Top 250 Challenge: 158

Vertigo (1958)
Number 34 on IMDb's Top 250

San Francisco police detective Scottie Fergusson (Jimmy Stewart) develops a fear of heights and is forced to retire when a colleague falls to his death during a chase. An old college friend, Gavin Elster hires Scottie to watch his wife Madeleine (Kim Novak) who has reportedly become possessed by her ancestor's spirit named Carlotta. Scottie follows her around San Francisco and is drawn to Madeleine and her obsession with death. He unwittingly becomes a figure in a complex plot, and is determined to discover the truth behind it all. When Scottie sees a mysterious redhead (Kim Novak) that looks remarkably like Madeleine (Kim Novak) hilarity ensues.

Trivia: San Juan Batista, the Spanish mission which features in key scenes in the movie doesn't actually have a bell tower - it was added with trick photography. The mission originally had a steeple but it was demolished following a fire. Uncredited second-unit cameraman Irmin Roberts invented the famous "zoom out and track in" shot (now sometimes called "contra-zoom" or "trombone shot") to convey the sense of vertigo to the audience. The view down the mission stairwell cost $19,000 for just a couple of seconds of screen time. The shots were done with miniatures laid on their sides, since it was impossible to do them vertically.

Alfred Hitchcock is know as the master of suspense for a reason. Many of his movies start out innocently enough but then they start to build and the audience is given little tidbits that the characters don't know, which builds the suspense even more, and this movie is no exception. We are also privy to the point where Scottie starts to put things together. Very entertaining with a pretty good plot twist at the end.