No towering achievement

Rating: 3/10 (23 March 2006)

Alfred Hitchcock has a reputation as one of the outstanding film-makers of his era; but to a modern viewer, 'Vertigo' disappoints. The plotting is as torturous as any modern thriller, but the 1950 production values continually let it down: one grows tired of out-of-doors scenes transparently shot in the studio (and even the scenes actually shot on location are curiously devoid of passers-by), there's a very clumsy (though admittedly innovative) dream sequence, even the fact that the two leads are unable to even kiss each other properly starts to grate after a while. This might suggest that Hitchcock's only failing with this movie was over-ambition, but unfortunately, it isn't so: for he also fails to get decent performances from his leading actors, stiff-as-a-board Jimmy Stweart and icy Kim Novak (a typical Hitchcock blonde) generate absolutely no on-screen chemistry. And both have complex roles to play: one of them undergoes a kind of nervous breakdown, while the other simulates the same thing; but neither can play their roles with sufficient depth to make this story work as psychological melodrama. There is one interesting female character - played by Barbara Bel Geddes - but she is mysteriously written out half way though for no good reason. Compare the performances in this movie to those being put in by the likes of Marlon Brando or Orson Welles at the same period in time, and one has to pass harsh judgement. There are still a few interesting details: it's amazing how little dialogue Hitchcock dares get away with, and the very bleak ending is surprising for a mainstream film. But it's impossible to invest any emotional feeling in the story; and that's surprising, given Hitchcock's towering legend.