Vertigo

PG | 2h 8m| Mystery/Romance/Thriller
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Jimmy Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes

Ranked as the No.1 greatest film ever made in a much-talked-about 2012 poll conducted by the British Film Institute’s magazine Sight and Sound, Vertigo is “classic (Alfred) Hitchcock—suspense, mystery, romance, all wrapped around twisted human psychology,” says Big Think.

Indiana, PA, native Jimmy Stewart plays Scottie Ferguson, a private detective terrified of heights who retired from the police force after a tragic incident. He is hired by an old friend to tail his wife, who is suspected to be suicidal. Scottie develops a relationship with this mysterious woman that turns into obsession.

Legendary director Martin Scorsese, writing in The Guardian, says, “It’s difficult to put into words exactly what Vertigo means to me as both a film lover and as a film-maker. As is the case with all great films, truly great films, no matter how much has been said and written about them, the dialogue about it will always continue. Because any film as great as Vertigo demands more than just a sense of admiration—it demands a personal response.”

The New York Times calls the film “brilliantly schematic, endlessly fascinating…this prescient 1958 spellbinder can now be admired as the deepest, darkest masterpiece of Hitchcock’s career.”