Vertigo
Vertigo is a 1958 American psychological thriller film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock. The story was based on the 1954 novel D'entre les morts (From Among the Dead) by Boileau-Narcejac. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A. Taylor. The film stars James Stewart as former police detective John "Scottie" Ferguson, who has retired because an incident in the line of duty has caused him to develop acrophobia (an extreme fear of heights) and vertigo, a false sense of rotational movement. Scottie is hired by an acquaintance, Gavin Elster, as a private investigator to follow Gavin's wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak), who is behaving strangely.
Plot
After a rooftop chase in which a fellow policeman falls to his death, San Francisco detective John "Scottie" Ferguson retires out of fear of heights and vertigo. His ex-fiancée says that another severe emotional shock may be the only cure.
More details
author | Alec Coppel Boileau-Narcejac Maxwell Anderson Samuel A. Taylor Thomas Narcejac |
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contentLocation | California San Francisco |
director | Alfred Hitchcock |
editor | George Tomasini |
events | suicide |
genre | mystery thriller |
keywords | 17-mile drive apparent suicide art museum bell tower catatonic childhood home church claim clinical depression clinically depressed drive-in drive-in theater fear of heights flashback golden gate bridge inquest legion of honor married man mission san francisco de asís muir woods obsess paint possess rooftop chase sanatorium suicide jump vertigo |
musicBy | Bernard Herrmann |
nomination | Academy Award for Best Production Design Academy Award for Best Sound |
producer | Alfred Hitchcock |
productionCompany | Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions |
publisher | Paramount Pictures Universal Pictures |
recordedAt | Mission San Juan Bautista San Francisco |
theme | film noir mystery thriller psychological thriller romantic thriller |