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Vertigo (PG)

Vertigo

Dismissed as a commercial and critical flop on its release in 1958, the 60 years that have passed have cemented Vertigo as the quintessential Hitchcock film, and one of the greatest ever made.

Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart) has developed a fear of heights after witnessing a colleague fall to his death. His crippling vertigo forces him to retire from his role as a private investigator, but a case from an old college friend Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) lures him back in. Elster believes his wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak), has been possessed by a spirit, and wants Scottie to follow her. Sceptical, he reluctantly agrees to follow Madeleine and after intervening in her attempted suicide, falls deeply in love with her. But all is not what it seems.

Bernard Herrmann's hypnotic score Hitchcock's haunting, compelling masterpiece is uniquely revelatory about the director's own predilections and hang-ups and is widely considered to be one of his masterworks.

Tagged with: Cinema New releases

US 1958 Dir Alfred Hitchock 128 min

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‘Hitchcock’s masterpiece, rereleased after 60 years, combines his flair for psychological shocks with a genius for dapper stylishness‘