Scottie Ferguson – Vertigo
Alfred Hitchcock’s tale of love, betrayal, anguish, and of course, suspense is undoubtedly one of the greats, and though it wasn’t considered a great at the time of its release, Vertigo has since obtained an iconic status, as it’s consistently featured on all best film lists. In addition to some notable innovations in filmmaking, such as the disorienting dolly zoom, Vertigo did something that shocked audiences: it made Jimmy Stewart a bad guy.
Like Sergio Leone and Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West, Hitchcock made Stewart, one of America’s dominant portraits of kindness and heroism, dislikable (the nerve!).
The story follows Scottie Ferguson (Stewart), a San Francisco detective who’s petrified of heights, as he investigates the abnormal activities of an old friend’s wife (Kim Novak) who believes she’s possessed by a ghost. What follows is a supernatural and romantic adventure as Ferguson quickly becomes obsessed with the beautiful blond woman. However, disaster rears its ugly head when Madeline, in a moment of hysteria, flees from Scottie’s arms and leaps to her death off of a Mission’s high tower.
Scottie is mortified and depressed by her suicide. Then one day he runs into a woman reminiscent of Madeline, except she’s a brunette. The woman, named Judy, sees the desperation in Scottie’s eyes when he talks to her, and the two start seeing each other. This is when Scottie devolves from a broken lover to a grotesque individual, as he slowly but surely converts Judy into an exact likeness of his diseased beloved, despite her strong objections.
Although Scottie is heartbroken, and his obsessive attitude can be understood and overlooked by those who have reached the same level of grief, his transformation of Judy – though it proved to be on the right track in terms of his suspicions – is one of the most despicable and selfish acts ever put to film. His heart is filled by greed as he decides that the equally beautiful woman, who is, by the way, attracted to him, is not good enough, and that she must be different in order to serve his purpose.
