Name: Vertigo
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Released: 1958
Duration: 128 min

Kim Novak’s iconic dual performance in Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological thriller masterpiece, presented in glorious 70mm, has long been regarded as her best.

Former San Francisco detective John “Scottie” Ferguson (James Stewart) is hired by an old college acquaintance to trail his wife, Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak), claiming she might be possessed and suicidal. It’s not long before Scottie is deeply infatuated with his enigmatic mark, then shattered at her untimely death. In the grip of obsession, he meets a woman on the street, Judy Barton, whom he proceeds to make over in order to resurrect Madeleine as he remembers her – leading once again to tragedy.

Initially, Alfred Hitchcock wanted Vera Miles for the dual role of Madeleine and Judy in Vertigo. When she became unavailable, he instead hired Novak, at that time a darling of the American moviegoing public. Though she was only 24 at the time of the film’s production, her performance is that of a much wiser and more experienced actor: while the genius of Hitchcock is undeniably central to the film’s construction and Novak’s presentation within the frame, it’s the latter’s own complexity that brings nuance to the two distinct women she plays. The palpable chemistry between her and Stewart (again on display in Bell, Book and Candle, released the same year) makes the tragedy that unfolds in Vertigo all the more keenly felt.

“Here, the cinema of attractions yields an intense, surrealist poetry … When Judy advances through the green neon haze of her shabby hotel room, both Scottie and we catch an unspeakable glimpse of the sublime.” – Sight and Sound