MOVIE · 1958

Vertigo

MysteryRomanceThriller129 min

After a rooftop accident leaves him with vertigo, retired San Francisco detective Scottie Ferguson is hired to watch the wife of an old friend, whose behavior has taken on an eerie pattern. James Stewart is Scottie, trailing the elusive Madeleine (Kim Novak) through museums, graveyards, and the city’s steep streets as professional curiosity gives way to obsession. Alfred Hitchcock roots the story in San Francisco’s landmarks and in Scottie’s fear of heights, turning a private investigation into a mystery wrapped around fixation, romance, and a woman who never seems entirely knowable.