In a similar vein to Nat King Cole’s “Marnie”, here’s Billy Eckstine‘s recording of “Vertigo”… The song was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, who also wrote “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” for The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). I’ve read a couple of claims about the track and its link to Vertigo (1958), but I’m not sure which is the most accurate. As ever, if you have more information,… (read more)
A small selection of Japanese posters for Hitchcock films… Rebecca (1940) Saboteur (1942) Spellbound (1945) To Catch a Thief (1955) The Trouble with Harry (1955) The Wrong Man (1956) Vertigo (1958) North by Northwest (1959) The Birds (1963) Topaz (1969) Frenzy (1972) Family Plot (1976) …you can view more Japanese film posters here.
The opening chase in Vertigo (1958) was staged on the rooftops of Taylor Street, San Francisco, with a sweeping camera pan from right-to-left. Here’s a composite image of the rooftop sequence (download image)… It’s worth noting that the camera pan starts with Brocklebank Apartments in the background and ends on Coit Tower, representing Madeleine Elster and John “Scottie” Ferguson (or possibly even Midge, whose apartment is half-a-mile closer to the tower than Scottie’s?) respectively. You… (read more)
Since 1962, “Citizen Kane” had topped the Sight & Sound Greatest Films poll, but that run came to an end this year when “Vertigo” finally ousted Kane from the top spot, rising up from the #2 spot in the previous poll. The full Top 250 is now available, with 5 Hitchcock films making the list: #1 Vertigo (1958) #34 Psycho (1960) =#53 North by Northwest (1959) =#53 Rear Window (1954) =#171 Notorious (1946)
Aficionados of film posters will enjoy Film the Blanks :) An ongoing experiment in deconstructing and abstracting film posters. Some famous and some not so famous. Look at the blank, read the clue and take a guess using the comments section. There’s definitely at least 2 Hitchcock film posters on the site… I’m sure you can guess which films they are!
There’s something wonderfully surreal and slightly unsettling about many of the Czech and Polish Hitchcock film posters. (The Birds) (Psycho) (Rear Window) (The Birds & Psycho) (Frenzy) (The Birds) (Rebecca) (Vertigo) (Family Plot) (Hitchcock film festival) To my mind, they seem to generate the same uneasy feeling that Tom Adams’ artwork for his series of Agatha Christie book covers do. As a child, these book covers used to give me the heebie-jeebies!
So far, two out of three of the new Hitchcock “Legacy” 2 DVD sets have arrived on my doorstep — Psycho and Vertigo. I’ve analysed both transfers and compared them to the previous US Masterpiece Collection. Although Gary at DVD Beaver talks about the new Vertigo transfer being a slight improvement over the 2005 transfer, it’s very much in the eye of the beholder. The primary difference between the Masterpiece and Legacy transfers is the… (read more)
I’m sure most people are aware that “The 39 Steps” was recently turned into a highly successful stage play by playwright Patrick Barlow. Well, it looks like the same has now been done for “Vertigo“. The Derby Evening Telegraph has a write up of the adaptation by Jonathan Holloway: Holloway returns the psychological thriller to wartime Paris and, in supremely theatrical style, frames the tale of the tortured hero as a public demonstration of hypnosis…. (read more)
The DVD Times site is reporting that the long awaited Universal releases of “Psycho” and “Vertigo” will be released in October, along with “Rear Window“… Universal Studios Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of new Two-Disc Special Editions of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Rear Window and Vertigo on 7th October 2008. Priced at $26.98 SRP each, these two-disc sets are released under the Universal Legacy Series banner and offer the following features… Psycho… (read more)
Via Dan Auiler’s blog, both he and “Hitchcock’s Music” author Jack Sullivan took part in a fascinating 45 minute program on NPR about “Vertigo” — well worth a listen! Happy 50th, “Vertigo”
