The most-discussed work of the master; despairingly sardonic and demanding of multiple viewings. Hitchcock's intensely personal and frighteningly self-revealing picture, Vertigo is the story of a man (Stewart as Hitch) who is possessed by the image of a former love (Novak as Vera Miles) and becomes increasingly compulsive in his attempts to make another woman (Novak as Novak) over in that image. We'll explain. Stewart is a former San Francisco policeman who suffers from vertigo – a dizzying sensation brought on by his acrophobia. When he gets a call from a former classmate, shipping magnate Gavin Elster (Helmore), he agrees to play detective and shadow the millionaire's wife Madeleine (Novak) whom Elster fears is going to wind up dead. Elster ominously asks him "Do you believe that someone dead, someone out of the past, can take possession of a living being?" After following Madeleine for a short while Stewart becomes obsessed with her – lost deep in a labyrinthine plot from which he cannot escape. Based on a novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac (who previously supplied the source material for Diabolique), Vertigo appealed to Hitchcock for reasons which become clearer the more one knows about the director's personality. Vertigo is, in fact, nothing less than Hitchcock revealing himself to his audience – his obsessions and desire to make over women are embodied in Stewart's character and the perfect Hitchcock woman is embodied in Madeleine. Vertigo is also a masterpiece of filmmaking which includes one of the most important technical discoveries since the dawn of cinema – the dolly-out, zoom-in shot, which visually represents the dizzying sensation of vertigo. The result is a shot unique to Hitchcock, unlike any other before in film, one which will always bear his stamp.

“The bleakness is a little hard to swallow but there’s no denying that this is the director at the very peak of his powers, while Novak is a revelation . Slow but totally compelling.” Time Out Film Guide