Vertigo - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Vertigo or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Vertigo

[frances]

While Madeleine recovers in Scottie's apartment from her fall into the bay, he waits on his sofa. Seen on his coffee table is a copy of the 1950s pulp men's periodical "Swank", which consisted of a mix of cheesecake pictures and action/adventure stories by contemporary writers.

[nina]

The similarity of the plot theme of this movie and Beyond Oblivion (1956), shot in Buenos Aires, had all Argentine movie buffs obsessing for decades. Finally, the question was explained. The link between the movies is the novella "Bruges-la-Morte" (1893) of the Belgian writer Georges Rodenbach. Hugo del Carril adapted it directly; Alfred Hitchcock indirectly, through a French novel titled "D'Entre Les Morts" (1954) that its authors Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac hatched a childish police plot about the double tragedy of Rodenbach.

[chris]

Saul Bass designed the titles and poster for this movie and Anatomy of a Murder (1959) in 1958 and 1959. The image of the body is very similar in both.

[eli]

Voted #2 in Total Film's 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time list (November 2005).

[nora]

The name "Madeleine" refers, of course, to Mary Magdalene, or Mary of Migdala. "Migdal "is Hebrew for "tower". "Madeleine" is the only name of the four main characters from the original French novel that was retained in this movie. "Judy" was "Renée" in the book. So it is fascinating that Sir Alfred Hitchcock did not keep the name. After all, Renée = re-née = reborn.

[addison]

In her hotel room, Judy shows Scottie a photograph of her father. He is standing in front of a store, holding an upright pitchfork in his hand. The image recalls the famous painting "American Gothic". On the window behind him, one can see that this was his hardware store. However, the image is cropped such that the actual words one sees are "Barton's War."

[jesus]

Even though another trivia reference says second unit cameraman Irmin Roberts invented the "contra-zoom", the effect is oddly similar and nearly identical to a zoom and vertigo shot seen in Hobson's Choice (1954), where a drunk Henry Hobson is seen falling down a shaft into the basement of Freddy Beenstock's shop. This movie was released four years later, and other special effects elements in the movie oddly mirror what was seen in "Hobson".

[carl]

Was voted the 19th Greatest Film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

[nina]

In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #9 Greatest American Movie of All Time. In AFI's 1998 listing, Vertigo (1958) had been placed at #61.

[jesus]

Alfred Hitchcock: At around 11 mins, wearing a gray suit walking past Gavin Elster's shipyard, carrying a case for a very high quality costume mask for the Doctor of the Plague.

[nina]

This movie is often credited or blamed for creating or popularizing the misconception that vertigo means a fear of heights. For the record, the proper name for that condition is "Acrophobia", whereas vertigo is "a sensation of whirling and loss of balance, associated particularly with looking down from a great height" (Oxford Dictionary).

[sophie]

Kim Novak did not have to screentest for this movie.

[harry]

San Juan Bautista, the Spanish mission which is featured in key scenes doesn't actually have a bell tower; it was added with trick photography. The mission originally had a steeple, but it was demolished following a fire.

[gerald]

Scottie wears suits of four separate colors in this movie: blue, blue-gray, gray, and brown. This is a collection that would be considered typical for a professional bachelor of the era.

[albert]

In 2012, this movie replaced Citizen Kane (1941) in the Sight & Sound critics' poll for the greatest movie of all time.

[oscar]

The rock band Faith No More used this movie as the basis for their music video of "Last Cup of Sorrow".