

Director Alfred Hitchcock and James Stewart made four films together. Hitchcock first cast Stewart as the professor who finally figures out what the two murderers are up to in Rope (1948). It’s an experimental film that should be praised for trying something new, but Hitchcock’s one-long-shot drawing room mystery doesn’t quite hit the mark.
They struck gold with Rear Window (1954), which paired Grace Kelly and Stewart in a timeless thriller of voyeurism. They followed it up with the equally wonderful The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), which paired Stewart with Doris Day and gave us Day’s signature song, Que Sera, Sera.
And in 1958, Hitchcock cast the forty-nine-year-old old Stewart opposite twenty-five year old Kim Novak (sadly, no relation) in Vertigo.
Stewart plays Scottie, a police officer who is forced to retire after developing a severe fear of heights. While figuring out what to do next, he agrees to take a case as a private investigator tailing an old friend’s wife. He follows Madeleine Elster (Novak), not because her husband thinks she’s having an affair, but because he believes her to be possessed by the spirit of Carlotta, who committed suicide in the early 19th Century.
Scottie and Madeleine meet and begin their own affair, which ends with Madeleine’s tragic death.
Then things start to get weird. Okay, weirder. By chance, Scottie runs into Judy, a woman who is the spitting image of Madeleine. They too begin a love affair, and Scottie becomes obsessed, slowly turning her into Madeleine.
We learn that Judy and Madeleine are one in the same, that Judy was hired to play Madeleine. Her husband had murdered his real wife, and Judy faked her death in front of Scottie so that he would serve as a witness.
Shall I spoil the ending, if you don’t already know it?
I won’t.
Hitchcock felt that Vertigo was his masterpiece, and today’s critics agree. The twisted tale of obsession is currently #9 on the American Film Institute’s list of 100 greatest films. Some critics even proclaim it the greatest American film ever made, pushing the consensus pick Citizen Kane (1941) out of its customary spot at the top.

But critics in 1958 disagreed. Most reviews were lukewarm at best. Vertigo was a box office flop, and audiences were mystified by the film and didn’t like seeing All-American Stewart playing such a dark character. The cool reception broke Hitchcock’s heart, and he blamed the failure of the film on James Stewart. Hitchcock regretted casting him, as he felt Stewart was too old to play a convincing love interest to the much younger Kim Novak.
But the difference in their ages wasn’t really the problem—it was common practice in the 1950s to cast leading men who were much older than their leading ladies. In Sabrina (1954), Humphrey Bogart is 30 years older than Audrey Hepburn. Ditto Cary Grant and Sophia Loren in The Pride and the Passion (1957). And Bing Crosby was 26 years older than Grace Kelly in High Society (1954).
Here’s the thing—and I’m aware that what I’m about to say is pure heresy:
Vertigo didn’t fail because of Jimmy Stewart’s age or the lack of sophistication of the 1958 audience.
Vertigo failed because it’s boring.
It was boring in 1958, and it’s boring in 2023.
[Pause to wait for the movie gods to strike me dead.]
[Pause.]
[Since I’m still here, let’s keep going…]
Vertigo takes too long to get where it’s going. Things don’t get interesting until Judy is introduced, and by then the viewer has likely taken at least one cat nap through the long stretches of Scottie tailing Madeleine.
And the chemistry is lacking between Stewart and Novak. Hitch wasn’t wrong about that.
The whole thing feels bloodless—Stewart and Novak don’t sizzle. Scottie’s actions are supposedly driven by a lust that drives him mad, but we don’t feel it. Kim Novak plays an ice queen who never seems to thaw.
The film is dour and lacks the sexiness and perverse humor laced in Hitchcock’s best movies.
The film only comes to life when Scottie’s platonic (to her dismay) friend Midge (Barbara Bel Geddes) is onscreen, and she’s shuttled off the stage completely halfway through the film.

I love Hitchcock. I love James Stewart.
I never got Vertigo.
So it’s with mixed feelings that I’ve read recent reports that Robert Downey Jr. is involved with a potential Vertigo remake.
It’s blasphemy to tinker with such a highly regarded film, but wouldn’t you like to see a younger Scottie? Wouldn’t you like to see a more passionate, modern retelling? One that preserves what’s good and brings something fresh?
I would too.
But I’ve been burned before.
I highly anticipated the 2020 remake of Rebecca.
I’ve always loved the novel, and still feel that Rebecca is one of Hitchcock’s best—and most underappreciated—films. But I felt—and still feel—that Rebecca is ripe for a remake, one that explores the relationship between Maxim and the second Mrs. DeWinter without the constraints of the production code that Hitchcock had to deal with in 1940.
I thought Lily James would make a wonderful lead.
But the remake didn’t trust that the source material would be enough to sustain the audience’s attention, and added a weird supernatural element before turning Mrs. DeWinter into Nancy Drew in the final act and ruining any hope of redemption for that mess of a film.
That’s when I realized that perhaps it’s folly to try to improve Hitchcock.
Despite its faults, trying to better Vertigo is probably a fool’s errand.
Better filmmakers go out and make the next Vertigo instead.

I have vague memories of seeing this, but very vague, so I was probably one of the ones taking a nap!
Thank you for proving my point! I stay awake for true masterpieces…..!
Oddly enough, in the past, remaking Hitchcock was always seen as a bad idea, even when Hitchcock did it. But in 2023, every article I read about Downey Jr has to be explain who Hitchcock was and what Vertigo is. We’ve moved on. Vertigo is boring by today’s thriller standards, but it’s also iconic and subverts thriller cliches. It’s a mugs game expecting thrills from movies made with a camera the size of a bulldozer. Remake anything that works, why not? It was the sexual content that sold Hitchcock in the 50s and 60’s, and permissiveness dated these films swiftly as no longer on the edge…
The last point you made is exactly why I’ve always thought there’s a good modern version of Rebecca out there just waiting to be made. Filmmakers are able to explore aspects of sex today in a more open way, and I think that leaves the door open for the potential of some really good Hitchcock remakes.
I guess what I really want is for someone to do with Rebecca what Greta Gerwig did with Little Women – modernize it without ruining what originally made it great.
I’m open to the possibility that someone can do that with Vertigo, especially since I don’t hold it sacred. The ante could certainly be upped in serveral of the film’s aspects. I’m just skeptical about the reality of how it’ll turn out….
Yup, Hitchcock was always straining at the leash (oh, er missus) when it came to sex, and his pushing the envelope in films like Psycho and Frenzy brought him notoriety. But while I like the way that sex I’d underplayed in Du Maurier’s writing, it could be made more overt for today, like the Cat People remake I mentioned. Stories which had to be censored can be updated with good reason, and Vertigo would be a good candidate. I’d cheerfully remake any or all of Hitchcock’s films because many of them are too stuffy for thrill seekers like ourselves. Get AI to rewrite them and splice in explicit sex; can’t see what could go wrong…
Are we sure Chat GPT isn’t already writing Netflix content? Is Tetris the work of AI after all?
When I look at the Netflix top tens, chatGPT springs to mind…
I have seen this film twice. The first time I thought “what is the big deal?” The second time I thought “really, what is the big deal?” I agree with your assessment. It is puzzling to me as well why this film is revered so much. And a Vertigo remake (which I didn’t know was on table)? Why?
I’ve also watched it more than once , trying to figure out what I’m missing. I thought this post might generate some hate mail, so I’m glad I’m not alone.
Hitchcock has a couple of films I think do hold up as masterpieces, Notorious (a much sexier film despite being made in the 1940s) and Rear Window among them.
Even a film like Psycho – it doesn’t really scare today, but I see why it was groundbreaking.
I’m never here to crap on things people love, but the appeal of Vertigo has always been lost on me.
I’m sort of halfway with you. I do think it’s a great movie, and is fascinating to rewatch. But I pulled well short of ever considering it in the running for the greatest movie ever made. I remember the first time seeing it finding it genuinely spooky, and I still love Scotty getting all riled at the end. But the plot is nonsense and Novak is too stiff (which is how Hitch wanted her to play it, I guess). It seems more like a movie for a certain kind of movie lover. Way better than the flick that knocked it off the top perch for the last Sight and Sound poll though.
I actually thought I’d get more pushback on this one.
I do wonder if it would’ve been better with different actors in the roles –a pairing that would’ve been more steamy, less stiff.
Who knows?!
I believe you’re referring to that 3+ French film about a housewife, and if you are, I could not agree more. [The name escapes me] I couldn’t get through it, and I’m 100% sure I will never try again……makes me want to take back every negative word I said about Vertigo.