James Stewart's greatest performance

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2007)

Although Hitchcock made good films before and after the 1950's, I think that the 50's were his true purple patch. Between 1950 and 1959 Hitchcock directed 11 movies. Here they are.
"Stage Fright" (1950). "Strangers On A Train" (1951). "I Confess" (1953). "Dial M For Murder" (1954). "Rear Window" (1954). "To Catch A Thief" (1955). "The Trouble With Harry" (1955). "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956). "The Wrong Man" (1956). "Vertigo" (1958). "North By Northwest" (1959).
I challenge you to find a single clunker on that list. You won't, because there aren't any. I know the mechanics of Hollywood in the 50's were different, and there was a much faster turnaround of product, but 11 great films (some true classics) by the same Director in 10 years is going some and more. He never won an Oscar, but Hitchcock was a really great Director. That fact should never be forgotten.
I have seen "Vertigo" on TV many a time, but never on the big screen. "Vertigo" might be Hitchcock's strangest film. Ostensibly it is a melodrama. (An ex-Detective, traumatised by the accidental death of a colleague, and suffering from a chronic fear of heights, is hired by an old friend to follow the friend's wife, as she has started behaving strangely.) Of course, the story is much deeper than that. "Vertigo" is about mental illness, obsession, betrayal and, yes, necrophilia. In a great career it could be James Stewart's greatest performance. "Vertigo" also looks beautiful and the colour scheme tells it's own story. (Red=health, green=illness.)
It's a masterpiece. 'Nuff said.