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Vertigo (PG)

Film · Cheltenham Playhouse
Vertigo (PG)

About this show

In all probability, you will have seen Hitchcock’sVertigo before, but now you have an opportunity to see it given the big-screen treatment in a fully-restored version.

It stars James Stewart as an ex-cop (Scottie) who has been retired from the San Francisco police force on health grounds after an incident that has caused him to suffer from extreme vertigo. Later, he is hired as a private detective by an acquaintance who wants to discover more about the strange behaviour of his wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak). Scottie begins the investigation and soon becomes obsessed with his subject, who appears to be in some sort of dream-world of her own: all this based in and around the streets and landmarks of San Francisco, where it was filmed on location.

It may seem hard to believe now that whenVertigo was released in 1958, it was not particularly well received. American critics found it too long and too slow -The New Yorker even opined that the director had ‘never before indulged in such far-fetched nonsense’. British critics were also mainly negative; on the other hand, the French felt they could recognise a masterpiece when they saw one, and Hitchcock himself maintained thatVertigo was one of his favourite films.

So, don’t miss the chance to make your own assessment of a film which is, by now, a regular entry in the top-ten best films of all time.


DIRECTED BY

Alfred Hitchcock

STARRING

James Stewart | Kim Novak | Barbara Bel Geddes

Performance times