How Miss Deep Freeze (Novak) Became Scottie's Made-To-Order Barbie Doll

Rating: 6/10 (17 October 2011)

(Spoilers? Maybe)
Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (?) - Strictly a case of possession-obsession - A deadly disturbing portrait of an All-American man, his mounting madness, and Judy's beauty parlor make-over from hell.
OK. So, if the occasion offered itself, how would you expect an average American male to deal with the golden opportunity (like a gift from the gods) of being able to re-invent the woman of his dreams, who, already presumed dead, was also the ultimate love of his life?
Well, if you were supposedly "normal" like Scottie Ferguson here in Vertigo, then you'd simply mold her, shape her, and torment her. Through the ruthlessness of intimidation, domination and humiliation you'd repeatedly trample on her feelings until she finally succumbed to your will and became a living replica of the frickin' Barbie doll of your warped fantasy. Yeah. That's what you'd do.
Of all the Hitchcock films that I've seen over the years, I'd certainly rank Vertigo as my least favorite, by far. When you carefully look below the surface of things in this one, not only can you smell the reek of misogyny, but you also get the stink of one of the most vile and unpalatable character studies (of an apparently "normal" American male, in the form of Scottie Ferguson) that you are ever going to see.
I personally found Scottie to be an even bigger monster than, say, Norman Bates from Hitchcock's "Psycho".
I mean, at least we all knew well-enough that Norman wasn't "normal" and so that, in a sense, rendered the horrid acts that he committed as somewhat (Remember, I said "somewhat") acceptable.
But, on the other hand, there was Scottie who was undoubtedly presented as being about the most "normal" male alive in America. And, yet, his final actions belied his normalcy, 'cause when it came to re-inventing Judy into his beloved Madeleine, Scottie clearly crossed well-over the fine line of sanity and stepped straight into a madness of the most obsessively dangerous in nature.
Scottie's actions were so clearly that of a bona-fide psycho. So much so that, in a sense, he ended up killing Madeleine, not once, but twice. And if that ain't crazy, then I don't know what is.
As slow-paced as Vertigo initially was at the start, all-in-all, it was a fairly intriguing Mystery/Thriller that worked fine up to about the half-way point. Then once Madeleine was "killed" for the first time, things quickly deteriorated into one of the most morbid and thoroughly tasteless obsessions involving a memory of the dead and a feeble attempt at its subsequent resurrection.
Trivia note - Actor James Stewart, who played Scottie, was 50 at the time. Kim Novak, who played Madeleine/Judy, was only 25. From my point of view, this huge age gap alone didn't help matters much when trying to pass these 2 off as believable on-screen lovers.