"Somewhere in here I was born... and there I died".

Rating: 8/10 (20 September 2009)

"Vertigo" is the cleverest of Alfred Hitchcock's murder mysteries, and it's probably one of the cleverest thrillers of all time. But what I find with Hitchcock is that with some thoughtful consideration after the fact, there are usually some annoying little details that the Master himself never fully deals with. What intrigued me the most about the story was that Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) put Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart) on the trail of a phony Mrs. Elster right from the very start. So we never even get to see the REAL Mrs. Elster. Which is OK as far as that goes, but doesn't it strike you as curious that Mrs. Elster would never think about using the car when 'Madeleine' was out and about tooling around San Francisco leading Scottie on his mission?
Then there's 'Judy' putting on the Carlotta Valdez necklace to go out on a date with Scottie - holy smokes! - where were the alarm bells on that one? You mean to tell me Judy couldn't make that connection? Actually, it wouldn't have been the first time a piece of jewelry helped identify a murderer, but it was done with a bit more finesse in 1945's "Conflict", with Humphrey Bogart being tripped up by a stickpin brooch.
Finally, I have some trouble with the final scene where Judy 'accidentally' falls to her death. It's just too convenient an ending, much like Uncle Charlie's demise at the end of another Hitchcock thriller from 1943, "Shadow Of A Doubt". Just how did Judy manage to fall off the the bell tower landing when Scottie himself needed three steps to get to the edge?
Aside from all that though, the story is a compelling one and does convey an air of intrigue and mystery, especially in the early going when the viewer rides along with Scottie following the intricate deception that Madeleine lays out. It's too bad Scottie didn't take Midge (Barbara Bel Geddes) along for the ride, she might have been able to smoke out the whole ruse.
If I'm being too nit-picky about the film, it's because Hitchcock has this reputation as one of the all time great directors, yet a lot of the story doesn't ring true under close inspection. I've found the same to be the case for some of his other pictures, like "Strangers On A Train", "Rope", and the earlier referenced "Shadow Of a Doubt". But to be fair, he also had some thrillers that were exceptional, namely "Dial M For Murder" and "North By Northwest".
One last thought, and this one bothered me throughout the whole picture - how was Scottie rescued from the ledge in the opening scene?