaff

Edited by:
Theron Warth

Music by:
Roy Webb

Costume Design by:
Edith Head

Production Design by:
Carroll Clark - art director

the 401st Blow: Remembering Truffaut

2012-02-06T14:29:00.000-08:00

Francois Truffaut in 1984

I believe that without Truffaut we do not have HITCHCOCK. And without Hitchcock there is no Truffaut. Such is the history and fate of cinema.

Happy birthday, Ann Newton!

2012-02-06T12:07:00.000-08:00

Edna May Wonacott as Ann Newton in Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt

Lady Eve shares the real story of Edna May landed the role in Hitchcock's personal favorite, Shadow of a Doubt, here. Thanks, mi'lady--great work and great addition to Hitch history.

Curtain falls on month of Vertigo, my post

2012-02-03T14:48:00.000-08:00

There were obstacles and miracles, so the post that made it up on January 31st was something of heart/spirit/sweat and hope. I am grateful to Lady Eve for her invitation and her editing. The comments have been encouraging--it is good to know that there are more of you out there that remain deeply moved and obsessed by this film.

My friend, Joel Gunz, wrapped the month with an exceptional (why isn't this boy in print yet!) examination of one image from Vertigo. It is a must read.

Vertigo for Life

by guest contributor Dan Auiler

A month of Vertigo is light sentence. Most of us who encounter this film end up serving life sentences. Our lives, our thoughts become trapped in the vortex of the strong currents this film produces. Vertigo's meaning and importance in film have become so varied and vital that choosing one tendril spinning out from one of John Whitney's Lissajous diagrams is challenging - but keeping that line of thought from swirling back into the film's center and tossing you out on some other surprising shore is just about impossible.

The film has become something I can seldom approach head-on, in a straight line. For example, the original idea for this blog post was to look at Vertigo and the films of Chris Marker. But even on the way to introducing the idea, we encounter John Whitney. John Whitney was the groundbreaking computer animation filmmaker who not only invented computer controlled animation, but hand-machined the devices himself out of surplus Air Force engines. It was on one of these devices that Whitney created the opening spiral designs that Saul Bass used for the title sequence.

And now, aiming still at Chris Marker, detoured out of essence to a brief John Whitney nod, we encounter another 20th century giant, Saul Bass. The very look of the last hundred years, let alone the way movies open, have been impacted by the vision and design abilities of Saul Bass.

Selecting Saul Bass, John Whitney - these are obvious choices today. In 1957, these guys were not household names even to filmmakers. One of Hitchcock's remarkable abilities was his choice in collaborators. Other posts this month have outlined the other key components of the design team forVertigo. Bernard Herrmann, Edith Head, Samuel Taylor - again, hindsight provokes us to ask how the film could fail.

La Jetee (1962)

Now I'm far from Chris Marker. But I thought you would appreciate the detour. Marker has also been a life-long devotee of Vertigo. His break-out short film La Jeteereferences the film's famous tree sequence; La Jette is a further examination of the aspects of time, obsession and our movable points in time. (here is the complete text to La Jetee: La Jetee by Chris Marker)

Marker, in a later work of opposite dimensions, San Soleil, tours San Francisco and Vertigo's film locations, marking in film at least the first of the pilgrims to visit Lombard Street, Fort Point, the Legion of Honor art museum, San Juan Bautista. Vertigo aficionados feel compelled to make this pilgrimage. It was my first trip after college. I'm not sure why this was so vital - but I am not alone. (There are several paid tours of the film sites available)

Filmmaker Chris Marker

Vertigo and its production history led me to discover Marker. His reference to the film in his own was the starting point. Now I'm fascinated by his total mess-with-your-head understanding (or non-understanding) of time. The English version of San Soleil begins with these lines from TX Eliot's Ash Wednesday:

"Because I know that time is always time
and place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
and only for one place."

What then is the time and place for Vertigo? This is a profound question in the structure of the film. It is an even more profound question for us, the film's fans.

What is the time and place of this film in our lives? For me, it has been the gateway, the worm hole, the central vortex around which all of Hitchcock's films and subsequently my own psychic life turn.

Use Vertigo as a starting point and then lose yourself as a wanderer. My latest encounter on the Vertigotrail is the three-part video essay curated here at the Museum of Moving Image. This is accessible but heady stuff.

There are other "better" films even in the Hitchcock canon, but Vertigo is perhaps the most profound pop film. Everyone chooses which films lie closest to their own heart, their own story. Vertigo is that film for me.

Dan Auiler is the best-selling author of Vertigo: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic (St. Martin's Press 1998, Kindle 2011) and Hitchcock's Notebooks(HarperCollins 1999). In addition to his writing, he has taught for more than 20 years in the Los Angeles area.

Dan is considered one of the foremost authorities on Alfred Hitchcock and has made appearances on CNN and other major networks as an expert on Hitchcock, Billy Wilder and general film history.

It was after reading Dan's painstakingly researched and thoroughly insightful book on Vertigo that The Lady Eve was inspired to undertake A Month of VERTIGO. Dan's blog is Vertigo Falls.

15 comments:

Beatlebrandon said...: Very thought-provoking. It is great to read an article from someone who quite literally inspired theladyeve to start this event! I enjoyed the detour with John Whitney and Saul Bass. Very interesting facts about their collaboration with Mr. Hitchcock. I've seen La Jetee and am familiar with Chris Marker. Without a doubt, he certainly was hugely inspired by Hitchcock and Vertigo. I still have to see San Soleil, however. Great post. One excellent post for the closing days of the event. Take Care!; January 31, 2012 9:25 AM
KimWilson said...: Interesting analysis. I don't really like Chris Marker's work, but at least you put it in some perspective.; January 31, 2012 9:57 AM
Page said...: Dan,
An interesting look at Vertigo. I must admit that this film isn't one of my favorites of Hitch's work but I can appreciate it.

Thanks for reminding us of the locations that serve such a large role in H's films. Right off the bat I think of Mandalay, the sharp curves and hills in To Catch A Thief then there's the scenery that envelopes us in Psycho and The Birds. Psycho having the most recognizable house in films.

An enjoyable read.
Page; January 31, 2012 10:56 AM
R. D. Finch said...: Dan, a most unexpected approach to "Vertigo," which has surely been analyzed from every imaginable angle, and not only here at REEL LIFE. Found your introduction of Chris Marker for the time and memory element of the film's themes, and John Whitney and Saul Bass for its visual design very thought-provoking. Your comment that Whitney built his first computer animation devices from Air Force engine parts had me thinking of the spinning, spiraling fan blades of a jet engine when viewed head-on! "There are other 'better' films even in the Hitchcock canon, but Vertigo is perhaps the most profound pop film." A concise statement of the film's appeal--flaws and all, it's a hypnotic and enduring presence in the memory of Hitchcock devotees.; January 31, 2012 11:18 AM
Motorcycle Boy said...: Mr. Auiler, your statement that when it comes to contemplating the meaning and importance of "Vertigo" many of us are "serving a life sentence" is well put. I can't even remember when it was that I first saw this masterpiece (I know it was many decades ago) but it has from the beginning become a part of my life that continues to grow and open up to new insights. The film's elusive nature, which far from revealing an open-and-shut case in linear plot development, is probably what allows for new viewpoints and pathways to emerge. Will we ever fully "know" this film is similar to the question, will we ever fully "know" ourselves - the knowledge that we do aquire is something that evolves over time. It IS like entering a wormhole that leads to multiple dimensions. The Chris Marker clip from the Museum of Moving Image is well worth the time it takes to explore some of the film's inner workings - I reccomend it to everyone who is participating in "A Month of VERTIGO" (you may not like it, but you may also find it quite rewarding). Obviously "Vertigo" inspires speculation and flights-of-fancy - in that sense it's almost like a Rorschach where the viewer is projecting his psychic world onto the image. "Vertigo" is constructed more like poetry than prose and so it not only invites such Baroque intrepretation but, if the viewer is to be true to it's artistic depth, it almost demands it. I loved Marker's remark regarding the mysterious Gavin Elster: "and so his plan begins to make sense, not as a murder plot, but as an enchantment". Also, his characterization of "a San Francisco free from linear time that returns to a time of myth and primal figures". The theme of "love, abandonment and fall" also resonates on a deep psychological and philosophical level. I'm grateful for your contribution and also for exposing me to Chris Marker's through-the-looking-glass view of "Vertigo". It's an endless source of fascination to me to see what different people are able to glean from this enigmatic classic.; January 31, 2012 12:46 PM
Kay said...: A poetic meandering around the whirlpool's edge, Mr. Auiler. Nicely done. I genuinely enjoyed the stroll.

A friend of mine at work today told me he's NEVER seen a Hitchcock film and asked me where to start. I suspect I won't bring him my DVD of VERTIGO, but which Hitch film would you (and Lady Eve's other fine readers) recommend as a starting point for a very modern young man who is an accomplished artist in his own right?
Warmly,
Kay
www.moviestarmakeover.com; January 31, 2012 1:26 PM
hepclassic said...: It is very nice to read from the author who inspired this amazing month. I have explored some of the work mentioned through a friend, Thift_Store_Junkie at the Classic Film Union. It has been a pleasure.; January 31, 2012 8:45 PM
doctom666 said...: thanx for the analysis and perspective...and for keeping it simple and straightforward...you are so right in noting the hyper-analysis of VERTIGO and other films...I think a movie goer should be able to enjoy the themes/textures/montages/set-pieces of VERTIGO without knowing what HITCH had for lunch that day!!; February 1, 2012 9:41 PM
John Greco said...: Dan - I can only agree with what everyone else here has stated, the importance of the San Francisco location and the contribution of the great Saul Bass. Thanks very much for this contribution.

@ Kay - Notorious, Rear Window, Psycho, and The 39 Steps are good primers for someone just getting into Hitchcock.; February 2, 2012 3:29 AM
Kay said...: Thanks, John, I'm a HUGE fan of 39 Steps and Notorious and Rear Window (and own them), but I think Psycho is Hitch 201 for this person. Very kind of you to advise!
Warmly, Kay; February 2, 2012 10:37 AM
Motorcycle Boy said...: Kay - re your modern young friend: How about "Strangers On A Train" - no Hitchcock blonde, but Bruno is great fun . . . "criss-cross" and all that.; February 2, 2012 11:00 AM
iluvcinema said...: I like the book you mention at the end. It was a very good read.

Great blog series!; February 2, 2012 3:08 PM
The Lady Eve said...: Dan - Your opening paragraph is a painful reminder to me of the problems I've had finishing my own post - the near impossibility of maintaining focus on the "tendril" I chose.

As you know, your book on Vertigo had much to do with inspiring this month-long (plus) tribute. You make a point in the book's introduction that this post brought to mind: "Vertigo is not the perfect, pure cinema of Rear Window. Yet who is haunted, dogged, pursued by Rear Window?" No, Vertigo may have its imperfections, but it has a profound power and eternal quality possessed by very few films.

My deep and sincere thanks for contributing a knock-out post to "A Month of VERTIGO."; February 2, 2012 8:29 PM
Dawn said...: Thank you very much for sharing your very interesting "VERTIGO" contribution with all of us "VERTIGO" fans.

I'm not very familiar with Chris Marker's work. So thank you for introducing him to me. I also, want to read your book on Vertigo.; February 3, 2012 6:27 AM
Jacqueline T Lynch said...: I'm a big fan of your book.; February 3, 2012 10:25 AM

Winter Hitch: Vertigo Opens Dormont-Brookline Hollywood season

2012-01-30T12:29:00.000-08:00

Pittsburgh fans prepare for Vertigo Feb, 8th and 9th

From the ongoing series on Vertigo screenings and Hitchcock film festivals:

#1 Cochran to Sponsor Film Series at Hollywood Theater

The auto dealer is the first local organization to sponsor films at the Hollywood through the theater’s sponsorship program.

will partner with #1 Cochran for a classic film series that will play at the Dormont theater over the next few months.

The series will start with Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” on Feb. 8 and Feb. 9. The organization also plans to sponsor a showing of the musical “West Side Story,” as well as classics “Casablanca,”“Singin’ in the Rain,” and the western “Shane.”

The series is part of a sponsorship program instituted by the Friends organization that allows local businesses and individuals to sponsor a film that will play to the public at the Hollywood.

Scott Jackson, president of the Friends’ board of directors, released a statement about the partnership last week.

"The Friends board is excited about this partnership, and we hope to work with other local businesses in a similar fashion,” he said. “One of our main goals is to be a community resource and help in revitalizing Dormont’s business districts. Partnering with local businesses gives both the theater and the business additional exposure. It’s a win-win.”

In addition to business sponsorships, a monthly drawing will be held to allow individuals to pick a movie. The January winner was Dormont resident Nick Wagner, who was considering either “The Goonies” or “The Munsters” for his movie pick.

Hollywood Theater manager John Maggio said he’s excited about the partnership with #1 Cochran, as well as other partnerships that are lined up for the next few months.

“It’s very expensive to run a single-screen theater and I hope this will spur businesses and other nonprofits to get involved,” he said.

Maggio said Dormont Historical Society will sponsor a movie in March.

“We’re excited about that,” he said. “Every little bit helps. The reason there aren’t too many single-screen theaters around is because of the expense, and we need help from members of the community and the region to keep it going.”

The sponsorship program is open to any individual, nonprofit or local business that wants to sponsor a film at the Hollywood. For more information, call Hollywood Theater at 412-344-2958.

Month of Vertigo: Fragments of the Mirror

2012-01-22T16:24:00.000-08:00

You might notice a subtle change in the banner--ah, the pressures on

Lady Eve's Month of Vertigo is drawing quickly to a close (I know, it seems like just yesterday we arrived . . .it's best at this point to not look down, just keep looking up until we reach the top of the bell tower). Today's post, from the Lady Eve, is a much needed appreciation of the "bit" players who account for the success of the film. The director may be a genius, his writer Shakespeare, his leads Olivier and Streep--but one wrong moment from a one line walk on will ruin the entire film. Those are just the rules of the universe--others may receive the laurels of auteur and "star' but those laurels are nailed to the talents of their team.

Great "smart" directors like Hitchcock know this and his films are filled from top of the contract to floor sweeper with crew he considered the best in the business. That is the real secret of Hollywood auteur--having a vision and then having the humility share that vision's reality with a team who are as talented and as strong willed as the director. Much has been written knocking auteur theories, and there is an underlying truth in this criticism: film is a collaborative art. But filmmakers, and by this I mean all who are involved with the craft, know that lots of crappy films without good directors, but no great movies can be made without them. This principle holds true in society and we all intuitively understand this.

That said, moment's like Lady's Eve recognition of supporting players work is too rare.

Also this week, the month featured a tour stop with an interview of Patrick McGilligan, film historian and biographer. His recent biography of Hitchcock is the reference work of note on the filmmaker's life and takes the nasty taste away that was left by Donald Spoto's biography which made the director's life more tabloid fiction that reality.

Mondays with Saul update: New article reassesses Hitch/Bass

2012-01-17T18:26:00.000-08:00

Saul Bass

From Pat Kirkham's Reassessing the Saul Bass and Alfred Hitchcock Collaboration

The entire Bass/Hitchcock collaboration deserves to be better known, partly because of the sheer quality of the work, partly because it offers an interesting case study of the complex interchange between film and design, and partly because of the controversy surrounding Bass’s contribution to what is arguably the most famous scene in U.S. cinema — the shower scene in Psycho. Serious discussion of Bass’s contribution to the shower scene — a fascinating collaboration, from novel and script to musical score — remains problematic, not least because issues of authorship are far from dead in many academic disciplines, design history and film studies included.

storyboard by Bass for the Psycho shower scene

From Pat Kirkham's article posted last week at The Design Observer Group. Recommended reading for those who want to learn more about the working relationship between Bass and Hitchcock, and that relationship's importance to Hitchcock's films and film history.

From the essay:

I write as an admirer of the work of Hitchcock (Blackmail, 1929, often makes it onto my top-ten or “desert island” film lists) as well as that of Bass. In no way do I want to diminish Hitchcock’s standing as a filmmaker; if anything he should be lauded for spotting and using Bass’s not inconsiderable cinematic talents. Using a wide range of sources, including oral testimonies and papers related to Bass and Hitchcock in the Margaret Herrick Library, Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, I seek here to review and reposition the issues in the hope of facilitating debate.

Monday Morning Essential Reading: DeRosa on Vertigo

2012-01-16T11:35:00.000-08:00

Samuel A. Taylor, screenwriter

A great way to start the week and, by all means, a great to re-visit the story of Vertigo's writing is today's post A Month of Vertigo. Steven DeRosa, author of Writing with Hitchcock, blogs about Samuel Taylor's impact on Vertigo and his working relationship with Hitchcock. Steven very kindly recommends my book, and i would in turn insist that you read his book which is the on understanding how Hitchcock worked. My books on Vertigo and Hitchcock's working methods (Hitchcock's Notebooks, 1999) spend only a chapter or so on what is really at the heart of Hitch's genius--that gold time he spent with a writer dreaming the film. Steven's work is and will remain the standard-bearer when it comes to this essential aspect of Hitchcock's life and career.

Links to today's Month of Vertigo blog and to the Kindle version of Steven's book, as well as his connected virtual communities, follow.

An Inconsequential Yarn at Lady Eve's Reel Life A Month of Vertigo.

Steven DeRosa's Facebook page and his comments on today's cinema (and Hitchcock) can be followed on twitter @WriteHitchcock.

Steven's book Writing with Hitchcock is available on Kindle for download today, this moment, right now--so what are you waiting for--click that glowing book title and buy the thing already!

Vertigo Hot Topic on Golden Globes Red Carpet; Bource wins Globe for score

2012-01-15T18:52:00.000-08:00

From the NYTimes Live Blog moments ago:

Ludovic Bource poses backstage with the award for Best Original Score in a Motion Picture for the film "The Artist" during

On the red carpet, Ludovic Bource, the composer for "The Artist," discussed the controversy - raised by "Vertigo" actress Kim Novak - about the film's use of a bit of the score from that Hitchcock classic. "For us, it was really important to make a tribute, to the wonderful master, Bernard Herrmann," the composer for "Vertigo," Mr. Bource said. Mr. Bource called Ms. Novak, who compared the appropriation of the score to rape, "a fantastic person" and said he didn't want any confusion about why they chose the music. ""The music of Herrmann needs to be recognized, that's why we did this,"" he said.

Later, Bource won the Golden Globe for best original score for a motion picture.

- Melena Ryzik (NY Times)

Memory's map: The Bay city and Vertigo

2012-01-14T14:01:00.000-08:00

Turn of the century map of San Francisco

The map will guide you (just click the caption) to the latest entry in A Month of Vertigo at The Lady Eve's Reel Life. Of course, maps are importantly present as decoration and as essential elements of the plot in Vertigo. For example, the most famous map in the film, is the time map sketched on the cross-section of the redwood.

This is the map that Scottie and Madeleine struggle with at the moment but also later in the film. Their internal struggle becomes the films and subsequently our reality: Where are we in time and why is it you took no notice so long ago? Will you mark the time this round of the trunk? Will you remember--or will we be at tower's arch, losing and lost, unable to grasp, yet somehow all so familiar and this familiarity takes the pain from this loss and sends unlimited echoes of her scream--and your remembering, once more, a moment too late.

Michael Nazarewycz' engaging piece on the setting of Vertigo is good starting place for understanding the genius and wisdom on Hitch's choice for the film's setting. Hitch gives us a map, we follow him closely, but in the end the journey has been not one of space but of time and emotion. And those maps, the map that Scottie follows in the unraveling half of the film are the one for which there are no printers, no tree cuts and no paths.

A month of Vertigo

2012-01-10T16:18:00.000-08:00

Banner from Lady Eve's Special Series

Blogger Lady Eve is doing a month of Vertigo with guest bloggers. You'll have to do some catching up as I'm doing now, the what I've read so far is entertaining and insightful. The banner on this entry takes you to the calendar for the month. But to make it a little easier for you, here is the link to month's first entry written by R.D. Finch of The Movie Projector.
I'm providing a taste below, you'll need to visit Finch's great blog for the finish.

MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2012

Deadly Obsession: Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo

****
Country: US
Director: Alfred Hitchcock

What's that old Oscar Wilde thing? "Each man kills the thing he loves . . . " That I think is a very natural phenomenon, really.

—Alfred Hitchcock, in a 1963 interview

In his fifty-five year long career in films, Alfred Hitchcock directed sixty-seven movies. At least a dozen of these are bona fide masterpieces, and about an equal number are excellent movies that fall just short of the masterpiece mark. By any measure that's an impressive record, one unequaled by any other filmmaker I can think of. Even more impressive is that Hitchcock's pictures are not rarefied works of art of interest mainly to aesthetes and film scholars, but full-blooded movies that appeal equally to ordinary filmgoers looking for accomplished entertainments and to cinephiles looking for an intellectually and artistically stimulating film-viewing experience. Of all Hitchcock's pictures, none managed to combine these two modes—entertainment and art—so skillfully, so intriguingly, and so pleasingly as his 1958 film Vertigo.

Most people are familiar with the plot of Vertigo. A retired San Francisco police detective, John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart), psychologically traumatized after a rooftop chase to apprehend a criminal ends badly, is targeted as a dupe by his old college friend Gavin Elster, who exploits Scottie's crippling fear of heights to bring off an intricate scheme to murder his wife Madeleine (Kim Novak). The film's plot is a clever one and since this is a mystery thriller with hints of the supernatural (can Madeleine really be the reincarnation of her ancestor, as she believes?), neither the audience nor Scottie realizes what is really happening until quite far into the film. This allows the viewer's understanding of the situation to be manipulated, just as Scottie's is, to create a mood of suspense and, after the truth is revealed to the viewer about three-quarters of the way through the film, for that suspense to be prolonged as the film proceeds in a completely unexpected direction right up to its shock ending.

Such a narrative strategy requires . . .

For the rest, please visit here or here.