Faking Your Way Through Hitch | The A.V. Club Indianapolis

This morning's essential reading, from the AV Club :

By Adam Poulisse March 23, 2012

It’s hard to think of Alfred Hitchcock without having birds or heights come to mind. Hell, it’s even justifiable to think of him while in the shower.

Hitchcock is often imitated, never duplicated. Unless you count Gus Van Sant’s shot-by-shot remake of Psycho, in which Hitchcock was imitatedand duplicated. But it still felt hollow in comparison to Hitchcock’s original.  

But in this remake-centric Hollywood, it’s possible (er, probable) that the remake of Psycho received so much buzz—both positive and negative—that people became nostalgic for the 1960 original. Although Psycho will not be shown over the two-day Hitchcock Film Festival in Franklin(Friday lineup, Saturday lineup), six of his other films will. Since Hollywood has thus far spared us remakes of those films (Disturbia was more a loving homage to Rear Window than a remake), this Fake Your Way Through guide will give you more knowledge on these Hitchcock originals than any remake possibly could.

Vertigo (1958)

What you should know: John “Scottie” Ferguson (James Stewart) is asked by an old college chum to follow his beautiful wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak), convinced that her erratic, insane behavior is the work of a dead ancestor possessing her (some relatives will do anything to control you). It’s worth mentioning that Ferguson has acrophobia, an extreme fear of heights. Sucks for Ferguson, since Madeleine keeps finding ways to get higher and higher (literally; no drug use here), with Ferguson following every step of the way. After Ferguson’s efforts to keep Madeleine safe are unsuccessful, he meets Judy Barton, a spitting image of Madeleine. That’s probably because Judy is also played by Kim Novak.

What you might not know: The word vertigo is only uttered once in Vertigo.  

What to talk about:  Alfred Hitchcock later went on to say that Kim Novak was miscast. What say you?

For the rest of the Hitch crib sheet:


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