Vertigo On DVD

Thank you Peter for this.

Repackaged under Universal’s Legacy Series label (along with two other late-period Hitchcock masterpieces, “Psycho” and “Rear Window”), this double-disc reissue of “Vertigo” doesn’t improve much on the 1998 collector’s edition in terms of extras. But bonuses are precisely that, when set alongside the meticulous restoration undertaken years ago by preservationists Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz: Restored version remains a wonder to behold, heightening the dizzying, obsessive quality of every color, angle and frame in Hitchcock’s peerless study of romantic obsession, and rendering each note of Bernard Herrmann‘s dreamlike score with freshly menacing clarity.

More than one option
  • (Film) Rear Window
  • (Tv) Rear Window
More than one option
  • (Film) Psycho
    1998 – Vince Vaughn, Gus van Sant
  • (Film) Psycho
    1960 – Anthony Perkins, Alfred Hitchcock
    More than one option
    • (Person) Alfred Hitchcock
      Voice, Director, Story By
    • (Person) Alfred Hitchcock
      Actor

Now recognized the world over as Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest achievement, “Vertigo” was unenthusiastically received in 1958, for reasons that are still understandable today: Critics and audiences trying to follow the film as a straight detective story were put off by its long, silent stretches, gaping implausibilities and bold indifference to the mechanics of suspense-thriller plotting (the decision to give the game away at the two-thirds mark, considered a folly at the time, now reveals itself as the director’s masterstroke).



Neither as flawlessly constructed as 1954’s “Rear Window,” nor as sublimely effervescent as its 1959 successor, “North by Northwest,” “Vertigo” is something far richer and more troubling: a psychological thriller that unspools with the maddening digressions and hypnotic urgency of a nightmare, and the closest thing to a confession on film Hitchcock ever made.

James Stewart’s doomed quest to remake Kim Novak’s Judy in the image of his dead lover finds its cruel thematic counterpart in the helmer’s own control-freak approach to his perfectly coiffed leading ladies, from Grace Kelly to Tippi Hedren. Yet even without this well-documented subtext, “Vertigo” is indelibly haunting. Obsession is not merely its subject, but its method: In no other Hitchcock film do individual hues, images and motifs take up such permanent residence in your subconscious.

Indeed, it takes a certain degree of fetishism to compile, and appreciate, a film’s wealth of trivia and archival materials, especially when that film is “Vertigo.” A new feature here is the nearly hourlong docu “Partners in Crime,” which highlights in detail the incalculable contributions made by four of Hitchcock’s longtime collaborators: Herrmann, title designer Saul Bass, costume designer Edith Head and his wife, Alma.

More than one option
  • (Film) Partners in Crime
    Rutger Hauer, Jennifer Warren
  • (Film) Partners in Crime
    Rutger Hauer, Jennifer Warren
  • (Tv) Partners in Crime
    Lee Grant, Jack Smight
  • (Tv) Partners in Crime
    Series Information, Seasons, Credits, Awards

An audio snippet from Hitchcock’s celebrated interviews with director Francois Truffaut allows the former to discuss “Vertigo’s” erotic undercurrents with droll frankness. Another fun inclusion is 1955 episode of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” titled “The Case of Mr. Pelham,” which deals in similar doppelgangers-and-madness territory.

More than one option
  • (Tv) Alfred Hitchcock Presents
    Series Information, Seasons, Credits, Awards
  • (Tv) Alfred Hitchcock Presents
    Ned Beatty, Joel Oliansky

Carryovers from the 1998 DVD include “Obsessed With ‘Vertigo’: New Life for Alfred Hitchcock’s Masterpiece,” which covers the making of the original film as well as the restoration; the execrable alternate ending Hitchcock was forced to shoot at the behest of foreign censors; and a meandering commentary track with Harris, Katz, associate producer Herbert Coleman and others involved with the film.

A superior commentary by director William Friedkin, who sharply analyzes the film in a critical and historical framework, makes a welcome addition to this welcome re-release.

More than one option
  • (Person) James Stewart
    Art Director
  • (Person) James Stewart
    Camera Trainee
  • (Person) James Stewart
    Driver, Transportation Captain
  • (Person) James Stewart
    Production Assistant
  • (Person) James Stewart
    Actor, Narrator, Song Performer
  • (Person) James Stewart
    Actor
  • (Person) James Stewart
    CGI Artist, Visual Effects, Animator
  • (Person) James Stewart
    Music
  • (Person) James G Stewart
  • (Person) James Stewart
    Sound Mixer
  • (Person) James Stewart
    Boom Operator
  • (Person) James Stewart
    Dolly Grip
More than one option
  • (Person) Henry Jones
    Actor, Special Thanks
  • (Person) Henry Jones
    Carpenter, Construction Manager
  • (Person) Henry Jones
    Director, Producer, Screenplay

Color, anamorphic widescreen. Dolby Digital. Running time: 130 MIN.

© BRWC 2010.


We hope you're enjoying BRWC. You should check us out on our social channels, subscribe to our newsletter, and tell your friends. BRWC is short for battleroyalewithcheese.


Trending on BRWC:

All The Men I Met But Never Dated: Review

All The Men I Met But Never Dated: Review

By BRWC / 20th November 2024
Sunflower Girl: Review

Sunflower Girl: Review

By BRWC / 23rd October 2024
Last Party: Review

Last Party: Review

By BRWC / 30th October 2024
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story - The BRWC Review

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story – The BRWC Review

By BRWC / 26th October 2024
Bionico’s Bachata: Review

Bionico’s Bachata: Review

By BRWC / 22nd October 2024

Cool Posts From Around the Web:



Alton loves film. He is founder and Editor In Chief of BRWC.  Some of the films he loves are Rear Window, Superman 2, The Man With The Two Brains, Clockwise, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Trading Places, Stir Crazy and Punch-Drunk Love.

NO COMMENTS

POST A COMMENT

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.