I wish my heart were in San Francisco

Rating: 6/10 (29 January 2016)

The movie tells a fine story at an easy pace, like a pleasant read of a novel.
Its camera angles are fresh. Although countless other movies and television shows have been set in San Francisco, Vertigo gives us new scenes (e.g. the garden of Mission Dolores, exterior and interior of Palace of the Legion of Honor fine arts museum, the huge Brocklebank Apartments building, the old house known as "McKittrick's Hotel", Fort Point beneath Golden Gate Bridge, etc. etc. etc.). San Francisco feels fresh again.
Excellent character development... maybe the best I've ever seen in a film.
On the negative side:
1. John Ferguson's infidelity - how distasteful. Combined with the words "Mother's here" from his longtime girlfriend Midge and Ferguson's obsession with Judy, this movie's love theme comes off as a creepy, perverted love.
2. Ferguson's dream sequence is so amateurishly done - it's almost laughable.
3. The second half of the film is tedious, lacking visual freshness.
4. Many critics refer to Hitchcock as the master of suspense, but in this film, he fails to deliver. It contains only a few conundrums with minimal emotional intensity.
5. Judy's ending is contrived, inexplicable.