The disc: "Vertigo"
The details: Just when they should be bringing out the Blu-ray, Universal has reissued Hitchcock's "Vertigo," along with "Rear Window" and "Psycho," in yet another non high-def-configuration — by my count, the film's third DVD incarnation.
 American Movie Classics James Stewart and Kim Novak in 'Vertigo' an Alfred Hitchcock film. For a larger, high resolution image, click HERE |
"Vertigo" was a flop in 1958 because the story is manifestly ridiculous, a growing legend ever since because we stopped demanding narrative plausibility in our entertainment a long time ago. It's also masterful filmmaking, Hitchcock at the top of his stylistic game.
The director has complete confidence in what he's doing; fully 15 minutes of the film involves little more than James Stewart trailing Kim Novak around San Francisco. Hitchcock knew from "Rear Window," which is little more than a collection of Stewart reaction shots, that the actor could hold the screen no matter what. Adding Bernard Herrmann's swooningly romantic music made some very elongated sequences seem fascinating.
The film has been remastered for the occasion, and looks good, although the color seems paler than I remember from original prints and the 1996 restoration. Bernard Herrman's masterpiece of a score sounds fabulous in 5.1, even though it wasn't recorded in stereo - the film was shot in Vistavision, which had no stereo component.
The extras: They are a melange of previously released material and some interesting new items, notably some of the tapes that Hitchcock did with Francois Truffaut for their book, and a terrible European ending Hitchcock cobbled together to get around some censorship issues: after the obliterating finale of the film proper, a new scene begins in which Barbara Bel Geddes is listening to the radio. A broadcaster announces that the criminal mastermind is expected to be apprehended. A glum James Stewart walks into her apartment, makes himself a drink and walks over to a window. Fade out. The End.
It's a total anticlimactic letdown from the film that precedes it, which, despite its problematic plot, remains a ravishing experience.
Scott Eyman writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail: seyman AT pbpost.com
