"Vertigo" with James Stewart Continues Hitchcock Movie Tribute March 19

"Vertigo" with James Stewart Continues Hitchcock Movie Tribute March 19

Continuing its month-long tribute to the great director, Alfred Hitchcock, FOLA (Friends of Ludlow Auditorium) will feature the film "Vertigo" as the third Hitchcock movie in its series of four classic Hitchcock films on Saturday, March 19 at 7 PM in the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium.

Vertigo is a 1958 American psychological thriller film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock.

John "Scottie" Ferguson, played by James Stewart, is a retired San Francisco police detective who suffers from acrophobia and Madeleine, played by Kim Novak, is the lady who leads him to high places. A wealthy shipbuilder who is an acquaintance from college days approaches Scottie and asks him to follow his beautiful wife, Madeleine. He fears she is going insane, maybe even contemplating suicide, because she believes she is possessed by a dead ancestor. Scottie is skeptical, but agrees after he sees the beautiful Madeleine.

The film was shot on location in San Francisco, California, and at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. It is the first film to utilize the dolly zoom, an in-camera effect that distorts perspective to create disorientation, to convey Scottie's acrophobia. As a result of its use in this film, the effect is often referred to as "the Vertigo effect".

Vertigo is often cited as a classic Hitchcock film and one of the defining works of his career. Attracting significant scholarly criticism, it replaced Citizen Kane (1941) as the best film ever made in the 2012 British Film Institute's Sight & Sound critics' poll. In 1996, the film underwent a major restoration to create a new 70mm print and DTS soundtrack. It has appeared repeatedly in polls of the best films by the American Film Institute, including a 2007 ranking as the ninth-greatest American movie of all time.

Following this film, FOLA will be featuring the final great Hitchcock movie in its series on March 26, 'The Birds'.

As with all FOLA movies, the event is free; donations are appreciated. Popcorn will be supplied by the Berkshire Bank; FOLA will offer water. For more information call (802) 228-7239 or visit FOLA's web site, www.fola.us.