Ⅴ ERTIGO FILMS. 4 EDITIoN ubject of morbid jokes as the executioner, who garrots his victims neasures the neck size of his future son-in-law. The film is punctu that take the audience by surprise. A particularly fine example coals ated with these bits of gallows humor as well as with comic revers at the end of the movie when the young executioner is carried kicking and screaming like the victim into the prison where he will perform his first execution. El verdugo shows that the biting black humor that we have come to associate with Bunuel is. in more general terms a Spanish characteristic. Berlanga s irreverent treatment of death is symptomatic of a tend- ency found in all of his movies-to poke fun at pomposity and pretensions, and to deflate generally accepted values and beliefs. At he same time that El verdugo is highly entertaining, it also has a message that was vaguely subversive in Franco's Spain in the early 960s. In one sense. the movie is about two outcasts the undertaker and the executioner's daughter, both of whom are avoided by every one. When they join together, it is with the hope of having a better life But as Berlanga demonstrates, these hopes cannot be realized. Like other Berlanga protagonists, the undertaker becomes caught up in a destiny which he did not choose. He is a victim of innocent concessions made along the way that ultimately lead him to be sentenced to his fate of becoming the executioner. He is the true victim, the one who is strangled in a web of circumstances beyond his control, caught up in the system of justice and retribution that is all encompassing. In the context of francos Spain, the ideological dimensions of this message are clear. as the executioner tells his son- in-law, where theres a law, someone has to enforce it someone has to the dirty work. Perhaps that was Berlanga's way of saying that in vertigo a dictatorial regime, whether they are willing or not, men are coerced into aiding and abetting the status quo. Publications -Katherine Singer koy Books Amengual, Barthelemy, Hitchcock, Paris, 1960 Ⅴ ERTIGO Bogdanovich, Peter, The Cinema of Alfred Hitchcock, New York, 1962 Manz, Hans Peter, Alfred Hitchcock, Zurich, 1962. Wood. robin. Hitchcock's films. London 1965: revised edition as USA,1958 Hitchcocks Films Revisited. New York, 1989 Truffaut, francois, Le Cinema selon Hitchcock, Paris, 1966:as Hitchcock. New York. 1985 Director: Alfred Hitchcock Douchet, Jean, Alfred Hitchcock, Paris, 1967 Simsolo, Noel, Alfred Hitchcock, Paris, 1969 Production: Paramount Pictures: Technicolor, 35mm;running time: Jones, Ken D, The Films of James Stewart, New York, 1970 127 minutes. Released 958. Re-released 1983. Filmed in part La valley, Albert J, editor, Focus on Hitchcock, Englewood Cliffs, San franciso New Jersey, 1972 Durgnat, Raymond, The Strange Case of Alfred Hitchcock, Cam Producer: Alfred Hitchcock; screenplay: Alec Coppel and Samuel bridge, Massachusetts, 1974 Taylor, from the novel D'entre les morts by Pierre Boileau and Spoto, Donald, The Art of Alfred Hitchcock, New York, 1976 Taylor, John Russell, Hitch, London, 1978 Thomas Narcejac; photography: Robert Burks: editor: George Tomasini; art director: Hal Pereira and Henry Bumstead; music: Fieschi. J. A. and others. Hitchcock. Paris. 1981 Bernard herman Narboni, Jean, editor, Alfred Hitchcock, Paris, 1982. Rothman, william, Hitchcock-The Murderous gaze, Cambridge. Cast: James Stewart (John Ferguson); Kim Novak(Madeline/Judy) Spoto, Donald, The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitch Barbara Bel Geddes (Midge); Tom Helmore (Gavin Eister): cock. New York. 1982 H
VERTIGO FILMS, 4th EDITION 1278 subject of morbid jokes as the executioner, who garrots his victims, measures the neck size of his future son-in-law. The film is punctuated with these bits of gallows humor as well as with comic reversals that take the audience by surprise. A particularly fine example occurs at the end of the movie when the young executioner is carried kicking and screaming like the victim into the prison where he will perform his first execution. El verdugo shows that the biting black humor that we have come to associate with Buñuel is, in more general terms, a Spanish characteristic. Berlanga’s irreverent treatment of death is symptomatic of a tendency found in all of his movies—to poke fun at pomposity and pretensions, and to deflate generally accepted values and beliefs. At the same time that El verdugo is highly entertaining, it also has a message that was vaguely subversive in Franco’s Spain in the early 1960s. In one sense, the movie is about two outcasts, the undertaker and the executioner’s daughter, both of whom are avoided by everyone. When they join together, it is with the hope of having a better life. But as Berlanga demonstrates, these hopes cannot be realized. Like other Berlanga protagonists, the undertaker becomes caught up in a destiny which he did not choose. He is a victim of innocent concessions made along the way that ultimately lead him to be sentenced to his fate of becoming the executioner. He is the true victim, the one who is strangled in a web of circumstances beyond his control, caught up in the system of justice and retribution that is all encompassing. In the context of Franco’s Spain, the ideological dimensions of this message are clear. As the executioner tells his sonin-law, where there’s a law, someone has to enforce it; someone has to do the dirty work. Perhaps that was Berlanga’s way of saying that in a dictatorial regime, whether they are willing or not, men are coerced into aiding and abetting the status quo. —Katherine Singer Kóvacs VERTIGO USA, 1958 Director: Alfred Hitchcock Production: Paramount Pictures; Technicolor, 35mm; running time: 127 minutes. Released May 1958. Re-released 1983. Filmed in part in San Francisco. Producer: Alfred Hitchcock; screenplay: Alec Coppel and Samuel Taylor, from the novel D’entre les morts by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac; photography: Robert Burks; editor: George Tomasini; art director: Hal Pereira and Henry Bumstead; music: Bernard Herrmann. Cast: James Stewart (John Ferguson); Kim Novak (Madeline/Judy); Barbara Bel Geddes (Midge); Tom Helmore (Gavin Eister); Henry Jones. Vertigo Publications Books: Amengual, Barthélemy, Hitchcock, Paris, 1960. Bogdanovitch, Peter, The Cinema of Alfred Hitchcock, New York, 1962. Manz, Hans Peter, Alfred Hitchcock, Zurich, 1962. Wood, Robin, Hitchcock’s Films, London, 1965; revised edition, as Hitchcock’s Films Revisited, New York, 1989. Truffaut, François, Le Cinéma selon Hitchcock, Paris, 1966; as Hitchcock, New York, 1985. Douchet, Jean, Alfred Hitchcock, Paris, 1967. Simsolo, Noël, Alfred Hitchcock, Paris, 1969. Jones, Ken D., The Films of James Stewart, New York, 1970. La Valley, Albert J., editor, Focus on Hitchcock, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1972. Durgnat, Raymond, The Strange Case of Alfred Hitchcock, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1974. Spoto, Donald, The Art of Alfred Hitchcock, New York, 1976. Taylor, John Russell, Hitch, London, 1978. Fieschi, J. A., and others, Hitchcock, Paris, 1981. Narboni, Jean, editor, Alfred Hitchcock, Paris, 1982. Rothman, William, Hitchcock—The Murderous Gaze, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982. Spoto, Donald, The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock, New York, 1982. Villien, Bruno, Hitchcock, Paris, 1982
FILMS. 4th EDItION VERTIGO Weis, Elisabeth, The Silent Scream: Alfred Hitchcock's Sound Track, Silver, A.J., ""Fragments of a Mirror: Uses of Landscape in Hitch Rutherford, New Jersey, 1982. cock, in Wide Angle(Athens, Ohio), no 3, 1976. Eyles, Allen, James Stewart, London, 1984 Joyce, P, 25 Years of Film Interviews: Hitchcock and the Dying hillis, Gene D, Alfred Hitchcock, Boston, 1984 Art, in Film (London), November 1979. Bruce, Graham, Benard Herrmann: Film Music and Narrative, Ann Bitomsky, Herbert, and others, "" Vertigo-aus dem Reich der Toten, " in Filmkritik(Munich), June 1980. Robbins, Jhan, Everybody's Man: A Biography of Jimmy Stewart, Ebert, J,"Vertigo--The Secret of the Tower, in Framework New York. 1985 orwich) Autumn, 1980 Burgin, Victor, and others, Formations of fantasy, London, 1986. Peary, Danny, in Cult Movies, New York, 1981 Deutelbaum. Marshall. and Leland poague. a Hitchcock Reader Giacci, V, in Filmcritica(Florence), January 1981 Hitchcock Issue of Camero/Stylo(Paris), November 1981 Humphries, Patrick, The Films of Alfred Hitchcock, Greenwich, Wood, Robin, " Fear of Spying, in American Film(Washington, Connecticut. 1986 D. C ) November 1983 Kloppenburg, Josef, Die dramaturgische Funktion der Musik in Andrew, Geoff, in Time Out (London), I December 1983 Filmen Alfred Hitchcocks, Munich, 1986 Villien, Bruno, and G. Gourdon, in Cinematographe (Paris), Brill, Lesley, The Hitchcock Romance: Love and irony in Hitchcock's Films. Princeton 1988 Kehr, Dave, ""Hitch's Riddle, in Film Comment(New York), May Modleski, Tania. The Women Who Knew Too Much: Hitchcock and Feminist Theory. New York, 1988 Tobin, Y, in Positif(Paris), July-August 1984. Finler, Joel w, Hitchcock in Hollywood, New York, 1992 Vertigo Sectionof Revue Belge du Cinema brussels), Autumn 1984 Sterritt, David, The Films of Alfred Hitchcock, New York, 1993 Malberg, C.J., in Chaplin(Stockholm), vol. 27, no 4, 1985. Arginteanu, Judy, The Movies of Alfred Hitchcock, Minneapolis, 1994 'Hitchcock Dossier"'in Revue du Cinema(Paris), January 1985 Boyd, David, editor, Perspectives on Alfred Hitchcock, New Barten, E, in Skoop(Amsterdam), March-April 1985 Frauen und Film(Frankfurt), May 1985. Pickard, Roy, James Stewart: The Hollywood Years, London, 1997. Open, M,"Fear of Falling, in Film Directions(Belfast), Sum- Auiler, Dan, Vertigo: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic, New mer 1985 York, 1998 Gal, P Molnar, in Filmkultura(Budapest), December 1985 Auiler, Dan, Hitchcock's Notebooks: An Authorized and Illustrated Brown, R. S,"Vertigo as Orphic Tragedy, in Literature/Film Look inside the Creative Mind of alfred Hitchcock, New York, 1999. Quarterly(Salisbury, Maryland), January 1986 Trias, Eugenio, Vertigo y pasion: un ensayo sobre la pelicula Serenellini, M, in Cinema Nuovo(Bari), January-February 1986 Vertigo"de Alfred Hitchcock, Madrid, 1998 Wright Wexman, Virginia, " The Critic as Consumer: Film Study in Condon, Pauline, Complete Hitchcock, London, 1999 the University, vertigo, and the Film Canon, in Film Quarterl Freedman, Jonathan, and Richard millington, editors, Hitchcocks Berkeley), Spring 1986 America. New York, 1999 Miller, G, "Beyond the Frame: Hitchcock, Art, and the Ideal, in Bellour,Raymond, The Analysis of Film, Bloomington, 200:1999 Harris, Robert A, Complete Films of Alfred Hitchcock, Secaucus, 1999 Post Script (Jacksonville, Florida), winter 198 Johnson, W,"Sound and Image, in Film quarterly(Berkeley). McGilligan, Patrick, Alfred Hitchcock, New York, 2001 1,1989 Maxfield, J. F,"A Dreamer and His Dream: Another Way of Looking at Hitchcocks Vertigo, in Film Criticism(Meadville, Articles Braad Thomsen, C, ""Dodens engel, in Kosmorama( Copenhagen), Crowther, Bosley, in New York Times, 29 May 1958 Spring 1990. Pett, John, in Films and Filming (London), November and Decem- Leonard, Garry M, "A Fall from Grace: The Fragmentation of ber 1959 Masculine Subjectivity and the Impossibility of Femininity in Agel, Henri, Alfred Hitchcock, in New York Film Bulletin, no. Hitchcocks Vertigo, in American imago(Highland Park, New 15,1961 Jersey), Fall-Winter 1990 Higham, Charles, Hitchcocks World, in Film Quarterly(Berke- Linderman, D, The mise-en-abime in Hitchcocks vertigo ley), December 1962-January 1963 Cinema Journal(Austin, Texas ). no 4, 1991 Sweigert, william R, "James Stewart, in Films in Review(New Groh, F, "Vertigos Three Towers, in Hitchcock Annual(Gambier York), December 1964 Sonbert, Warren, ""Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Morality, in Film Paini, D, "Au commencement etait le portrait, in Iris(lowa City ), ulture(New York), Summer 1966 Cook, Page, "Bernard Herrmann, in Films in Review(New York) Modleski, T, and G. Vincendeau, Les femmes qui en savaient August-September 1967 trop: un nouveau regard sur Hitchcock, ' in Cinemaction(Conde Nevins, Francis M, Jr, in Journal of Popular Culture(Bowling sur-Noireau, france ), no 2, 1993 Green, Ohio), Fall 1968. Reid's Film Index (wyong), no 10, 1993 Samuels, Charles T, Hitchcock, ""in American Scholar(Washing. Chankin, D O, Delusions and Dreams in Hitchcocks vertigo, ton, D.C. ) Spring 1970. Hitchcock Annual(Gambier, Ohio), Fall 1993 Skoller, D, "Aspects of Cinematic Consciousness, in Film Com Poague, Leland, Engendering Vertigo, in Hitchcock Annual ment(New York), September-October 1972 Gambier), 1994
FILMS, 4 VERTIGO th EDITION 1279 Weis, Elisabeth, The Silent Scream: Alfred Hitchcock’s Sound Track, Rutherford, New Jersey, 1982. Eyles, Allen, James Stewart, London, 1984. Phillips, Gene D., Alfred Hitchcock, Boston, 1984. Bruce, Graham, Bernard Herrmann: Film Music and Narrative, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1985. Robbins, Jhan, Everybody’s Man: A Biography of Jimmy Stewart, New York, 1985. Burgin, Victor, and others, Formations of Fantasy, London, 1986. Deutelbaum, Marshall, and Leland Poague, A Hitchcock Reader, Ames, Iowa, 1986. Humphries, Patrick, The Films of Alfred Hitchcock, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1986. Kloppenburg, Josef, Die dramaturgische Funktion der Musik in Filmen Alfred Hitchcocks, Munich, 1986. Brill, Lesley, The Hitchcock Romance: Love and Irony in Hitchcock’s Films, Princeton, 1988. Modleski, Tania, The Women Who Knew Too Much: Hitchcock and Feminist Theory, New York, 1988. Finler, Joel W., Hitchcock in Hollywood, New York, 1992. Sterritt, David, The Films of Alfred Hitchcock, New York, 1993. Arginteanu, Judy, The Movies of Alfred Hitchcock, Minneapolis, 1994. Boyd, David, editor, Perspectives on Alfred Hitchcock, New York, 1995. Pickard, Roy, James Stewart: The Hollywood Years, London, 1997. Auiler, Dan, Vertigo: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic, New York, 1998. Auiler, Dan, Hitchcock’s Notebooks: An Authorized and Illustrated Look Inside the Creative Mind of Alfred Hitchcock, New York, 1999. Trías, Eugenio, Vértigo y pasión: un ensayo sobre la película ‘‘Vertigo’’ de Alfred Hitchcock, Madrid, 1998. Condon, Pauline, Complete Hitchcock, London, 1999. Freedman, Jonathan, and Richard Millington, editors, Hitchcock’s America, New York, 1999. Harris, Robert A., Complete Films of Alfred Hitchcock, Secaucus, 1999. Bellour, Raymond, The Analysis of Film, Bloomington, 2000. McGilligan, Patrick, Alfred Hitchcock, New York, 2001. Articles: Crowther, Bosley, in New York Times, 29 May 1958. Pett, John, in Films and Filming (London), November and December 1959. Agel, Henri, ‘‘Alfred Hitchcock,’’ in New York Film Bulletin, no. 15, 1961. Higham, Charles, ‘‘Hitchcock’s World,’’ in Film Quarterly (Berkeley), December 1962-January 1963. Sweigert, William R., ‘‘James Stewart,’’ in Films in Review (New York), December 1964. Sonbert, Warren, ‘‘Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Morality,’’ in Film Culture (New York), Summer 1966. Cook, Page, ‘‘Bernard Herrmann,’’ in Films in Review (New York), August-September 1967. Nevins, Francis M., Jr., in Journal of Popular Culture (Bowling Green, Ohio), Fall 1968. Samuels, Charles T., ‘‘Hitchcock,’’ in American Scholar (Washington, D.C.), Spring 1970. Skoller, D., ‘‘Aspects of Cinematic Consciousness,’’ in Film Comment (New York), September-October 1972. Silver, A. J., ‘‘Fragments of a Mirror: Uses of Landscape in Hitchcock,’’ in Wide Angle (Athens, Ohio), no. 3, 1976. Joyce, P., ‘‘25 Years of Film Interviews: Hitchcock and the Dying Art,’’ in Film (London), November 1979. Bitomsky, Herbert, and others, ‘‘Vertigo—aus dem Reich der Toten,’’ in Filmkritik (Munich), June 1980. Ebert, J., ‘‘Vertigo—The Secret of the Tower,’’ in Framework (Norwich), Autumn, 1980. Peary, Danny, in Cult Movies, New York, 1981. Giacci, V., in Filmcritica (Florence), January 1981. ‘‘Hitchcock Issue’’ of Camero/Stylo (Paris), November 1981. Wood, Robin, ‘‘Fear of Spying,’’ in American Film (Washington, D.C.), November 1983. Andrew, Geoff, in Time Out (London), 1 December 1983. Villien, Bruno, and G. Gourdon, in Cinématographe (Paris), March 1984. Kehr, Dave, ‘‘Hitch’s Riddle,’’ in Film Comment (New York), MayJune 1984. Tobin, Y., in Positif (Paris), July-August 1984. ‘‘Vertigo Section’’ of Revue Belge du Cinéma (Brussels), Autumn 1984. Malberg, C. J., in Chaplin (Stockholm), vol. 27, no. 4, 1985. ‘‘Hitchcock Dossier’’ in Revue du Cinéma (Paris), January 1985. Barten, E., in Skoop (Amsterdam), March-April 1985. Frauen und Film (Frankfurt), May 1985. Open, M., ‘‘Fear of Falling,’’ in Film Directions (Belfast), Summer 1985. Gal, P. Molnar, in Filmkultura (Budapest), December 1985. Brown, R. S., ‘‘Vertigo as Orphic Tragedy,’’ in Literature/Film Quarterly (Salisbury, Maryland), January 1986. Serenellini, M., in Cinema Nuovo (Bari), January-February 1986. Wright Wexman, Virginia, ‘‘The Critic as Consumer: Film Study in the University, Vertigo, and the Film Canon,’’ in Film Quarterly (Berkeley), Spring 1986. Miller, G., ‘‘Beyond the Frame: Hitchcock, Art, and the Ideal,’’ in Post Script (Jacksonville, Florida), Winter 1986. Johnson, W., ‘‘Sound and Image,’’ in Film Quarterly (Berkeley), no. 1, 1989. Maxfield, J. F., ‘‘A Dreamer and His Dream: Another Way of Looking at Hitchcock’s Vertigo,’’ in Film Criticism (Meadville, Pennsylvania), no. 3, 1990. Braad Thomsen, C., ‘‘Dodens engel,’’ in Kosmorama (Copenhagen), Spring 1990. Leonard, Garry M., ‘‘A Fall from Grace: The Fragmentation of Masculine Subjectivity and the Impossibility of Femininity in Hitchcock’s Vertigo,’’ in American Imago (Highland Park, New Jersey), Fall-Winter 1990. Linderman, D., ‘‘The mise-en-abime in Hitchcock’s Vertigo,’’ in Cinema Journal (Austin, Texas), no. 4, 1991. Groh, F., ‘‘Vertigo’s Three Towers,’’ in Hitchcock Annual (Gambier, Ohio), [no. 1], 1992. Paini, D., ‘‘Au commencement etait le portrait,’’ in Iris (Iowa City), Autumn 1992. Modleski, T., and G. Vincendeau, ‘‘‘Les femmes qui en savaient trop’: un nouveau regard sur Hitchcock,’’ in Cinemaction (Condesur-Noireau, France), no. 2, 1993. Reid’s Film Index (Wyong), no. 10, 1993. Chankin, D. O., ‘‘Delusions and Dreams in Hitchcock’s Vertigo,’’ in Hitchcock Annual (Gambier, Ohio), Fall 1993. Poague, Leland, ‘‘Engendering Vertigo,’’ in Hitchcock Annual (Gambier), 1994
Ⅴ ERTIGO FILMS. 4 EDITIoN Hinton, L, "AWomans'View: The Vertigo Frame-Up, in Film psychotic Anthony Perkins with his motel peephole in Psycho. If Criticism. vol. 19. no. 2. Winter 1994-1995. stewarts Scotty Ferguson, the private eye in vertigo, is more Street, S," Hitchcockian Haberdashery, in Hitchcock Annua fascinating than either, it's because he's so precariously balanced Gambier), Fall 1995/1996. between their psychic states. A former police detective who's devel Bond, J., in Film Score Monthly os Angeles), no 69, May 1996. oped a pathological fear of heights since being responsible for the Doherty, J., in Soundtrack!(Mechelen), voL. 15, September 1996 fatal fall of a fellow officer, Scotty is institutionalized for a year in the Hoberman, J, ""Lost in Space, in Village Voice(New York), vol 41, middle of the film after assuming (wrongly)that his"weakness"(as 15 October 1996 the coroner puts it) prevented him from stopping the suicidal leap of Perry, Dennis R, "The Imps of the Perverse: Discovering the Poe/ the woman he was hired to protect and with whom he's fallen in love Hitchcock Connection, in Literature/Film Quarterly(Salisbury), The film ends at the moment of hersecond'death. It's as bleak vol 24. no 4 October 1996 a conclusion as in any American film of its decade: Psycho is a rich Turner, George,""Hitchcocks Acrophobic Vision, 'in American comedy in comparison Cinematographer(Hollywood), vol. 57, no 11, November 1996 The voyeuristic impulse behind Hitchcock,'s style is most immedi- Lyons, Donald, Notes When Falling, in Film Comment(New ately evident in the tourist sensibility that pervades his American York), vol 32, no 6, November-December 1996 films-a tourist will keep his careful distance from the grit of the Morris, Christopher D, ""Feminism, Deconstruction and the Pursuit world. Here, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Palace of the Legion of of the Tenable in Vertigo, "in Hitchcock Anmual( Gambier, Ohio), Honor, Podesta's filowershop, Ernies restaurant, Coit Tower, Fort Autumn 1996-199 Point, the Palace of Fine Arts make up San Francisco's slick surface Brown, Royal S, ""Back From Among the Dead: The Restoration of through Robert Burks's sharp-edged Technicolor. Hitchcock's silent Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, ' in Cineaste(New York), vol. 23, film mastery pays off in the scenes involving Scottys extended no.1,1997. tailing of Madeleine, accompanied by Bernard Herrmanns haunt- DeRosa, Steven L,"A Very Different 'Slice of Cake: Restoring ing score. Alfred Hitchcocks Vertigo, in Macguffin(East Melbourne),no Vertigo extends this passive, tourist's world into more levels. The films plotline is the hokiest of ghost stories Charity, Tom, and Brian Case, ""Dizzy Heights/ The National Alf, believe that someone out of the past, someone dead, ca in Time Out (London), no 1391, 16 April 1997. possession of a living being?), but it soon moves into ochimson, Martha P. """ Us: The Retold Melodrama. through flaws wrought by sexual obsession. The highly Soap Opera, and the Representation of Reality, in Film Quar- pivotal scene comes quite late: Scotty has met a woman who terly(Berkeley ) vol 50, no. 3, Spring 199 him of his dead love(in fact, she is the same woman-her fabricated Ruedel, Ulrich, in Macguffin(East Melbourne), no. 22, May-Au-"death""having been the cover for a man's murder of his wife). They gust 1997. return to his bachelor apartment after an increasingly uncomfortable Redman, Nick, in DGA Magazine(Los Angeles), vol 22, no 3, July- afternoon of buying clothes to make the woman resemble her previ- August 1997 ous incarnation. Judy's plea, spoken almost to herself, is: Couldnt Johnson, william, ""Enigma Variations, 'in Film Comment(New you like me, just me, the way I am? "What looks for an instant like York), vol 33, no 6, November-December 1997 Scottys gaze of reciprocated love is instead his revelation of the k Lucas, Tim,"Vertigo: Vertigo Before Hitchcock, "in Video Watch- for her complete transformation: " "The color of your hair! ""The scene dog( Cincinnati), no 40, 1997. lurches forward into an ultimate degradation, as Judy agrees to Ames, Deborah Lee, " Vertigo: The Nomenclature of Despair, " in remake her brunette-shopgirl self into the( Hitchcockian)blonde ice- Hitchcock Annual(Gambier), 1997-1998 goddess, with tailored grey suit and tightly bound hair. The scene, and the whole film, is the essence of the Hitchcockian sexuality-that is sexuality only exists as obsession, one that degrades women and literally deranges men. In Vertigo, Hitchcock does manage to be pointed about the ironies of this quest: Scotty looks longingly at other Not particularly successful at the time of its release, Vertigo has blondes in harsh grey suits even while dining with a vibrant incarna- tion of the woman he"loves. In a sense, he gets just what he where his profounder obsessions are reinforced by his technical deserves inventiveness. It can be argued that Hitchcock's"greatness The film's genius is depicting such perversity as merely circum- only from the accident that his recurring obsession with voyeurism is stance-crossed love. In other words, its genius is in revealing the the topic that best meshes with the ontology of the filmgoing perversity behind accepted "normal"practices. What's so odd about experience In any case, the longstanding argument men redressing their women? Or in wom 336. remaking themselves in ity of his British vs. American periods looks to have been settled in the adored image? Judys plea puts it embarrassingly straight: IfI let favor of the latter. The less savory aspects of Hitchcocks life revealed you change me, will that do it? Will you love me? "Traditional sexual since his death come as little surprise if Rear Window, Vertigo, and politics swells into a grand grotesque, a Chinese-box melodrama of Psycho are seen as a supreme voyeuristic trilogy tricks and betrayals. The scenario itself is complicated and inconsis The Peeping Toms in these films progress through ever-greater tent, but the repeated motifs in the dialogue("Please try!""It's too distress-from the ostensibly healthy (if significantly broken-legged) late. )tie the disconnected love-pairings into the tightest of nets. James Stewart with his telephoto lens in Rear Window through the Hitchcock is typically cruel to plain Midge, with her patient, enduring 1280
VERTIGO FILMS, 4th EDITION 1280 Hinton, L., ‘‘A ‘Woman’s’ View: The Vertigo Frame-Up,’’ in Film Criticism, vol. 19, no. 2, Winter 1994–1995. Street, S., ‘‘Hitchcockian Haberdashery,’’ in Hitchcock Annual (Gambier), Fall 1995/1996. Bond, J., in Film Score Monthly (Los Angeles), no. 69, May 1996. Doherty, J., in Soundtrack! (Mechelen), vol. 15, September 1996. Hoberman, J., ‘‘Lost in Space,’’ in Village Voice (New York), vol. 41, 15 October 1996. Perry, Dennis R., ‘‘The Imps of the Perverse: Discovering the Poe/ Hitchcock Connection,’’ in Literature/Film Quarterly (Salisbury), vol. 24, no. 4, October 1996. Turner, George, ‘‘Hitchcock’s Acrophobic Vision,’’ in American Cinematographer (Hollywood), vol. 57, no. 11, November 1996. Lyons, Donald, ‘‘Notes When Falling,’’ in Film Comment (New York), vol. 32, no. 6, November-December 1996. Morris, Christopher D., ‘‘Feminism, Deconstruction and the Pursuit of the Tenable in Vertigo,’’ in Hitchcock Annual (Gambier, Ohio), Autumn 1996–1997. Brown, Royal S., ‘‘Back From Among the Dead: The Restoration of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo,’’ in Cineaste (New York), vol. 23, no. 1, 1997. DeRosa, Steven L., ‘‘A Very Different ‘Slice of Cake’: Restoring Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo,’’ in Macguffin (East Melbourne), no. 21, February 1997. Charity, Tom, and Brian Case, ‘‘Dizzy Heights/ The National Alf,’’ in Time Out (London), no. 1391, 16 April 1997. Nochimson, Martha P., ‘‘Amnesia ‘R’ Us: The Retold Melodrama, Soap Opera, and the Representation of Reality,’’ in Film Quarterly (Berkeley), vol. 50, no. 3, Spring 1997. Ruedel, Ulrich, in Macguffin (East Melbourne), no. 22, May-August 1997. Redman, Nick, in DGA Magazine (Los Angeles), vol. 22, no. 3, JulyAugust 1997. Johnson, William, ‘‘Enigma Variations,’’ in Film Comment (New York), vol. 33, no. 6, November-December 1997. Lucas, Tim, ‘‘Vertigo: Vertigo Before Hitchcock,’’ in Video Watchdog (Cincinnati), no. 40, 1997. Ames, Deborah Lee, ‘‘Vertigo: The Nomenclature of Despair,’’ in Hitchcock Annual (Gambier), 1997–1998. *** Not particularly successful at the time of its release, Vertigo has come to be recognized as one of Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest films, where his profounder obsessions are reinforced by his technical inventiveness. It can be argued that Hitchcock’s ‘‘greatness’’ comes only from the accident that his recurring obsession with voyeurism is the topic that best meshes with the ontology of the filmgoing experience. In any case, the longstanding argument over the superiority of his British vs. American periods looks to have been settled in favor of the latter. The less savory aspects of Hitchcock’s life revealed since his death come as little surprise if Rear Window, Vertigo, and Psycho are seen as a supreme voyeuristic trilogy. The Peeping Toms in these films progress through ever-greater distress—from the ostensibly healthy (if significantly broken-legged) James Stewart with his telephoto lens in Rear Window through the psychotic Anthony Perkins with his motel peephole in Psycho. If Stewart’s Scotty Ferguson, the private eye in Vertigo, is more fascinating than either, it’s because he’s so precariously balanced between their psychic states. A former police detective who’s developed a pathological fear of heights since being responsible for the fatal fall of a fellow officer, Scotty is institutionalized for a year in the middle of the film after assuming (wrongly) that his ‘‘weakness’’ (as the coroner puts it) prevented him from stopping the suicidal leap of the woman he was hired to protect and with whom he’s fallen in love. The film ends at the moment of her ‘‘second’’ death. It’s as bleak a conclusion as in any American film of its decade; Psycho is a rich comedy in comparison. The voyeuristic impulse behind Hitchcock’s style is most immediately evident in the tourist sensibility that pervades his American films—a tourist will keep his careful distance from the grit of the world. Here, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Palace of the Legion of Honor, Podesta’s flowershop, Ernie’s restaurant, Coit Tower, Fort Point, the Palace of Fine Arts make up San Francisco’s slick surface through Robert Burks’s sharp-edged Technicolor. Hitchcock’s silent film mastery pays off in the scenes involving Scotty’s extended tailing of Madeleine, accompanied by Bernard Herrmann’s haunting score. Vertigo extends this passive, tourist’s world into more intimate levels. The film’s plotline is the hokiest of ghost stories (‘‘Do you believe that someone out of the past, someone dead, can take possession of a living being?’’), but it soon moves into tragedy through flaws wrought by sexual obsession. The highly charged, pivotal scene comes quite late: Scotty has met a woman who reminds him of his dead love (in fact, she is the same woman—her fabricated ‘‘death’’ having been the cover for a man’s murder of his wife). They return to his bachelor apartment after an increasingly uncomfortable afternoon of buying clothes to make the woman resemble her previous incarnation. Judy’s plea, spoken almost to herself, is: ‘‘Couldn’t you like me, just me, the way I am?’’ What looks for an instant like Scotty’s gaze of reciprocated love is instead his revelation of the key for her complete transformation: ‘‘The color of your hair!’’ The scene lurches forward into an ultimate degradation, as Judy agrees to remake her brunette-shopgirl self into the (Hitchcockian) blonde icegoddess, with tailored grey suit and tightly bound hair. The scene, and the whole film, is the essence of the Hitchcockian sexuality—that is, sexuality only exists as obsession, one that degrades women and literally deranges men. In Vertigo, Hitchcock does manage to be pointed about the ironies of this quest: Scotty looks longingly at other blondes in harsh grey suits even while dining with a vibrant incarnation of the woman he ‘‘loves.’’ In a sense, he gets just what he deserves. The film’s genius is depicting such perversity as merely circumstance-crossed love. In other words, its genius is in revealing the perversity behind accepted ‘‘normal’’ practices. What’s so odd about men redressing their women? Or in women remaking themselves in the adored image? Judy’s plea puts it embarrassingly straight: ‘‘If I let you change me, will that do it? Will you love me?’’ Traditional sexual politics swells into a grand grotesque, a Chinese-box melodrama of tricks and betrayals. The scenario itself is complicated and inconsistent, but the repeated motifs in the dialogue (‘‘Please try!’’ ‘‘It’s too late.’’) tie the disconnected love-pairings into the tightest of nets. Hitchcock is typically cruel to plain Midge, with her patient, enduring
FILMS. 4th EDItION VIAGGIO IN ITALIA love for Scotty. Her explanation of cantilevered brassieres is a woman Publications nti-mystery, pathetically commonplace next to Madeleine's appar at possession by the dead. Madeleine's feigned obsession presages Script Scottys genuine necrophilia. (And, as in Psycho, the psychiatrist can't strip away the necessary layers-the problem is more than the acute melancholia, complicated by a guilt complex" offered as Rossellini, Roberto, and others, Voyage to Italy(in English and a diagnosis or explanation of the problem. French), in Avant-Scene du Cinema (Paris), June 1987. It's easy enough to appreciate the best of Hitchcocks films, and to be jolted by them, but Vertigo stands alone in its ability to move Books audiences emotionally. Perhaps the events are uncharacteristically heartbreaking because both Scotty and Madeline/Judy are caught in Hovald, Patrice. Roberto Rossellini. Paris. 1958 another, grander (and almost unseen) male power-play: Gavin's Steele, Joseph Henry, Ingrid Bergman, London, 196 murder of his wife, his betrayal of his friend Scotty, and his abandon- Mida. Massimo. Roberto rossellini. Paris. 1961 ment of his accomplice Judy. A bookseller, echoing Gavins words Verdone. Mario. Roberto Rossellini. Paris. 1963 (and his actions), tells the tale of the original Carlotta being"thrown Sarris. Andrew. Interviews with film Directors. New York. 1967 away"by her husband: ' A man could do that in those days. He ha Guarner, Jose Luis Roberto rossellini. New York, 1970 the power and the freedom. "On its visceral level, Vertigo succeeds Ivaldi, Nedo, La resitenza nel cinema italiano del dopoguerra because of James Stewarts explosive fury in the climax in the elltower, a betrayed idealists fury practiced in his Frank Capra films Quirk, Lawrence J, The Films of ingrid Bergman, New York, 1970. and mastered through his Anthony Mann westerns. Armes, Roy, Patterns of Realism: A Study of italian Neo-Realist It's remarkable that, considering all its plot twists, Vertigo should Cinema, Cranbury, New Jersey, 1971 work even better after a first viewing. Once the secret's out, it's Wlaschin, Ken, Italian Cinema Since the War, Cranbury,New a completely different film, and a better one: no longer a harrowing Jersey, 1971. ghost story, it is a profound study of sexual obsession, tied together by Baldelli. Pierre Roberto rossellini. Rome.1972 the city that best displays the essential acrophobic metaphor Brown, Curtis F, Ingrid Bergman, New York, 1973. Rondolini, Gianni, Roberto rossellini, Florence, 1974 -Scott simmon Bergman, Ingrid, with Alan Burgess, Ingrid Bergman: My Story, New Ranvaud, Don. Roberto rossellini. London, 1981 Taylor, John Russell, Ingrid Bergman, London, 1983 Rossellini, Roberto, Le Cinema revile, edited by Alain Bergala, VIAGGIO IN ITALIA Paris, 1984 Hillier. Jim editor. Cahiers du Cinema I: The 1950s: Neo-Realism Gourney to Italy: Voyage to Italy) Hollywood, New Wave, London, 1985 Leamer, Laurence, As Time Goes By: The Life of ingrid bergman New York. 1986 Italy-France, 1953 Serceau, Michel, Roberto rossellini. Paris. 1986. Brunette, Peter, Roberto Rossellini. Oxford. 1987. Director: Roberto rossellini Gansera, Rainer, and others, Roberto rossellini, Munich, 1987. Rossellini, Roberto, Il mio metodo: Scritti e intervisti, edited by Adriano Apra, Venice, 1987. Production: Italiafilm/Junior(Rome), Sveva Films/Ariane/Francinex/ Rossi, P, Roberto Rossellini: A Guide to References and Resources SGC (Paris): black and white; running time: 106 minutes, english version 84 minutes. some sources list 70 minutes. Released 195 Bondanella, Peter, Films of Roberto Rossellini, Cambridge, 1993 Rossellini, Roberto, My Method: Writings and Interviews, New Producer: Roberto Rossellini; screenplay: Vitaliano Brancati, Roberto York. 1995 Rossellini; photography: Enzo Serafin; camera operator: Aldo Gallagher, Tag, The Adventures of Roberto Rossellini, Cambridge, 1998 Scavarida: editor: Jolanda Benvenuti: sound recordist: Eraldo Giordani; art director: Piero Filippone: costumes: Femanda Gattinoni; Articles music: Renzo rossellini Scherer, Maurice, and Francois Truffaut, Entretien avec Roberto Cast: Ingrid Bergman(Katherine Joyce ) George Sanders( Rossellini, in Cahiers du Cinema(Paris), July 1954 Joyce): Maria Mauban(Marie); Paul Muller(Paul Dupont Daniels(Tony Burton): Natalia Ray(Natalia Burton); Anna Truffaut, francois, ""Rossellini, in Arts(Paris), April 1955 (Prostitute); Jackie Frost (Judy): Lyla Rocco(Miss Sinibaldi, Judy's Rivette, Jacques, in Cahiers du Cinema(Paris), April 1955 friend); Bianca Maria Cesaroli (udy's other friend). Monthly Film Bulletin(London), March 1958 1281
FILMS, 4 VIAGGIO IN ITALIA th EDITION 1281 love for Scotty. Her explanation of cantilevered brassieres is a woman’s anti-mystery, pathetically commonplace next to Madeleine’s apparent possession by the dead. Madeleine’s feigned obsession presages Scotty’s genuine necrophilia. (And, as in Psycho, the psychiatrist can’t strip away the necessary layers—the problem is more than the ‘‘acute melancholia, complicated by a guilt complex’’ offered as a diagnosis or explanation of the problem.) It’s easy enough to appreciate the best of Hitchcock’s films, and to be jolted by them, but Vertigo stands alone in its ability to move audiences emotionally. Perhaps the events are uncharacteristically heartbreaking because both Scotty and Madeline/Judy are caught in another, grander (and almost unseen) male power-play: Gavin’s murder of his wife, his betrayal of his friend Scotty, and his abandonment of his accomplice Judy. A bookseller, echoing Gavin’s words (and his actions), tells the tale of the original Carlotta being ‘‘thrown away’’ by her husband: ‘‘A man could do that in those days. He had the power and the freedom.’’ On its visceral level, Vertigo succeeds because of James Stewart’s explosive fury in the climax in the belltower, a betrayed idealist’s fury practiced in his Frank Capra films and mastered through his Anthony Mann westerns. It’s remarkable that, considering all its plot twists, Vertigo should work even better after a first viewing. Once the secret’s out, it’s a completely different film, and a better one; no longer a harrowing ghost story, it is a profound study of sexual obsession, tied together by the city that best displays the essential acrophobic metaphor. —Scott Simmon VIAGGIO IN ITALIA (Journey to Italy; Voyage to Italy) Italy-France, 1953 Director: Roberto Rossellini Production: Italiafilm/Junior (Rome), Sveva Films/Ariane/Francinex/ SGC (Paris); black and white; running time: 106 minutes, English version 84 minutes, some sources list 70 minutes. Released 1953. Producer: Roberto Rossellini; screenplay: Vitaliano Brancati, Roberto Rossellini; photography: Enzo Serafin; camera operator: Aldo Scavarida; editor: Jolanda Benvenuti; sound recordist: Eraldo Giordani; art director: Piero Filippone; costumes: Fernanda Gattinoni; music: Renzo Rossellini. Cast: Ingrid Bergman (Katherine Joyce); George Sanders (Alexander Joyce); Maria Mauban (Marie); Paul Muller (Paul Dupont); Leslie Daniels (Tony Burton); Natalia Ray (Natalia Burton); Anna Proclemer (Prostitute); Jackie Frost (Judy); Lyla Rocco (Miss Sinibaldi, Judy’s friend); Bianca Maria Cesaroli (Judy’s other friend). Publications Script: Rossellini, Roberto, and others, Voyage to Italy (in English and French), in Avant-Scène du Cinéma (Paris), June 1987. Books: Hovald, Patrice, Roberto Rossellini, Paris, 1958. Steele, Joseph Henry, Ingrid Bergman, London, 1960. Mida, Massimo, Roberto Rossellini, Paris, 1961. Verdone, Mario, Roberto Rossellini, Paris, 1963. Sarris, Andrew, Interviews with Film Directors, New York, 1967. Guarner, José Luis, Roberto Rossellini, New York, 1970. Ivaldi, Nedo, La resitenza nel cinema italiano del dopoguerra, Rome, 1970. Quirk, Lawrence J., The Films of Ingrid Bergman, New York, 1970. Armes, Roy, Patterns of Realism: A Study of Italian Neo-Realist Cinema, Cranbury, New Jersey, 1971. Wlaschin, Ken, Italian Cinema Since the War, Cranbury, New Jersey, 1971. Baldelli, Pierre, Roberto Rossellini, Rome, 1972. Brown, Curtis F., Ingrid Bergman, New York, 1973. Rondolini, Gianni, Roberto Rossellini, Florence, 1974. Bergman, Ingrid, with Alan Burgess, Ingrid Bergman: My Story, New York, 1980. Ranvaud, Don, Roberto Rossellini, London, 1981. Taylor, John Russell, Ingrid Bergman, London, 1983. Rossellini, Roberto, Le Cinéma révélé, edited by Alain Bergala, Paris, 1984. Hillier, Jim, editor, Cahiers du Cinéma 1: The 1950s: Neo-Realism, Hollywood, New Wave, London, 1985. Leamer, Laurence, As Time Goes By: The Life of Ingrid Bergman, New York, 1986. Serceau, Michel, Roberto Rossellini, Paris, 1986. Brunette, Peter, Roberto Rossellini, Oxford, 1987. Gansera, Rainer, and others, Roberto Rossellini, Munich, 1987. Rossellini, Roberto, Il mio metodo: Scritti e intervisti, edited by Adriano Apra, Venice, 1987. Rossi, P., Roberto Rossellini: A Guide to References and Resources, Boston, 1988. Bondanella, Peter, Films of Roberto Rossellini, Cambridge, 1993. Rossellini, Roberto, My Method: Writings and Interviews, New York, 1995. Gallagher, Tag, The Adventures of Roberto Rossellini, Cambridge, 1998. Articles: Schèrer, Maurice, and François Truffaut, ‘‘Entretien avec Roberto Rossellini,’’ in Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), July 1954. Variety (New York), 3 November 1954. Truffaut, François, ‘‘Rossellini,’’ in Arts (Paris), April 1955. Rivette, Jacques, in Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), April 1955. Monthly Film Bulletin (London), March 1958
VIAGGIO IN ITALIA FILMS. 4 EDITIoN Tynan, Kenneth," The Abundant Miss Bergman, 'in Films and Serceau, M, "" Rossellini-le prisme des ideologies, in image et Son Filming(London), December 1958 (Paris), April 1982. Sarris, Andrew, "Rossellini Rediscovered, in Film Culture(New Amiel, M, "Ingrid Bergman: Force, dignite, courage, in Cinema York),no.32,1964 (Paris), October 1982. Casty, Alan, "The Achievement of Roberto Rossellini, in Film Ingrid Bergman Section" of Casablanca (Madrid), October 1982 Comment(New York ). Fall 1964 Rossellini Issue of Casablanca(Madrid), March 1985 pra, Adriano, and Maurizio Ponzi, ""Intervista con Roberto Nieuwenweg, L,"De liefdes van Roberto Rossellini: 'lk haat Rossellini, in Filmcritica(Rome), April-May 1965 Cinema(London), Summer 1971 ber-October 1985 Wood, Robin, in Film Comment(New York), Fall 1974 Bergala, Alain, ""La vacance du cineaste, in Avant-Scene du cinema Damico, J,""Ingrid from Lorraine to Stromboli: Analyzing the (Paris), no 361, June 1987. Public's Perception of a Film Star, in Journal of Popular Film Faux, A-M, ""Mises en scenes de la confrontation, in Avant-Scene (Washington, D.C. ), vol. 4, no 1, 1975 du Cinema(Paris), no 361, June 1987 Beylie, Claude, and C. Clouzot, interview with Rossellini, in Ecrc Marie, Michel, "Un pelerinage esthetique (Paris), July 1977 Cinema(Paris), no 361, June 1987 Lawton, H,"Rossellini's Didactic Cinema, in Sight and Sound Roncoroni, S, ""Pour Rossellini, ' in Avanf-Scene du Cinema(Paris), (London), Autumn 1978 Bohne, Luciana, " Rossellini's Viaggio in Italia: A Variation on Ostria, Vincent, " Archeologie de I'amour, in Cahiers du Cinema Theme by Joyce, in Film Criticism(Meadville, Pennsylvania) (Paris), no 410, July-August 1988 Winter 1979 Ranvaud, Don, in Monthly Film Bulletin(London), February 1981 Truffaut, Francois, Roberto Rossellini par Francois Truffaut, in Cahiers du Cinema(Paris), no 410, July-August 1988 1282
VIAGGIO IN ITALIA FILMS, 4th EDITION 1282 Viaggio in Italia Tynan, Kenneth, ‘‘The Abundant Miss Bergman,’’ in Films and Filming (London), December 1958. Sarris, Andrew, ‘‘Rossellini Rediscovered,’’ in Film Culture (New York), no. 32, 1964. Casty, Alan, ‘‘The Achievement of Roberto Rossellini,’’ in Film Comment (New York), Fall 1964. Apra, Adriano, and Maurizio Ponzi, ‘‘Intervista con Roberto Rossellini,’’ in Filmcritica (Rome), April-May 1965. Cinema (London), Summer 1971. Wood, Robin, in Film Comment (New York), Fall 1974. Damico, J., ‘‘Ingrid from Lorraine to Stromboli: Analyzing the Public’s Perception of a Film Star,’’ in Journal of Popular Film (Washington, D.C.), vol. 4, no.1, 1975. Beylie, Claude, and C. Clouzot, interview with Rossellini, in Ecran (Paris), July 1977. Lawton, H., ‘‘Rossellini’s Didactic Cinema,’’ in Sight and Sound (London), Autumn 1978. Bohne, Luciana, ‘‘Rossellini’s Viaggio in Italia: A Variation on a Theme by Joyce,’’ in Film Criticism (Meadville, Pennsylvania), Winter 1979. Ranvaud, Don, in Monthly Film Bulletin (London), February 1981. Serceau, M., ‘‘Rossellini—le prisme des idéologies,’’ in Image et Son (Paris), April 1982. Amiel, M., ‘‘Ingrid Bergman: Force, dignité, courage,’’ in Cinéma (Paris), October 1982. ‘‘Ingrid Bergman Section’’ of Casablanca (Madrid), October 1982. ‘‘Rossellini Issue’’ of Casablanca (Madrid), March 1985. Nieuwenweg, L., ‘‘De liefdes van Roberto Rossellini: ‘Ik haat actrices, het zijn ijdele wezens,’’’ in Skoop (Amsterdam), September-October 1985. Bergala, Alain, ‘‘La vacance du cinéaste,’’ in Avant-Scène du Cinéma (Paris), no. 361, June 1987. Faux, A.-M., ‘‘Mises en scènes de la confrontation,’’ in Avant-Scène du Cinéma (Paris), no. 361, June 1987. Marie, Michel, ‘‘Un pélerinage esthétique,’’ in Avant-Scène du Cinéma (Paris), no. 361, June 1987. Roncoroni, S., ‘‘Pour Rossellini,’’ in Avant-Scène du Cinéma (Paris), vol. 361, June 1987. Ostria, Vincent, ‘‘Archéologie de l’amour,’’ in Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), no. 410, July-August 1988. Truffaut, François, ‘‘Roberto Rossellini par François Truffaut,’’ in Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), no. 410, July-August 1988