We Recommend: A Movie Podcast
We Recommend is a movie podcast where every week Jesse and Jason discuss a movie that they love and recommend you to watch and then come back and listen to their podcast!
We Recommend: A Movie Podcast
Vertigo
Step into the dizzying world of Alfred Hitchcock's psychological masterpiece as we unravel the twisted layers of "Vertigo" - a film that revolutionized cinema while exposing the dangerous depths of obsession.
Whether you're a dedicated cinephile or discovering this landmark film for the first time, join us as we analyze how "Vertigo" evolved from initial mixed reviews to eventually displacing "Citizen Kane" as the greatest film ever made according to the prestigious Sight & Sound critics' poll. Discover why each viewing reveals new layers of meaning in this timeless psychological thriller that continues to influence filmmakers and captivate audiences more than six decades after its release.
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Music produced by Joey Prosser. X @mrjoeyprosser
Hello and welcome to the we Recommend podcast, a movie podcast where every week we recommend a movie for you to watch and then come back here and listen to us discuss. I'm Jesse, I'm Jason. You shouldn't keep souvenirs of a killing. Shouldn't have been that sentimental, because this week we recommend Vertigo. Jason Jason First time seeing this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I will say I really liked it.
Speaker 1:Do you think it's the greatest movie ever made?
Speaker 2:Not necessarily, but I think that kind of thing is. It's like if you grew up with this then I could definitely see. But what I did find was it felt like a warm hug kind of. It was very comforting. It was very comforting In an eerie way. Yeah, it was like visually stunning, I thought.
Speaker 1:The colors pop so hard, like Stewart's eyes are so blue in this movie. It's insane, jimmy Stewart. Is that Jimmy Stewart, jimmy?
Speaker 2:Stewart. Yeah, like the all the I don't know, it was just like the wallpaper and the one in Ernie's. Ugh bro, that was awesome.
Speaker 1:So apparently for that he didn't want to use sets or he didn't want to use sets or he didn't want to film on location. He wanted to have like this, like a weird realism but like what do you call it when something's not real but it almost looks real an uncanny type feel to it. So he went to this exact restaurant and was like I like this, but I want to make so many changes that let's just rebuild this restaurant completely. And they wanted that really red wall and so that she really popped with her blonde hair in the green dude. That scene whenever you know she's walking out and then he's staring at her but like from the side and they're both kind of glancing at each other. After I watched that that I was like Natalie man, that that ruled that. Really that went hard.
Speaker 2:That went really hard. I'm going to make you my dead woman, Natalie. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So it's this. This movie took the plate. So BFI, that's. Who considered this to be the best movie ever. What's BFI? It's the British Film Institute. That sounds like beefy, yeah, so every decade they make a new list, and so, from like 1962 to what was, I think, 2012, citizen Kane was considered the number one movie ever.
Speaker 2:That's a long reign. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And Citizen Kane. The reason a lot of people give that one of the best movies ever made is because of how it was filmed Like it was the first time that we had low angles and it's the way they experimented with how they put a camera on the floor. They're like fuck yeah, no, they didn't do that.
Speaker 1:They dug a hole in the floor and got in the floor Even better because there's this part where, uh, the lead character in citizen canes is like destroying this room and it's all filmed like below and it's like really impressive, especially at the time in like the 1930s, right, and that's also the way that he showed storytelling, like just with uh, visuals like first it's him and the character's wife sitting at a table that's really small and they're sitting across from each other and they're talking and throughout the movie, like the table gets bigger and bigger, and bigger, and they're talking less and less and less, and it's just kind of you know, the more money you have, it doesn't make it happier.
Speaker 1:Here's the thing, snooze. Snooze fest. Which I really hate to say as someone that loves film, because you know I want to be better than that, but I mean it's hard to like deny that like older movies now, with the fact that we have screens constantly in our face and it's films are faster and faster. It's just like you know you'll go back and watch an old movie like vertigo and fall asleep you're just like wait a second, how long is he going to be following her in this movie?
Speaker 1:you mean, we could cut 40 minutes out of this movie if we just fast forward through the parts. But I will say why I think vertigo really works is probably because of Alfred Hitchcock. He's one of our best, you know older filmmakers. He's such a damn freak and a love all.
Speaker 1:He's such a pervert and he just wants to be a pervert all the time it's so great, but like whenever he's following her, it like because I think this is the second or third time I watched it for the podcast or watched it before the podcast.
Speaker 2:Did you watch it in film school?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was when I first saw it and I was like this is the best movie ever made. You know, the same way, when I watched Citizen Kane, I was like is everybody just being pretentious or what. But now, this time watching it, I was like whoa, this movie goes man watching it I was like whoa this movie goes. Man is the how I felt when he was following her really, like in the beginning, interested me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, just because you wanted to be a stalker.
Speaker 1:Well, it was just like shit man, people could be following you don't know.
Speaker 1:And like the fun part of this movie is she knows which makes the movie even more fun the more you re-watch it, because the first time I saw it I was was like oh, Big Wolf, whatever. I've seen a twist like this a billion times in modern cinema. But I don't know, it's just one of those movies you can kind of go back and rewatch and it's really fun. That is cool. Yeah, Just because every move that she's doing she knows he's behind her. And it's just, especially since, even if she didn't know he was there, if I saw this guy I'd be like this guy's obviously following me everywhere.
Speaker 2:He's really bad at hiding His cars, all the cars are so shiny Elliot, how would you know?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so did the mystery like capture you, like, were you really invested in it? So this is the first time watching it? Yeah, this is the first time watching it. Yeah, this is his first time watching it.
Speaker 2:I wouldn't say because there was kind of an inkling of that whenever he finds her again and then he starts, you know, looking like talking to her, and it's just super weird, and then they kind of do the whole plot twist in like a split second, like her, just like looking up and having a memory. Yeah, oh, ok, that's cool, yeah.
Speaker 2:But I wasn't like what second, like her, just like looking up and having a memory, yeah, like oh okay, well, that's cool, yeah, but I wasn't like I do have a few like little things that alfred hitchcock said about those.
Speaker 1:The scene, like revealing it so um. Alfred hitchcock had contemplated editing judy's flashback sequence which reveals that she and madeline are one of the same. Hitchcock was worried that audience would lose interest in the movie if audiences knew the twist too early. Two screenings for critics were subsequent.
Speaker 2:Subsequentially yes, that word.
Speaker 1:How do you say it? Why won't it come out of my mouth, right? I know how to say it Subsequentially.
Speaker 1:Held in New York City, one with the flashback and the other without it. With the flashbacks, critics called it Hitchcock's best movie. Without it, critics called it one of Hitchcock's worst movies. Oh wow. With that in mind, the flashback was retained. One more thing Over for Judy's flashback revealing the murder of Elster's wife. So soon in the story. However, hitchcock explained in which I completely agree, it's the whole point of thrillers. Hitchcock explained more than once that one of the hallmarks for suspense films, unlike mysteries, is that the audience always knows more than the character, thus harrying at the nerves and feelings of helplessness, the effect of which Hitchcock admitted playfully here's the fun thing. So when you first watch it, you're like hey, scotty bruh, it's the same girl.
Speaker 2:Scotty doesn't know, scotty doesn't know.
Speaker 1:But then when you watch it, you know the second time. As soon as you see that it's her, it immediately becomes fuck, she's in danger, you know. So it's like there's a suspense built. The first time he watched it for him and like, dude, like there could be something up with this. But then, once you know the film the second time, you watch it, you're like, hey, girl, get out, don't let him in your house.
Speaker 2:This guy's a creep um. I will say everyone is so nice in the 58, yeah kind of san francisco hey, random come in my apartment Once a week.
Speaker 1:I can't wait till we get to the point of it, cause it's um like now that I watched it I was like shit. This movie is not what I thought it was about at first, like it all just clicked. This morning while watching I was like I know every I know what this movie is about now. Yeah, I saw the handprints on your coffee table. So do you find it hard to?
Speaker 2:watch older movies or can you enjoy them as much as newer movies? I will say I did not have a hard time watching this one. Yeah.
Speaker 2:But I mean, sometimes I think what really made this one different was the the color. Yeah, different was the the color yeah, it kind of like everything I was so, I was so interested in everything going on around the characters that I was really able to be engaged, even if this I was like, yeah, this is long, and like it feels like a play it does older movies for like place it's.
Speaker 1:It kind of can be annoying because it's like all the sets you can tell the backgrounds, like there are no windows, they're just talking in a room and they have a painted background or they're rear projecting like cars driving in the background or something, but so it makes it kind of feel like a play. But I just think what I love that you're like talking about the color so much because if you think now about our movies, they're so dark. Why is everything so dark? Now?
Speaker 2:I don't know. I think it's the difference in the way they were filmed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because it's got that vista vision.
Speaker 2:Yeah, vista vision like WandaVision. They kind of tried to capture that same style.
Speaker 1:I feel like a lot of it was because, you know, black and white films were then and they're like we can do color now. Beautiful, everything's gonna be so colorful and I miss it. I miss when we have movies that were it's what, like I loved about early Tim Burton movies. Yeah, like if you think about Edward Scissorhands it's so beautiful so beautiful, like the colors pop so much and but I mean, I guess that was kind of the point of his, especially the blood it's like how he felt inside was like all dark but like everything.
Speaker 1:We have this fake suburbia in edward scissorhands, which is great, um, but I do think that having so much color, and especially now looking back at the 1950s you know the greatest generation and stuff like that it's so colorful. It's like the same shitty things that happens now happened back then. Right, it's like people were still taking advantage of each other and murdering.
Speaker 2:It was also really interesting to see how much nobody gave a shit about women. Yes.
Speaker 1:Yes, they're just like we got thrown away.
Speaker 2:Or like when he's picking out the clothes she's like well, the man knows what he wants. Woman, shut your mouth, I know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. That is 100% how I took it too. It's funny. That's something that didn't like pop with me whenever I first watched the movie. I was like why I know me. Whenever I first watched the movie, I was like why I know, and like he's just like you're gonna wear this and she's like I don't want to. And the older lady oh man, he's a man who knows what he wants like how about the lady like crying? Almost she doesn't want to wear this fucking suit.
Speaker 1:It's wild. Hey, that's the price they had to pay for being born a woman. I guess Jesus Christ so what'd you think of the two leads, james Stewart or Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak? 25 year age difference, really. Yeah, he was like in her 50s, she was like 40, 20, something she was supposed to be like 26 or something yeah, I think their actual age. I think she was like 24 and he was like 52, something like that, something crazy.
Speaker 2:I don't know, american Dream uh, but what'd you?
Speaker 1:I love Jimmy Stewart there's something about his voice like oh exactly you want the moon, I'll tie a lasso around it.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's exactly what I want, hey.
Speaker 1:Toots. Put on this gray suit. I don't care if you don't like it.
Speaker 2:No, I thought they were really good. Like she's gorgeous, yeah, absolutely stunning, stunningly beautiful.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I liked her more as a redhead, though I will say I kind of did too.
Speaker 1:Well, she looked like a ghost walking around at all other times.
Speaker 2:I think that was intentional. Yeah, it definitely was.
Speaker 1:Every time I'd see her I'd be like I would not be able to fall in love with this woman. I'd be like, hey, snap out of it, dude. Could you look like you got some brains up in there, because? They're looking like you're just off in the distance, which is the point, but I was just like I don't know. But I mean, I guess you're supposed to be so attractive that, like it makes him fall in love with her, he just becomes obsessed.
Speaker 2:I guess, or maybe the whole reason he got I was so confused about why he was angry with her. I mean, I guess, like how dare you confuse a man?
Speaker 1:But it was her husband who killed her. I know. Well, it was her husband who killed her. I know it was just because, and it wasn't even the same woman. I know you knew this Damn. I don't know what the point of the movie is, yet I'll have to tell you later. One last thing before we get into some facts what's your favorite Hitchcock movie have you ever seen?
Speaker 2:any more. I think I've seen. I've only seen parts of the other ones. I don't think I've ever seen a full one like, so I guess it would be vertigo it's just the only one.
Speaker 1:it's a great one to like. I've seen a psycho vertigo north by northwest rebecca, and I know I've seen some other ones, rebecca's like the uh jaws of like the 1940s. Oh yeah, it's constantly talking about this girl and Rebecca and we never see her, hear her or anything, and it's just like Rebecca is a shark.
Speaker 1:She's a ghost essentially. But yeah, it's just like you know, you don't see there's so much suspense built up over this girl and it's like you never really see her. It's really great, it's a fun movie. It's just, you know, older and it takes like forever to get going. But man alfred hitchcock's been making movies since like 19 1922. This movie came out in 1959 and it's considered his best movie. It's could you imagine? Oh, 30 years in my filmography and I finally did the best movie I'll ever make, finally made a good one.
Speaker 1:I mean like he really gets going around this because he got 54, he got Rear Window. It's another movie that's like a masterpiece. They say Suspicion, which oh, that's a TV show, my bad Vertigo, north by Northwest and then Psycho in 1960. It's like damn. And then the Birds in 63. And that was kind of like. His last great movie was the bird. There's so many birds, these birds are attacking Help. So yeah, let's hop into some facts. I feel like my favorite Hitchcock, because I didn't answer. I guess it'd probably be this or North by Northwest. North by Northwest kind of goes.
Speaker 1:Is it a mystery, yeah, spoiler kind of thing. Oh shit, I don't really know how you even classify North by Northwest. I'll have to check it out because it's the classic thing where he's like running from a plane and a plane's like flying over him. You've probably seen like the visual before. So, all right, one of my favorite facts about this movie.
Speaker 1:Speaking of Jaws, so Alfred Hitchcock had really wanted originally wanted to use his now famous vertigo zoom or dolly zoom, dolly zoom. So you know, in Jaws, you know when he's sitting on the beach, the main character like his kids out playing in the water and he's there to make sure no shark attacks happen. You know on the beach where you can't do anything about shark um, and then all of a sudden, like the shark's kind of boom, yeah, hell, and there's kids playing, and then all of a sudden there's some screaming and then the camera zooms in, but also like um. So it's awesome. Wait, is it the cameras? Camera, I think, zooms out, or the dolly zooms out and the camera zooms in and it creates this effect where it's like oh you know the vertigo, the vertigo effect, which they used.
Speaker 1:This was the first film that used that. That's awesome. And so, speaking of the movie Rebecca, this is why I wanted to bring up Jaws. That was the first time he wanted to do it because, but because, because they didn't have the technology at the time. He couldn't. The technique was inspired by a time when hitchcock had fainted during a party and it gave him that like vertigo like dolly zoom effect.
Speaker 2:That's so cool, that is fucking cool and I guess it was.
Speaker 1:You see like that is you see it everywhere now yeah, it's one of the best things I remember, like when I finally got a camera and I learned about that thing. That's all. I did for a week, baby you think whenever he came up with the idea everyone's like, oh he's crazy and Alfred's over there.
Speaker 2:I want to go back and forth at the same fucking time.
Speaker 1:No, he's on the ground. I have an idea Give me a blonde lady so I can film her give me a blonde lady so I can film her. Make me a dead woman. All his movies always has blonde ladies. He obviously was obsessed with blonde women. Oh, okay, so it was uncredited. Second unit cameraman Herman Roberts invented the famous zoom out and track in shot to convey the sense of vertigo in the audience. The view down the mission stairwell costs $19,000 for just a couple seconds of screenshot. Jesus why?
Speaker 2:Which, back in the day, you know, was a lot. I mean, I just I don't understand why. Why it costs that much.
Speaker 1:Well, it's set up probably had to build. They probably built this Well because the way that they filmed it, you know. Obviously they didn't have the technology like we do now where you just put it on a crane and zoom in and out and you probably do it five billion times since there's nothing there. Well, they had to build a model of it, you know, lay it on its side so the camera could stay upright and then would have to film it from an angle with models. Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah so that's a little bit about that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's a little bit about that. That's cool. What do you think about the opening sequence, title sequence? You think it's special in any way. I'll tell you why it's special, Jason.
Speaker 2:Go ahead.
Speaker 1:The opening title sequence is designed by Saul Bass, makes this the first movie to use computer graphics. Whoa, no shit, isn't it great. I loved it. When I saw it too, I was like, ooh, this is fun. I saw it too. I was like, ooh, this is fun. I like it. It's a little silly, it's unnerving, especially when he's having his dream sequence and you have, like, all the petals falling off. I was like are we like smoking?
Speaker 1:hell yeah, ganja now he's in a paranoid nightmare, yeah that's a little bit of one of the beginnings of the fantasy. Sorry, I cut you off. So that's a little bit of one of the beginnings of the fancy. Sorry, I cut you off. So I just like this quote from Alfred Hitchcock that I found he described this movie to Francis Truffaut, who did he was like a leader of the French New Wave back in the day. He did a movie called Breathless and stuff like that. He's kind of like one of the person who's like hey, you know, we don't have to film everybody, just walking places, we can cut and have them at the places. That was the guy that kind of did that Genius.
Speaker 1:And it was like Breathless was like 1930s or 40s something like that.
Speaker 1:He was wearing a white and red striped shirt with a beret, yeah, and a cigarette, and he also was painted up like a mime, oh nice, with a baguette, an invisible one, that he ate, um, but uh, hitchcock said to truffaut to put it plainly, the man wants to go to bed with the woman who is dead. Yay, I was like, that is alfred hitchcock, I'll get in the ice bath, yeah, um, so I guess, um, kim novak, the lead, uh actress, she. So Hitchcock had very specific way he wanted, wanted her to look. You know, he had the the gray with the black shoes or brown shoes or whatever. Um, kim Novak hated it. She said she didn't think like her character would be like that or anything. So she wanted to like completely change. It was very bland, yeah. And she said it's like as a blonde, blonde, that doesn't. That's not a very nice like costume for um, but he like pushed it to make her want to do that and seemed very like uptight.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I think that was. I think she was supposed to be a mystery, so it's like she no personality and things like that. Maybe I don't know, but so Kim Novak, I guess, had a reputation for being difficult.
Speaker 2:I'm assuming it's just she was a woman back in the day. I think it's just because she's a woman.
Speaker 1:Because when I first read this I was like she didn't want to go be pushed out of a tower.
Speaker 2:Can you believe it?
Speaker 1:It's like, I don't think she's difficult, I think she just wanted to, you know, know, have some say in the art that she's making. But so she had the reputation of being difficult. So, um, I guess she refused to show up for work one day. She was striking for money, for more money, from her studio, home studio, columbia pictures, because they, they had contracts that they had to stay with certain uh companies and that's how they like constantly just churned out movies because they just do like movie after movie with one star and wouldn't pay them shit. Well, the men.
Speaker 2:So they deserved it.
Speaker 1:Columbia Pictures, her home studio, was paying her a thousand dollars and two hundred fifty a thousand two hundred fifty dollars a week, even though they were receiving two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for her loan out for this and one more or $1,250 a week, even though they were receiving $250,000 for her loan out for this and one more movie. The ploy worked and Novak got a raise. So essentially the studio was getting paid $250,000. She's getting paid $1,200 a week. So she went on strike essentially for a day to get more money and it's like, well, yeah, all that money you just got paid, you're not paying her, even though she's the reason you're getting this money. But yeah, she's difficult, right.
Speaker 2:It's just whatever I was when.
Speaker 1:I read that and it was like the way it was written. I was like, fuck you article, she's not being difficult. She's probably getting paid like 10 times less than that guy. The studio got paid like a hundred times more than her and she's not seeing any of it because then you know they filmed things super fast back in the day, so you know?
Speaker 1:yeah, they were really making money hand over a fist, yeah, I mean it's because, like one studio would make like 30, 40 movies a year just because they're able to, and they all had contracts and it's kind of like the golden era of Hollywood. Nothing bad ever happened. It was the golden era for white males.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly yeah. I think that's enough facts. And hubbub at the beginning. I don't know why I used that word. That's cool. So before we hop into the plot, remember to think about what is this movie about and let us know what you think the movie is about. Even though we'll tell you what we think the movie is about at the end, you can just leave us, we're never wrong.
Speaker 1:And just let us know what you think Vertigo is about, and there's a link in the description you can click to send us some fan mail or go to. We recommend mailbag at gmailcom. All right, jason, let's do this baby, all right. So movie opens up. A woman's face gives way to a kaleidoscope of credit, signaling the start of Alfred Hitchcock's vertigo, to Bernard Herrmann's haunting score. Yeah, love it, just like the eye, the spinning.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all of the words coming out of her eyes yeah, like, it's like so paranoid.
Speaker 1:I know you're that's why I think when you first watch this movie, you'll be like this lady's no good man, you better run from her women are the devil.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do love when movies like the whole like credits in the beginning.
Speaker 1:That's always fun yeah, especially older, because you know they didn't start doing that until after star wars, where they're like we're getting rid of credits at the beginning. Um, so, a woman, in which do you prefer? The credits at the beginning or the end?
Speaker 2:because I don't. I think I prefer them at the end, but I do it is like fun to be able to play some movie, knowing that yeah seeing the credits in the beginning, but I kind of don't like that.
Speaker 1:the movie just ends and then Netflix is like all right, you're done. It's like no, give me the score a little bit at the end, it feels way better.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because you want to be like. Who was that person? Yeah.
Speaker 1:And at the beginning you're not really, you're just paying attention to the visuals, you don't know who the characters are yet. Yeah, Cool. So we see a criminal climbs up rungs of a ladder to the rooftop on a dark San Francisco night. John Scotty Ferguson, played by James Stewart, detective and a police officer are hot on his trail.
Speaker 2:I immediately got men in black vibes yeah.
Speaker 1:So they chase him across top of buildings. The thief jumps between two buildings, making it across. The police officer follows, but Scotty can't get his footing. He slips. Scotty hangs on a gutter as his fear of heights kicks in. Man, oh boy, oh boy strong to keep himself up that long?
Speaker 2:Hold on to the gutter.
Speaker 1:It's falling, yeah, it's like my gutters would just completely crumble. They need to be replaced. So then we see the police officer. He tries to help him and ask for his hand, but the officer slips and falls to his death. Scotty witnesses as he clutches the gutter. I love it. He's like here, grab my hand.
Speaker 1:It's like I don't know that's not Scotty's fault at that point it's like, hey brother, let's, let's's not, let's not, let's. How about you kneel down a little bit, grab onto something, then try to pull him up, instead of like I'm gonna be on an angle?
Speaker 2:going down and bend over by my feet. That part when the cop pulled himself up, I was like holy shit man, because he was. He was like the cop jumped and he was on the incline and he started to fall a little bit and then he just whoop yeah, like that guy must have been strong as hell, yeah.
Speaker 1:So thanks a lot, jimmy Stewart Ruined the shop's life. He just killed a man, yeah. So we cut to. Months after the incident, scotty reclines in his home, in the home of Marjorie Midge Wood.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what's their whole deal?
Speaker 1:Ooh, let me explain. She's a painter and a fashion illustrator. She's concerned about Scotty's plans now that he's back in shape. He has retired from police force due to his Shit. He says that a billion times in this. What did he call it? Acrophobia? That's what it is and does not want to be a desk jockey. Midge and Scotty used to be engaged back in college but it was broken off. I love that Alfred Hitchcock's like. All right, I need to make sure people know the term vertigo and acrophobia.
Speaker 1:So let me say it 15 times in a span of two to three minutes. It's a fun word, yeah, so Scotty, kind of.
Speaker 2:I think I have acrophobia. Yeah, I've been like anytime I'm on the edge of a cliff, I'm just like I get sick Really, I freeze. I tried rock climbing a couple of times and I would just get stuck and immobile Really On the side of a cliff or something Damn that sucks, and I'd have to jump down.
Speaker 1:I kind of like heights. It's fun. No, not me. I like that fear. It's horrifying.
Speaker 1:So Scotty kind of waves their engagement off as a flight of fancy, ended by Midge. But it's clear from Midge's expression that Scotty was more likely the unwilling party, because he says, well, you broke it off and she goes kind of like, makes eyes at him, um, and obviously she still is in love with him. Yeah, pretty obvious. I can't wait till we get a little later. Why are they still hanging out? I know, I think it's just one of those things where he's just a man and he's just got nowhere to go.
Speaker 1:He's just like oh, let me just hang out with abroad. I used to be engaged with and then she's just like. Well, I want to get back together with him, so I don't want him to leave, that's the type of situation.
Speaker 1:So she urges him to take a vacation and Scotty replies don't be so motherly, it's like bitch, she likes you. They discuss an old college buddy, gavin Elster, who wants to meet with Scotty. Scotty attempts to gradually get over his fear of heights by using a step stool. I'll get over it. I'll get over it real fast, you see here let me take this she pulls out a step stool.
Speaker 1:It's like here. Here's one step Up, down, up down. See, I'm doing just fine, so happy we get to do this. Maybe I can do this accent the whole. It's wonderful. And then he goes up one other step. He says see up down, up down, I'm all great. And then he climbs up one more. He's like up down, up down, I see no problem. Then he looks out the window. He's like oh, I like that. He wasn't overly feigning, he just kind of went and then passed out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I feel like if this was made by a different director five years earlier, it'd be like, oh Because in older movies, you know, everything was more dramatic.
Speaker 2:Well, this was pretty dramatic too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's because this was just kind of how people acted in movies. That's why people are so big in older movies, because they didn't have like the more realistic acting which you get kind of in the 60s and stuff that became more prominent.
Speaker 2:And like, the kissing scenes are always wild yeah oh, let's kiss we can't have sex, so kiss harder I know, but it's always like when one person stops kissing for a second, the other one he's like okay, I'm gonna stop you to stop, you keep going. Yeah, you stop it, I'll keep going.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like, it's wild. It's like in all old movies Like are we sure Like anybody ever had chemistry? It's not because they made 500 movies a year Each actor.
Speaker 2:Every woman. Every time he kisses Madeline in the movie I just it looks like she's trapped. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Hey, maybe we'll learn she is, we'll see. But yeah, so he panics and collapses into Midge's arms. So then we cut to Scotty, who's going to meet Gavin, who is in the shipping business, and he has to be a little faster than that. Alfred Hitchcock. He walks in front of the camera. Whenever we see the outside of the building he's going into, alfred hitchcock walks by. He's in every single movie he makes. He always makes a cameo as like just some guy that walks around in the background that's nice.
Speaker 2:A little faster than that, get past me, alfred I wasn't paying attention, so also I don't really know if I know what he looks like, because I've only ever seen like a silhouette really yeah, well, think of, uh shit, who's the storm?
Speaker 1:the beaches guy? Um, uh, what uh? World war ii, british leader? Oh uh, yeah, it's on the tip of my tongue, man. This is so frustrating.
Speaker 2:King George. No, yeah, I know what you're talking about.
Speaker 1:Worm beach Beaches.
Speaker 2:Charlie, not Charlie Chapman Speech.
Speaker 1:Jesus, oh my God, I'm so sorry, winston Churchill. He's like a he looks. He's kind of got vibes of Winston Churchill Now that I'm actually looking at Winston Churchill that was all pointless and he doesn't look that much like him All great men did. He's got the same body and hair. This is what I'm meaning. All right, anyways, so we meet Gavin. He's married he married into the business of shipping, I guess, and he wants Scotty to tell his wife.
Speaker 2:Married into it. Yeah, the ship building.
Speaker 3:And that should be our first sign that he's like oh, he's going to kill her.
Speaker 1:He's just trying to kill his wife, obviously. But yeah, he wants Scotty or Johnny, whichever which way you want to call him. Depends if you're acquainted.
Speaker 2:John Scotty no-transcript yeah, that's why I gotta put a hole in her head.
Speaker 1:Love it, I see, I love that it like starts as like kind of a ghost story, right, yeah, like a possession thing yeah, so fun that really drew me in, as whenever I first watched it I was like, oh, that's right, it's Alfred Hitchcock, it's gonna be like spooky and stuff even though I really thought that's where it was going to go.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And like that's why I kind of like the twist. I was like oh yeah, none of Alfred Hitchcock's movies are about ghosts. They're all kind of about people in situations. Yeah, so.
Speaker 2:Like the reality is probably going to be a little scarier.
Speaker 1:Yeah Right, like Psycho it's like there's no ghost, there's no mother. That's a ghost, it's a Hell. Yeah, Kind of the same way in Rebecca, except different, but anyways. So we learned that Madeline. She becomes distant and distracted and has taken to roaming the city and surrounding area. The no-nonsense Scotty initially dismisses the supernatural undertones of Gavin's worries but is intrigued.
Speaker 2:Hey, what are you paying me to follow a beautiful woman around?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like you got it, but Gavin's like wait, she doesn't know what he looks like she looks like yet, so he invites Scotty to observe him and his wife at Ernie's restaurant the following night. It's like once he sees her he's going to be in on the job.
Speaker 2:He can't stop following her, yeah, so we're at Ernie's restaurant.
Speaker 1:It's a very lav, Cavish upscale. The walls are all red and scarlet looking. It's got kind of like a flowery design Like velvety kind of.
Speaker 2:They would be soft if you touched them. Yeah, like it's like, I would love to eat here.
Speaker 1:When can we go back to having carpet on our walls? I don't know. I'd just constantly be rubbing my face on the walls. I'd probably get sick. So, scotty, he first spots Madeline, uh, who is stunning, with platinum blonde hair, black dress and green shawl. He's mesmerized by her and I love it, cause like he sees her, she gets up, she's walking towards the camera, she's putting, she's got a little thing around her neck and then she like stops. And you know, obviously Gavin was probably like all right, once you get to that guy, stop and kind of just like stand for a second and like the lights kind of come up and glow around her a little bit and then you see him trying not to look at her and she's trying not to look at him. And, bro, when I was because I was watched it Sunday and I used the Delta 8 pin like man, that scene hits when you're high.
Speaker 2:It's pretty great, it's great I was like I would love to see this movie on some drugs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, especially with the colors and like it also kind of makes like the silliness of some of the acting, sometimes like even better. Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2:Although I didn't have a good laugh at the end. Well, near the middle, the middle, whenever Mad.
Speaker 1:Well near the middle, the middle whenever madeline gets thrown out of the building, can't?
Speaker 2:wait to get there.
Speaker 1:Spoiler so the next morning he stalks her outside her house. She wears a simple gray suit with white gloves. As she gets into her green automobile, scotty follows her through the streets of san francisco as she visits a flower shop and purchases a small bouquet. Um, you got this great shot, uh, whenever he's hiding behind a door that has a mirror on it and it's obviously like a projection of her, like it seemed like they kind of projected like rear projected behind, because it obviously doesn't look like they're being filmed at the same time. It seems like the mirror shot's being filmed differently, but it's just like you can see his face like peeking through, and then she's just kind of like wandering around.
Speaker 1:Hitchcock loves voyeurism, oh yeah, rear window Like he loves having men follow women and that's something I think that's different about his film. It's terrifying His filmography is. I feel like he definitely knows that it's creepy when guys follow women, versus back in the day I feel like you know, you had guys following women all the time and they never made it seem creepy. But this whole time he follows her. I'm like this is so scary that he's just following someone. But then at the same time I was like I started thinking man, what if I just found somebody at Walmart and I just decided to follow?
Speaker 3:him the rest of the day oh man, you should try it.
Speaker 1:I'll come bail you out. And it's funny because the next movie we're going to do it's going to be a Christopher Nolan movie Not going to tell you which yet, but his first movie is called the Following or something, and it's just about a guy that just follows people around all day and that's all he does. That's terrifying.
Speaker 2:You ever stop and think that you're being followed?
Speaker 1:No, no, I do in my car Because I was followed and bugged, damn Gunpoint.
Speaker 2:That sucks ass.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Just because I wanted a fucking hamburger from cookout. I'm so glad I did that, but anyways. So he then trails her to the Mission Dolores, when she goes through the chapel to the cemetery, finally stopping to stand at a grave. As she exits, Scotty notes the headstone which reads Carlotta Valdez, born December 3rd 1931, died March 5th 1856. She didn't really live that long.
Speaker 2:So is Madeline supposed to be an heiress to a great fortune.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's her great grandmother.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you find. I mean I know you find out that uh here pretty soon, I don't know if she's.
Speaker 1:I don't think she gets any money though, because, uh, she was discarded, as we'll learn very soon. Okay, um. So he then tracks her to the palace of the Legions of Honor, an art museum. Madeline sits staring at a portrait for hours. Scotty notices that the bouquet she purchased is just like the one in the painting. Also, her hair is done exactly like the woman in the painting. Scotty discovers from the curator that the painting is titled Portrait of Carlotta and is given a catalog of paintings. Finally, he follows her to the McKittrick Hotel, where Scotty observes Madeline in a second story window. Scotty enters the old hotel and asks the manager who the occupant of the room is. She hesitates to tell him until Scotty reveals his badge. And then you got this whole thing.
Speaker 2:She's like hey won't you go up and? Check on her.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yes, great, I would love to stay at a place like this. And then, like we learned, the woman's name is carlotta valdez and that she has not been in the room all day, and scotty finds this impossible. So he's like, hey, go check. She goes up there. And he's like, hey, detective guy, get up here, looks around, she's not there, come into this woman's room.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so and then he like looks outside and sees that the car is gone. Um yeah, so it's like it's. It makes it feel like, oh wait, is she actually a ghost? Is he imagining this?
Speaker 2:Yeah, is any of this?
Speaker 1:real? Is she a ghost? Is he just going crazy? But you know we'll learn that obviously this is all of a setup. So I have a question for you, one how the fuck did Gavin come up with this plan? Right, is like Madeline actually like an heir to or like? Was the real Madeline actually like?
Speaker 2:the great granddaughter. That's why he killed her to get her money.
Speaker 1:And then he was like oh, luckily there's all these paintings and random stuff around that I know about and know where to go to tell Judy to go to all these places and just sit around for hours, which has to be super boring. Um, and also the main thing I want to know, jason, is this old lady in on it? Because otherwise how did madeline get up there, uh, and this old lady not see. And then how did she get out? Is she on it?
Speaker 1:in on uh, I don't think so I mean but how did she walk in the front door and not be noticed?
Speaker 2:well, he walked in the front door and he had to go around like through the foyer to get to her.
Speaker 1:So maybe she just snuck in somehow.
Speaker 2:Snuck in and went out the back door or something I think she's in on it?
Speaker 1:She's probably in on it. She's also possessed by Carlotta. I love the name Carlotta. Yeah, there's something about Carlotta. Yeah, it sounds gross and regal at the same time. Yeah, I'm Carlotta, I don't know, I don't know. So Daddy named me after a painting. Man just talking about this movie. This movie fucking goes dude. I'm enjoying this. I could just read the plot of this movie all the time.
Speaker 1:So Scotty returns to Midge's home where Midge All the time. So Scotty returns to Midget's home where Midget. Where he asks her for a local historian expert, she tells him of San Francisco historian Pop LaBelle, who owns the bookshop.
Speaker 2:The cigarette bookshop.
Speaker 1:I love that Like he's like starts pouring himself a drink when he says all this and he's like hi, sorry, do you know anybody that might know local history? And she's like oh yeah, I know she also talks like him. And then he pours a drink, starts drinking. He's like all right.
Speaker 2:What a great time to live. I know right, Just walk in.
Speaker 1:Just drink at work. Drink Just pour a glass full of bourbon and start drinking.
Speaker 1:He's like now I got to drive, but what I love, it's required, yeah, Drive. I love that. He's like you know, because he's the man walks into the house of this woman's house and he says just starts drinking her liquor. And then he's like I need you to tell me about this person. And then when he figures it out, it's like all right, we're going, let's go. And then she's like all right, gets up, walks out the door. He's like, hey, I wanted a drink.
Speaker 2:I drank whiskey sour, yeah it was a full ass glass. He's like he was ready to drive yeah.
Speaker 1:But it's love that. She's like, she's like literally been doing nothing all day. It's like, hey, let's go do something. She's like, all right, bye, okay, let's go. That it's like a man, just like walking to this woman's house like we need to go, and then she's like, oh, I'm not going to let you drink the drink, I'm leaving, I don't know Smart. So she and Scotty go to Pop's bookstore thing. I don't know, it's a bunch of weird words that once, all at once. Ok. And Scotty asked the man about the McKittrick Hotel. Pop tells Scotty asked the man about the McKittrick Hotel. Pop tells Scotty that the hotel was originally a house built by a rich man for his mistress, carlotta Valdez, and they had a child. However, the rich man eventually discarded Carlotta, keeping their child to raise with his childless wife. Carlotta went from depressed to insane and finally took her own life.
Speaker 2:Wait, so she was the hotel. Was Carlotta's house? Yes, yeah, and then they turned it into so she wasn the hotel. Was Carlotta's house? Yes, yeah, and then they turned it into, so she wasn't on it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but yeah, and then like she was a mistress, so you know the old boy was sleeping around with her and she was a very happy woman and a very sad woman and then became a mad woman.
Speaker 1:I love the progression of the story, the way the guy tells it. Whoever this guy is, oh great performance. He's like very kind of almost French-like. He's great. And the scene's kind of unnerving because they dim all the lights in the building. I don't know if you noticed it Like, at first it starts off kind of bright, but I guess it's supposed to be kind of like a passing of time. So it gets very dim in there and then when they go outside it's kind of brighter and then the guy in the background has to turn on the lights but makes it a very eerie kind of story and it makes you really feel like it's a ghost story.
Speaker 2:And they did that again uh, sort of, I guess, whenever he, whenever she's fully dressed up, and then they kiss.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That was awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, because I think they do it two or three times. There's a lot of play on lights in this movie, which is why a lot of people really like this movie, especially back in the day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's why people kind of push it up as one of the best movies for me. Hell yeah, it does a lot with not a lot of technology at the time and it's very effective. So yeah, and the guy telling the story absolutely crushes it. I love the guy. So on the drive home, Midge and Scotty talk about the portrait he shows her, the catalog picture. The resemblance is uncanny, even though they don't look that much alike in the picture.
Speaker 2:No, with the necklace, I guess. Yeah, supposed to give it away, yeah.
Speaker 1:Another conversation with Gavin reveals that Madeline had started to wear Carlotta's jewelry, particularly a ruby pendant shown in the painting. Madeline's great-grandmother was Carlotta Valdez, a fact that Madeline does not know. Gavin only knows this fact because Madeline's mother told him. So yeah, I guess it was his actual wife's backstory.
Speaker 2:I love old jewelry Really nice jewelry. It looks gaudy and great. Yeah, like my wife has a ring from her grandmother that has been in her family for a long time and it was like I think back in the 40s or something whenever she got it. Yeah, it was like 30 grand.
Speaker 1:Golly.
Speaker 2:And like it's gorgeous.
Speaker 1:Is it worth even more now?
Speaker 2:Probably probably, but it's like we never sell it. You should no one come to my house but like uh, no, it's just like it's this whole different type of gaudiness.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like it's because it looks so uncomfortable to have on you. That's true, and that's just like back in the day. You, you're just supposed to look stylish, not comfortable. Now, you know, we're kind of all about comfort. That's why we all wear, you know, just plain T-shirts and jeans, and girls wear like big shirts and just leggings all the time. It's all about comfort now. Back then it was like I don't care, toots, how much that necklace is stabbing into you.
Speaker 2:You're wearing it because we're going out.
Speaker 1:Here's a tissue for all the blood, so the next day Scotty follows Madeline to the place of legions where she gazes at the portrait again. Then he follows her to the fort point near the Golden Gate Bridge. Kind of a great location.
Speaker 2:Loved it. It was pretty cool. Everything looks so clean. Yeah, I wonder if it still is. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1:No, at this point there's a bunch of people doing heroin there. There were no bodies in the water falling around Because in the 50s no one did heroin right. They were doing other drugs.
Speaker 2:Well, heroin? I don't even think heroin was invented because BC invented it for people getting out of the Vietnam War Right.
Speaker 1:I think so.
Speaker 2:To help them get off of the other one, morphine. Place an addiction.
Speaker 1:So they're probably just actual people that are just taking pills instead of actually doing heroin. So yeah, he follows the Golden Great Bridge. Madeline strolls by the sewer throwing petals into the bay until, without warning, she jumps in. Scotty dives after her. She's alive but unconscious and he takes her back to his apartment. We have some things to discuss here. Madeline wakes up at Scotty's apartment perplexed and alarmed to find herself naked in a strange man's bed. Scotty hands her a red bathrobe and explains he rescued her from drowning, don't worry.
Speaker 2:I completely undressed you, I know.
Speaker 1:I love now in modern movies, they always explain it away. It's like, oh don't worry, I didn't see anything, or anything. But, like in older movies like this. It's always just like you just undressed her. It's totally fine, totally cool. I'd actually like to see the scene I've dried your hair too of her unconscious body and he's just like god, dang it.
Speaker 2:But was she really unconscious, though she was probably awake the whole time. That's the thing right or did she actually?
Speaker 1:it's all an act so she was awake the entire time, right? Yeah, she actually it's all an act. So she was awake the entire time, right? Yeah, she was letting it happen. Yeah, she enjoyed it. That's what I was thinking she asked for it, she definitely did. No, but I do wonder, like maybe she like took something to like make her kind of pass out or something. I don't know. That's what I was thinking.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I guess like guess the point is is that she was faking it the whole time, though right, that's what I was thinking. So Madeline maintains that she must have fainted and fallen her question. He questions her where were you before? Has this ever happened to you before? Like a billion times, over and over, and I love that when we see her hair right now, it's not. It doesn't have the spiral, it's kind of how she wears it later in the film which I find very interesting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, it's like, oh, so that's her natural hair, so that's why she just has it like that. She's like, oh shit, she looks herself in the mirror and she's like, oh, do you have my pins?
Speaker 2:great. Um, yeah, yeah, I've ruffled through your purse and I've put them in there, I took all your pins out of your hair, lady.
Speaker 1:They're, they're mine. Now I'm going to sniff them every night. Then she starts asking the same questions to him. He like kind of answers him like you know, expertly I guess, because you know he is a detective.
Speaker 2:It was really funny to me. I always like come sit by the fire, yeah, and then he's like Throw some cushions on the floor.
Speaker 1:Yeah and like like, obviously the reason he does that is because he's gonna do that at the end and it's just kind of builds up to. What I love about the whole second half is that it builds up to him. All he's trying to do is find this one moment like this right here, but with a woman that he thinks is not madeline but is, which is fun. Um, you want that coffee.
Speaker 2:Drink the coffee, yeah.
Speaker 1:But I love that, like Judy slash Madeline they're like and it's obvious now because you know, we know that she's not actually Madeline but I love that she immediately starts throwing the answers, the questions back at him. Just kind of gives her some power, which I thought I really enjoy.
Speaker 2:And then they finally introduce each other to each other to see that she's in a pretty vulnerable situation but she kind of takes control of the yeah, the whole thing yeah it was good on her um.
Speaker 1:We learned that people call um john, john or call him either mr ferguson or they call him john. If they know anyone, call you jack. If they're friends, they call him Scotty. So many names, it's like okay, but then it's supposed to lead you on a little later that she keeps calling him Scotty and it's like, well, why, if you don't really know him all that well, you keep calling him Scotty?
Speaker 2:Oh I see, that's interesting.
Speaker 1:Gavin calls concerned about the whereabouts of his wife. Scotty reassures him that Madeline is at his apartment. Gavin informs Scotty that Madeline is 26, the same age at which Carlotta Valdez committed suicide. Scotty hears the door closes. He realized that Madeline has left. As Madeline drives away from Scotty's house, midge arrives just in time for a misunderstanding. She believes that Scotty and Madeline are in a relationship.
Speaker 2:Madeline just cannot get away from this man.
Speaker 1:Yeah right, she tries so hard. Um, I do love that. Um, she's just like oh, this is my fucking chance. I better get out of here. I don't know what he's gonna do. Yeah, and that midges is like all rats. You're not working the case. I'm obviously in love with you and my character goes nowhere in this film.
Speaker 2:I better do something to make up for it, you'll'll really enjoy it, maybe.
Speaker 1:I'll make a painting. So it's the next morning. Scott Scotty trails Madeline through the streets of San Francisco, only to find that Madeline has been looking for Scotty's house. Scotty catches her, leaving a thank you letter for saving her. She did not know the address but followed the quaint tower. Scotty now, smitten with Madeline, insists that they wander together because they are both alone. It's so fun. Oh man, really you should rewatch this movie, maybe like a year or two later, because it's so fun knowing that she knows he's behind her and he's just like he's going to be so fucking surprised when I drive up to his house because I know exactly where
Speaker 1:he lives and I know everything that's happening. Yeah, it's great, and I do love the line. Whenever he gets the letter out, he's like I hope we will too, madeline. What Meet again sometime? Madeline, we have we did, and it's like, oh, I don't know, it's like a I don't know. It's a very well written movie. I just really like the way it says I'll show you how to kiss a married woman. Yeah, and then whenever they're about to go, uh, don't you think it's kind of a waste for the two of us, madeline, to wonder separately? There's only one is a wonder. Two together are always going somewhere.
Speaker 2:It's like I don't know this and he's like I don't believe that this movie really fucking goes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was very cool, so great lines. So do you think the madeline's husband? Because he tells her, he tells John that she's not his wife anymore. Why wait, wait, say that again. Because the Elster or whatever, the Madeline's husband, yeah, she tells John that he's like she's not my wife anymore because she's Carlotta, because she's Carlotta. Or is he trying to make him give him an opening because she's Carlotta, because she's Carlotta, or is he trying to make him give him an opening to like fall in love with her, because that's the plan I?
Speaker 1:think it's kind of both. I mean, obviously it's forced for him to fall in love with her and I think they're pushing it, but I think the idea is he's supposed to be meaning that she's being Carlotta more than she's actually being Matt, and maybe the idea is that Scotty's falling in love with Carlotta and Madeline combined, something like that maybe every time I hear you say Carlotta, I think of the villain from Austin Powers a lot of vagina.
Speaker 1:Man, we need to do a, we need to do a bond, and then Austin Powers directly after right, we're gonna get on that, the new bond. Yeah, we need to do a Bond, and then Austin.
Speaker 2:Powers directly after right, yes, we're going to get on that. I can't wait for the new Bond, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, me too. I love the Bond movies. I need to go back and watch all the old ones. I've watched most of them, but not all of them, yeah, anyways. So they arrive at a big base in Redwoods State Park where they admire the ancient Redwoods. Isn't it great how massive it is and they're not there. They're not there at all. I believe it's built right. I don't know. It didn't look fully real to me. It didn't look fully real to me either, which is what's so eerie about the whole damn thing. It's like what this actually?
Speaker 1:let's just keep going, because this has one of my favorite parts of the whole movie. So they arrive at the big basin redwoods state park where they admire the ancient redwoods as they view a cross-section of a tree with the approximate dates of the historical events. You know, like the rings.
Speaker 2:I want to go there.
Speaker 1:It looks amazing. Madeline goes into a trance, seemingly becoming Carlotta, recounting the dates of her birth and death. Madeline pointing at the margin of a cross-section of the Sequoia, who had lived for over a thousand years here I was born and there I died was born and there I died it was only for. It was only a moment for you. You took no notice. Well, like her life, I guess something like that she's, she's carlotta and it's like I guess she's kind of talking about the person that threw her away she's a ghost talking through madeline, yeah, and then madeline wanders deeper into the woods and scotty followers.
Speaker 1:There's this great moment, and it's like one of my favorite parts of the movie, where she goes behind a tree right yeah, gone. And you're thinking shit, it's a ghost.
Speaker 2:She's going to kill herself again. She's a ghost.
Speaker 1:It's a ghost movie and he's kind of wandering and it feels very weird because the setting doesn't seem proper, it doesn't seem right for some reason. It's very mysterious and he's like looking and you're like, oh shit, she's actually a ghost, she's not real, this is gonna be crazy. And then you see her just kind of like, and then you're like what, what is this? This is so fun, uh. No, I just love it.
Speaker 1:Just, you know, there's like some parts whenever I watch movies and like really good ones, they'll always be like a moment where, especially like horror, thriller, suspense things, where there's gonna be a part where something inside me just kind of feels different. Yeah, and this is going to be lame, but this is kind of what the snap in, not Endgame, but Infinity War, yeah, okay, whenever you just see Thanos, he kind of snaps but nothing really happens. But because the music kind of changes and there's all this action right before it happens, and then it happens and there's kind of peace for a second and it felt weird when I watched it and like my insides kind of felt different and that's what kind of this scene did, where there's for a second, I was like what like reality kind of shifted.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like what's going on it was badass and that's why I love movies. If I can't feel that, that's great.
Speaker 2:I felt the exact same way when they were snapping in West Side Story. Yeah, no, I'm just kidding. I know, let's see.
Speaker 1:So he confronts her about her jumping to the bay and tries to bring Madeline back. They drive to the shore where he's like where were you? What are you doing, hey lady? Answer my questions. She's like I don't, don't ask me anymore, I'm tired. And then so they kind of drive to like the shoreline or whatever. Madeline begins to reveal fragments of her vague memories an empty grave with no name waiting for her, waiting for her, an empty room in which she sits alone and finally a tower bell and a garden in Spain. Madeline admits she's not crazy and she does not want to die. They then kiss as the waves crash onto the rocks. Scotty promises he will never leave her because it's her job. It's his job to protect her forever.
Speaker 2:Because the Chinese said it. Because the Chinese said it.
Speaker 1:That's crazy Chinese Classic Americans thinking this is like giving some Eastern culture thing and propping it up now. I have to because these guys think it over here. Love it, though. I love because she starts walking towards the water and he's like, oh, here she fucking goes again. He runs over there, she's like why are you running?
Speaker 1:and that's when she's kind of like I don't want to die, I promise um, I just can't so when they kiss right. Does it feel earned? No, yeah, it doesn't. It's something about older movies like the romance never feels earned it's just so intense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, nowhere yeah it's like where did this come?
Speaker 1:from. I think it's like tough because it it doesn't feel like enough time's passed for them to even get to know each other, I think. But the way I look at it is that they both well, she obviously is trying to get him to kiss, which obviously it, being a man he's like.
Speaker 2:I'll just you don't really have to try that much.
Speaker 1:But I think for him is the fact that he feels responsible for this person and he saved her. He's got like this bond and connection with her.
Speaker 3:That's how I saw like he's like oh, it doesn't help that she's attractive.
Speaker 1:It helps me a little bit Right. So I think it was one of those things. And he's like I'm a man in the 1950s. We usually know each other for a month and then we get hitched. That's how things worked. So that's how things worked. So Scotty arrives at Midge's place upon having received a note from Midge inquiring as to his whereabouts. I guess there's been a few days passing, I'd assume. Midge mischievously reveals a new picture. She's been painting a portrait of herself as Carlotta. Vildes.
Speaker 1:So fucking weird. Scotty's not amused by the gag distress, he leaves immediately. Midge ruins the painting, upset by the depth of his feeling for Madeline and her own misguided attempt to make light of it, which has distanced them further. Bro, midge, nice try. I mean that's funny. But hey girl, a little weird, a little weird, a little too far.
Speaker 2:You spent a lot of time on that painting for this joke would have been really funny if it was his face.
Speaker 1:Yeah right, this is how you know. They didn't really watch a lot of TV back in the day. She's like I guess I could play a prank on my friend that.
Speaker 2:I like It'll make him love me yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm sure I can spend two to three weeks making this painting for this one little bit. That's obviously not a very good bit. At no point of the hours she spent painting this picture did she go? Maybe too much? No, maybe weird. Maybe I just draw a picture instead. Oh, midge, not a big fan of Midge in this movie, just our character.
Speaker 2:And then, like this is kind of the last scene you see of her, really See her one more time midway through about.
Speaker 1:So see her early. See her one more time midway through about. So Madeline returns to Scotty's house where she tells him an awful dream, with a tower, a bell and a village. She describes the location in detail. Scotty finishes her description. You've been there, he exclaims. Scotty is talking about the San Juan Batista, a mission that has been converted into a museum. They drive to the mission. When they arrive at the mission, they enter a stable where Scotty tries to dismiss the dreams. Logically, he points out certain objects that are real and they kiss. I love it. They kind of go there, they start kissing. He's like oh, you've been here, this is probably just weird memory. See, there's a horse here. You probably have to push it, though.
Speaker 2:See, there have to push it, though. See, there's nothing strange here, but the church itself like, had that really those really vibrant stained? Glass, uh mosaics or windows, yeah, something like that. Yeah, really cool. Um, everything's so red.
Speaker 1:Do you think red well, it's like the entire building's fake right, it's all painting, most of it, yeah, which is so eerie, especially whenever there's like this top down shot coming up oh, we'll get to it in the stairs, yeah, um, so they uh the two kiss. Madeline explains she must do something. She asked if he believes she loves him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she sucks off running and I love it that you can juxtapose this um and the ending of the movie and it's everything completely reversed and it's fun. Um, uh, she asks him if he believes she loves him. He replies yes, and if you lose me then you'll know I loved you and I wanted to go on loving you, she says. She starts to go to the church when scotty realizes she's going to the bell tower. Scotty chases her into the chapel and sees her run up the stairs. He follows her but as he looks down, his vertigo sets in and get the little zoom, the little dolly zoom. He cannot follow her up to the top of the bell tower. He like stops at one point. I love how eerie the bell tower is. Because it's not real, right, because there's, there's shots on the exterior, right, it just feels slightly off. It's like almost perfectly painted to where it could look real. But you can just feel that it's like the little tower parts added on through painting or something or computer graphics.
Speaker 2:I guess I didn't really. It did look off, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I paused it.
Speaker 3:I was like I need a fucking real tower in there.
Speaker 1:I need a real tower. I need a real tower. And this makes it feel weird. And also I think Jimmy Stewart is so good in this scene running up the stairs. Yeah, it's like I just love the juxtaposition of later in the movie where he's like more confident and mean going up and this he's like more scared and worried so he can't do it. But whenever you give him like a vindictive, like feeling he's able to go up because they go to the court.
Speaker 2:What did they have like a court trial?
Speaker 1:or something. Yeah, a judicial hearing or something like that he.
Speaker 2:They're talking about how shitty it was because he couldn't save her life yeah, oh, just give me one second. I got a lot of things to say about that scene, but no, but like whenever he's going upstairs and then he sees her whenever she she falls out of the top of the tower. I cracked up laughing, yeah, really, because I was like it was just so. It was at the same time so fast.
Speaker 1:It was horrifying and also kind of funny the way she fell I don't know the way, because the way they like fall is like like their arms are all spread out and it's like I don't know.
Speaker 2:I don't know how you're supposed to fall, but it does look silly yeah, but I guess, if you think about, like if she was thrown on an already limp, you know, I guess, yeah, makes sense.
Speaker 1:yeah, and she's like already dead at that point. Um, so yeah, he sees madeline's body, plunges to the tiles below before hearing a scream. Or hears a scream, then that happens scotty staggers out of the mission. Uh, the sun's blinding his eyes, he's dumbfounded and he runs from the scene of the crime. I just think it's a great stressful scene.
Speaker 2:It's very chaotic feeling, yeah, especially with like the zooms and stuff and looking down, I thought there would be more falling down in this movie, like John, just falling because that's vertigo is more of like your balance, yeah, and you, yeah, and you just fall on your fucking face, yeah. When acrophobia is more like the fear of heights, yeah, I just thought there would be more falling yeah, it's funny.
Speaker 1:I was just totally expecting you to fall down the stairs. You don't really get a lot of vertigo in this movie, except for like two times. That was it the whole time. It's just two spots of vertigo how funny would it be yeah, it's like Blues Brothers, when the car, the cop's car, crashed, but in this case it's just him falling down every single stair. But I think the movie Vertigo isn't about the title, is not about him having vertigo, I think it's just him falling for this woman yeah and this paranoia yeah and then also kind of her vertigo for doing the same thing to him in the second half.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So then we cut to at a we're at a judicial hearing concerning madeline's death. The judge is particularly cruel to scotty. He insults him for letting his weakness get in the way of saving madeline. The court rules the incident a suicide. Gavin comforts scotty while telling him that with the loss of his wife, he can no longer stay in San Francisco, and Gavin sets off for Europe. All right, all right, let's talk about this, I'm free. So the judge also said hey, gavin, look, we completely understand why he made all these decisions and he's completely not responsible for this. Question one what is this hearing? Why is it in this tiny ass building? What are we doing here? This doesn't seem like a real court type situation. These guys just the jury, just like talks for five seconds, okay yeah, yeah, it's a suicide okay, like there's no evidence like we got a dead
Speaker 1:woman. Um. So my other one is how is the husband not looked down on in this situation? He knew John wouldn't be able to protect her if she ran up to a high place. And the fact she is suicidal. You'd want someone who can run quickly up a high place without an issue. I don't know, unless she, you know, jumps to her death because she's suicidal. Maybe he isn't in the right here and maybe, yeah, well, I mean, I get that. It's like oh, back in the 1950s you put a woman in a mental hospital. They're gonna, just they're gonna drill a hole.
Speaker 1:Drill a hole and start tapping on that brain um, so yeah, like I get not wanting to send her to the mental hospital, but hey, maybe you should follow her a little bit, dude. Maybe it is his fault. It's like, hey, let's not get a guy with vertigo to chase your places, right, put her in handcuffs like we do, yeah. But also I will say I think the guy playing the judge is fantastic. I love the way he's talking, the way he looks, how snarky and snooty he is, I was like, ooh, I fucking hate this guy.
Speaker 1:He's playing this perfectly. Just a little bit where I was like we're just going to wave off this husband. This seems like a weird plot point here. I don't think this guy should get off easily.
Speaker 2:He couldn't have done anything wrong here. He's a man, right.
Speaker 1:So then, yeah, we cut to Scotty. He goes to visit Madeline's grave, so Scotty has trouble sleeping. Oh, I love this part. So he's like sleeping he's like, and then, all of a sudden, blue and purple flashes, signaling his nightmare, as an animated bouquet unravels in front of him. He dreams of seeing Carlotta Valdez at a hearing. We spent at the hearing that he was at and then, like you got his face like almost kind of going down.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's like all the colors are flashing. It's so cool, it was cool.
Speaker 1:And then with in like, when he sees Carlotta Valdez at the hearing, it's with special emphasis on the Ruby necklace. It's with special emphasis on the ruby necklace, of course. Scotty walks into the cemetery where there is an open grave. Scotty falls into the grave. Then his body lands next to Madeline on the tiles of the mission. He wakes up in a cold sweat and he's so and he's crazy.
Speaker 2:Now, yeah, he's gonna have trouble doing things.
Speaker 1:Um, and this is where we last see Midge. Midge arrives to care for Scotty in a psychiatric ward. She tries to confront him. She says mother's here and it's like this is a weird relationship with these two people. Scotty will not. But I mean, I get it because he's saying he said earlier she's being too motherly. Scotty will not speak, he's in a daze. The doctor believes that Scotty will not speak. He is in a daze.
Speaker 2:The doctor believes that Scotty will be incapacitated for a year due to stress? Yeah, six months to a year, yeah, and they're just doing musical therapy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's just because of his stress and anxiety, from his depression and guilt it would come so far. Yeah, several months later, upon his eventual release from the hospital.
Speaker 2:He's not drinking and smoking anymore.
Speaker 1:Something's definitely wrong. Get this man a whiskey, He'll fix everything. Scotty remains in the grip of an obsession. He visits the old Elster home and spots the green car In the distance. A woman in a gray suit is getting in it, Fortunately from him. It is not Madeline. It's an older neighbor who bought the car from Gavin. I have to ask, did Gavin be like all right, I'm going to pay these other women that will look very similar to her, constantly walking around, or is it just like? Hey, this is the style at the time.
Speaker 2:I think maybe that, but also it's his extreme paranoia.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It's kind of like the best of them Sometimes it's like it feels like this the best of them. Sometimes it's like it feels like this is kind of. At first it feels like maybe this is unreliable and he's just kind of like seeing these people look like this, but they're not actually dressed like this.
Speaker 2:I wonder if this is the because you see it in movies now, where, like, they'll look at a person's face and they look it's the exact same person, yeah, even if it's a woman. Like they have a mustache, it's like no, that's gotta be her.
Speaker 1:Looks like her so. And then he goes to Ernie's. He spots a woman in green evening dress, but again it's not Madeline. He even sees Madeline at the place of legions, but once again it is not her.
Speaker 2:All these blonde women keep going to the same places. What's up with all?
Speaker 1:these blonde women? Who are these people? So, while looking at it, man, oh my God, I'm so glad I got to say that naturally in the podcast, that's so perfect.
Speaker 1:I do that to my wife all the time. Who are these people? I need to do that more. So while looking at a bouquet at a flower shop he sees a striking brunette in a green dress who resembles Madeline. He follows her to a hotel empire and sees her through the fifth floor window. So then Scotty goes up there and knocks on the door. The woman is concerned that he's a creep. He reassures her. He just wants to talk. She keeps refusing. He says she reminds him of someone.
Speaker 2:Oh good, they just come on in. Yeah Right, I want to go out.
Speaker 1:She says she's heard that one before, but still lets her in anyways, and right now we're always like. We're obviously like oh, it's the same woman, right?
Speaker 2:unless it's good. I didn't really, I didn't think yet, not until she has the flashback I said I the first time I watched it.
Speaker 1:I do remember being like, well, this is obviously the same woman. But I was kind of on the edge where I'm like is this going to be like a weird thing where she's not actually her, is it going to be?
Speaker 2:well, yeah, because I thought he was just he's just following his paranoia around and I just thought that this was just more of that. Yeah, no, I didn't think so gotcha first so he goes in.
Speaker 1:He interrogates her rather aggressively and she shows some proof, proof that she is judy barton from selena kansas. Judy realizes that scotty's heart is broken for his former flame and she takes pity on him. She agrees to go to dinner for him later at ernie's. So and then this is where we get. After scotty leaves, we get flashbacks. Reveals judy's memory. She was madeline running up the steps of the bell tower. At the top, gavin elster was there holding the body of the real madeline elster dressed in exactly the same outfit as judy. It was the real madeline's body that was thrown off the bell tower with Judy letting out the scream. So couple things, do you like? The reveal at the time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean I didn't see anything wrong with it it still makes the movie stressful, because now we have more information than what the people said From this point on.
Speaker 2:I'm just wondering why she keeps going along with it, Because she loves him.
Speaker 1:It's love.
Speaker 2:No, it's not.
Speaker 1:Damn it. I was out, but then I fell in love. Okay, so all right, would you rather have it the movie the way it is, or because it kind of goes with what you were saying earlier, how you're like oh, I didn't really know if it was supposed to be her or not, or would you like it better if it was? She was not Madeline, she didn't play Madeline at all, and it's just like this random girl and it's kind of she's stuck in this demented man's like male gaze and just like can't get away from him. I don't think that would have worked. It wouldn't have worked because it's like why the hell are you going to go to dinner with?
Speaker 2:him. That would have just made me more confused. Yeah, and you know, if you confuse a man, he will kill you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true. I thought it'd be kind of cool if it just turned into almost like this man keeps following her everywhere.
Speaker 1:I'm just a beautiful young woman in San Francisco. There's no way I could find a normal man, right? So yeah, so, Judy, she even keeps. We see that she even keeps the gray suit she wore as Madeline Elster hidden in the back of her closet. Bad move she begins to write a letter to Scotty explaining that she was Gavin's accomplice in the murder of his wife. She had pretended to be Madeline to fool Scotty and use him as a witness to the lend credence to the idea that Madeline was mentally unstable. Gavin had known about his vertigo and knew that Scotty would never make it to the top of the bell tower. Judy reconsiders this letter and tears it up, deciding she wants to be with Scotty rather than run away.
Speaker 2:Do you think she knew that he was going to murder his wife?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think she knew the whole plan. Knew that he was going to murder his wife? Yeah, I think she knew the whole plan.
Speaker 2:I think she was in on it. From the start I thought maybe she was just an actress that was getting paid to be another person for a while.
Speaker 1:No, I think she was in on the whole thing, okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because she said she did get a little bit of money and she kept the necklace, which was probably worth quite a bit A lot. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So that night, scotty mistakes another patron for madeline at ernie's. He escorts judy home. Her apartment flooded with green neon light of the hotel sign. He's overwhelmed by his yearning for madeline. A woman lost him, although judy. He is able to capture the ghost of madeline's present. They agree to meet the next morning to go out, with judy having to make some excuse for her employer, though that was funny.
Speaker 2:It's like she's like when I I got work, he's like well, don't go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, don't go. Hey lady, this is in the 1950s, you don't have to work if you're with me. Even though I don't have a job at the moment, I guess they must have gotten a really big payout. Yeah, I'd assume he did. Getting hurt on the job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know how 1950s policemen were treated, I'd assume, probably not Well. They're still not even probably better than they are now. Because I feel like, yeah, that's actually probably true. I love that Like every time it's like the more I learned about like cops, that like all their pension is about overtime, yeah, and it's just like what a fucking shitty system. You have to work overtime so you can retire later, and it's like we got to figure this country. What a fucking shitty system.
Speaker 2:It's like you have to work overtime so you can retire later, and it's like we, we we gotta figure this country's gotta figure out a better way to put you in the line of danger more to retire.
Speaker 1:It's like you figure. You just like reward them for having a dangerous job, right, not, hey? You have to be at a dangerous job, 24 to retire. They deserve it. So, um, but what I love about this? Ah, the green neon light the background she walks into it and it's just profile of her.
Speaker 2:Ah, fantastic this is like the lime in actual lime light. Yeah, right, uh so good.
Speaker 1:Um, so they engage in a series of dates they all. I guess they're supposed to be going well, but they look bored as shit With Scotty becoming happier with their relationship.
Speaker 1:She's just not dead enough. Yeah, I need her to be cold. However, little by little he begins to make Judy over in the image of Madeline, much to Judy's dismay. So creepy he searches obsessively for a gray suit, white gloves that Madeline used to wear and even convinces Judy to bleach her hair. Although Judy begs him to love her for herself, she is so in love with Scotty that she allows him to change her into Madeline.
Speaker 2:That was really funny when he went to tell her about the hair he's like you can't care about this, it couldn't matter to you.
Speaker 1:It's like, bro, and honestly, with that line I was like I think I know what Alfred Hitchcock is trying to make a point about, like what I'll tell you at the end. Okay, so, after undergoing an extensive makeover, judy returns to anxiously awaiting Scotty, hating Scotty. Scotty won't break the slightest deviation from his recreation of Madeline and insists that Judy pin her hair now platinum blonde, exactly the way Madeline wanted hers, which she does, completing the transformation, and in a dreamlike state, with the green glow all around them, they embrace and kiss. The room turns into the stable from the mission. Scotty's last kiss with Madeline and then back from the mission. Yeah, scotty's last kiss with Madeline and then back to the apartment.
Speaker 1:Scotty has finally managed to turn back time and resurrect Madeline from the dead. Holy shit, this scene goes baby, that was cool as hell. The green glow, the ghostly figure, like the way it makes her look like a ghost. And then they kiss and then it's like, oh, this is great, he got what he wanted. Oh, this is a great, he got the way he wanted. And then the fucking stable behind and it's spinning and I was like cinema. Oh dude, what a great masterpiece of a little movie here I know it's really great.
Speaker 2:I didn't know that that was the stable.
Speaker 1:That was just because it's all like super dark. Yeah, I mean you see a saddle and like, yeah, yeah, the leather saddle ah, but god, it was really cool, man.
Speaker 1:It transports you away from back in time, I guess I wish I felt like this when I first watched it for school. God, I would have loved to been a part of the discussion more in the room, but I was just trying to be like this is the greatest movie ever I know it sucks when they hype it up so much and I think that's what the problem would be with.
Speaker 2:I know it sucks when they hype it up so much. And I think that's what the problem would be with Citizen Kane.
Speaker 1:Well, citizen Kane is not nearly as entertaining as this movie. No, I don't think so either. It's just because it's so old and the way the acting is, it's so Everyone's so old it's so much more like a play If you're not into plays, it's hard to watch the movies.
Speaker 2:Look at her if you're not into plays. It's hard to watch the movies.
Speaker 1:Now it's a couple nights later. The two decide to go out to Ernie's, cause she loves Ernie's. Now Judy dresses up and puts on the same ruby pendant depicted in the portrait of Carlotta. Scotty realizes that something is amiss. He suddenly becomes distant. He suggests that they not go to Ernie's and goes south down to the coast and continues driving past the redwood forest.
Speaker 2:She's like yeah well, she's like I'm hungry now and he's like let's drive out to the middle what if no one could hear you scream where?
Speaker 1:I take you, let's go somewhere quiet.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, she's like where are we going? Oh, you're not terribly hungry, are you? Yeah, it's like no, I feel like I've pretty.
Speaker 1:you're not terribly hungry, are you? Yeah, it's like, no, it's okay. I feel like I've pretty much said how much I really wanted a steak a little earlier in the movie. But I guess, if you don't want to pay me to get a steak, we maybe stop at Taco Bell or something, I don't know. Oh man. So he tells her he has one final thing to do. Judy is torn between her love for Scotty and the fear and the guilt she feels for having colluded with Gavin Elster. They arrive at the mission where Scotty forces Judy to reenact Madeline's last moments, their final kiss and Madeline's parting words. He relentlessly pushes Judy up the stairs of the mission tower, discovering the process that his vertigo is not as limiting as it was. He reveals to Judy that her putting on the necklace that belonged to Carlotta is what gave her away.
Speaker 1:so the pushing up the stairs scene stressed me out I was kind of hoping she would push him down the stairs, yeah, but like how she just decides to be completely defenseless because you know now she's like really in love with him, and like how it just was like, oh yeah, this is what 1950s was like for men and women.
Speaker 1:He's kind of forced her up there and then but she's kind of going along with it at the same time, even though she's like he's gonna kill me, At least that's what I thought it felt so real and visceral, I was like damn, this is a domestic dispute, we're watching here, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then he's literally dragging her up the stairs.
Speaker 1:I know it's just like it feels scary.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yes, it feels scary and real.
Speaker 1:So as he reaches the top of the bell tower he puts the whole puzzle together. He finally realizes that Judy was the counterfeit all along. He never knew the real Madeline Elster. He's being set up as Gavin Elster's witness in the murder of Elster's wife. He pulls Judy to the top of the tower where she protests. He pleads that she has fallen in love with Scotty and they kiss. Then the sudden appearance of a woman in the shadows. That was truly horrifying for a second.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was great, it was really good.
Speaker 1:But however it startles Judy, who steps backwards and plummets to her death off the ledge, a nun steps into the light and in the final shot, as the nun tolls the death bell, a devastated Scotty stands frozen in despair. Although Scotty has been cured of his vertigo, he has now lost the same woman twice. Damn and damn, and now forever. I have a fucking hair in the back of my damn throat and I cannot get it out as it. We're coming to the conclusion of the movie, which I love I thought he was gonna jump out after for a second.
Speaker 2:That would have been fun. You know in the book that this movie was based on. He strangles her though interesting although I like this better I do. I do too, because the whole scary nun thing God.
Speaker 1:And you notice her voice is the same voice as Madeline. The way that Judy talks is Madeline. No, I didn't notice that she uses two different accents. It's more prim and proper as Madeline. She has more of a north northwest type accent for Judy. And then whenever you hear the nun talk, it sounds exactly like madeline, which is fun.
Speaker 2:I didn't notice that. That's cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she's like I'll be your wife jesus christ, dude, this hair is making my eyes water, my nose run. Color is it? I don't know, it's definitely snakes, probably, probably just hair floating all over this room. But I love you, bud, all right. Well, that's the end of vertigo.
Speaker 2:Uh, I like where the movie's going now, where jesse has a hair in his throat yeah, where gracie dies at the end of the podcast.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening and you'll never hear us again. Oh, it's finally gone thank god. So, jason, what do you think the movie is about?
Speaker 2:I. So it seems like to me it's about obsession and I don't know. It's very confusing because it's not really a lot of plot yeah, it's just a man following a woman.
Speaker 1:A man following a woman where the first half is and the second half is a man finding the woman and making her a different woman, which is great. So, because I thought the same thing is about I think it's the movie's about uh, it's showing how destructive and obsessive men can be. Yeah, definitely, um, like, and I think it's a lot about like, the male gaze and how interesting, especially back in the day, they depict. You know how they looked at women, like, if you think about it. So the old man in the bookshop is talking about how Carlotta was thrown away by the person she was, the man she was sleeping with, and he used these, these words.
Speaker 1:It's like back then the man had the power and the freedom to do that, to just throw a woman away, yeah, and then you go back to the clothes shop lady, obviously ignoring Judy's like pleas to stop trying to find these things and stop dressing her the way he wants, and she's just like, oh, the man knows what he wants.
Speaker 2:Shut up, bitch Shut up bitch, yeah.
Speaker 1:And like his obsession with Madeline overpowered his care for Judy, the person, the real person that he could have easily, just probably just fallen in love with.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but because you never fell in love with the wife. She was already. She was gone. She's already gone.
Speaker 1:Even there, yeah, you're, even though she was acting different. You're falling in love with this person. Still, judy, yeah, but yeah, that's what I kind of think it's about. It's just about how the man is obsessed. It becomes very scary for a woman, yeah. But Also, you know, and then even just the way that Gavin was, like he literally just wanted to kill his wife and throw her away and then move off, just like Carlotta, and gain all the money from the business and everything I'm sure that he got from her dying, because I'm sure he inherited all of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because he said he married into it so that was her business and now it's his business, her family's business, yeah, and I assume he probably got everything.
Speaker 1:I would assume he got a lot of money from it at least. Yeah, yeah, went to Europe. So Judy should have done Yep, exactly, she stayed in the same city, not, smart lady. But yeah, that's kind of what I think the point of the movie is. Oh, yeah, man, yeah, I love that. We added, like what's the point? The podcast. It's kind of my favorite part of the podcast now, nice, kind of like study the movie to see, like what are they talking about? And I feel like this is the first Like it has like a very solid point versus the other one. They're kind of rom-com.
Speaker 1:So it's like it's about falling in love, right, all right. Well, there's that. So now we're going to go to our next category the good, the bad, the ugly, the fine. It's where we discuss the good of the film Something we liked. The bad, something we didn't like. The ugly, something that didn't age. So my good is, obviously. I think the direction and the way this movie is put together is fantastic, and the two leads crush, even though it's weird that there's an age difference and they're trying to pretend that James Stewart's supposed to be, I don't know, in his 20s or something or like 30s.
Speaker 2:He's supposed to be the same age as Midge.
Speaker 1:They went to college together, I guess yes, and she looks way younger than him. She aged much better, which this was the last time James Stewart worked with Alfred Hitchcock, so I guess the movie didn't make too much money and he kind of blamed it on the fact that probably people couldn't believe that James Stewart was supposed to be the same age as everybody else. And like the romantic.
Speaker 2:I don't know. I guess that makes sense. I didn't really see that they were trying to make him look her age, because he just didn't look at all like yeah, I mean he looked even close, he looked like he should be retiring from the, but he also didn't look that old.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he looked like 40s, right? Yeah, I think so, but I think he was supposed to be like late 20s, early 30s. Maybe I don't know. Just because, like he went to college with Midge and Midge looks like she just got out of college. Yeah, she looks way better. Yeah, what do you got for the good?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I really loved the direction and the sets and the vibrant colors. Yeah, and like just like the look, the locations too. Yeah, locations too yeah, like that big giant gazebo thing. You know that they were walking by on one of their dates. Yeah, I've seen that before, not in real life, but like. Wasn't that like a cult hangout place? Was it built by a cult in the 70s, I have no idea, like a love show or some shit?
Speaker 1:I vaguely only remember seeing it in the film. I don't remember much about it, but I really want to go to these places. You, you know what's interesting? One of the one of the like the only location shoots was actually at the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh nice, Everything else is like set. Oh well, Isn't that crazy, I mean. Yeah, I mean you can kind of tell.
Speaker 2:But he went to the places and got what the sets like and then just made them somewhere yeah, but I feel like they really did a good job of making like the sequoias looking dude it looks terrifying.
Speaker 1:They look scary. It looked off.
Speaker 1:That whole scene is off it is everything that's kind of magical and ghosty and that's I don't know that's what I loved about him saying like he wanted sets that looked real, but like he didn't want to film on locations like. So it makes it more eerie and it like that's how you know you got a good filmmaker, because he thought that and he fucking did it. That's great. So the bad, my bad is Midge's character sucks. Yeah, she does. She does kind of suck. She's there so that Jimmy Stewart can just dump exposition and you can learn about just his backstory, his vertigo.
Speaker 2:He's just there to explain things. Essentially, there's no reason for her to be there. Yeah, she's. It doesn't seem like any pointless character if they would have made it more like they're just buddies that live and work together, but he doesn't have a job and he just hangs out with her while she paints.
Speaker 1:I don't yeah, and it's just like in drinks, I guess I guess we just needed her there, so that we know that Jimmy Stewart likes women.
Speaker 2:There's another woman that likes him, yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't get it. It just doesn't work. And it's like the only part of the movie where I'm like could we not give her something to do?
Speaker 2:It's like she's there for exposition.
Speaker 1:And then she's there so that Jimmy Stewart can find information from someone else. And then we see her again, just to show us that he's really falling in love with madeline by doing the picture thing. And then we see her again, just so we can have another exposition dump on why he's feeling insane that's all.
Speaker 2:She was so confused by midge I thought for a while that she was gonna end up being a murderer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it seemed like right. Especially the first time you watch it it's like, oh, she's going to go psycho.
Speaker 2:I feel like, yeah, they could have done more with that, but whatever, that was the bad, I think for me too Cool.
Speaker 1:So what do you got for the ugly? I don't really have much. I don't have much either.
Speaker 2:I mean, the easy thing would be to say like how they treat women, but I think that was intentionally shown. And that's because that's kind of a big part of his transformation into a fucking psychopath.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, for me there's obvious things. Like you know, it's an older movie so it might be too slow for younger audiences now things like you know it's an older movie so it might be too slow for younger audiences now and like maybe there's too much hype for this movie now it being considered one of the best movies ever made by one of the prestige like institute, like bfi, maybe.
Speaker 2:I just I think maybe because I didn't never heard, I never even heard about this movie, really, until you mentioned it like, brought it up for this podcast and then, and that's the fucking point, of the podcast. That's awesome, man but I really, I really did enjoy it. Yeah, I think what aged well for me was, just like the 50s, I guess, yeah, maybe, it's such a rad everything looked great. Just everything was so pristine. Yeah, in the movie the cars are so good looking, the cars, the city everything was so clean.
Speaker 2:The way everybody is constantly dressed up, no matter what they do, even if it's San Francisco and it's got to be hot as hell.
Speaker 1:All right, let's go to the beach. Let's wear as much clothing as possible.
Speaker 2:I like how everyone wears gloves.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Like bring it back, right, I don't want to see a damn fingernail wherever I go. Um, yeah, so, um, I put the fine is that this is considered one of the best movies, uh, films ever made, kind of like citizen kane. But what ages well, is that it feels like a better movie than citizen it does and it just like go yeah, I was constantly thinking of.
Speaker 2:It's a wonderful life because of just yeah, which I didn't really care for that movie.
Speaker 1:I don't really care for a wonderful.
Speaker 2:First time I watched it I was like this is everybody's favorite I know right, I don't get it, but I like him more than this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, way more yeah and I think that's just like the time of like filmmaking. Then, compared to now, this feels a little bit more realistic and it's not like hey, it's just like constantly yelling in the movies. All right, cool, that's our category. All right, we're going to go to Double Feature, which is a movie we recommend to go alongside Vertigo. Hey, I chose the movie directed by David Lynch called Mulholland Drive. It is, without a doubt, got to be inspired by Vertigo. Just if you watch it, you'd understand I need to watch it. It's after a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesic. She and a Hollywood hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality. It's David Lynch, so you know it's going to be a fucking freak fest.
Speaker 2:Did you hear about the guy at work who this kind of happened to? Okay, so his wife said she was having seizures and the husband who works there? She worked there for a little while but she said she couldn't because of the seizures. They went to the doctor no, seizures couldn't find anything wrong with her. He gets home from work one day she claims she had a seizure and she doesn't remember marrying him. Isn't that awesome, whole. They get a divorce, lee. A few months later they go out. They have sex. She's pregnant. Yes, keep it coming life. Wait. So she has a seizure, can't remember.
Speaker 1:They get divorced, but then they try to make it. They like start dating.
Speaker 2:She calls him and asks him out on a date. I guess she remembers again, yeah.
Speaker 1:Wow, holy shit. Yes, that's a movie. Shit happens. This shit really happens.
Speaker 2:Let's make that movie, I'm sorry that's crazy mahalan drive.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I really want to watch it it's great, I own it, I can leave art.
Speaker 2:Mine was, uh, the, so the scene where he's having the nightmare, and it really gave me 2001 space odyssey vibes, just that, all the weirdness and like that one part where it's just like they're going through space and it's just so colors on.
Speaker 1:It's just like why wasn't I born then and did mushrooms in the theater?
Speaker 2:No, I just yeah. There's a lot of the paranoia. Yeah.
Speaker 1:This movie kind of made me feel too, and how, just like the filmmaking makes it feel eerie the entire time.
Speaker 2:yeah, very eerie and it's even got like a lot of really stunning visuals, especially with the, the artificial intelligence thing, the red light, always looking at you yeah, I think the the beginning of that movie with the monkeys. Yeah, I think that might be, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:That might be like some of the best cinema I've ever seen in my life. It looks amazing. Even though the monkeys look creepy, it just all fucking works and it feels bad, the fucking monolith, and it just tells a story so perfectly. And then of course it cuts the bone, cuts into the spaceship, just showing like monkey have tool.
Speaker 1:Monkey made spaceship and it's like it's. It's like one of the best like 10 to 20 minutes in cinema, hell yeah. When I first saw the movie, I was like I get it, and then the rest of the movie happens and it's good, it's also a very slow movie it's a very slow movie, but that that's a movie I do love. It's like it's.
Speaker 2:I've only seen it one time. I didn't watch it again. The Blue Danube playing as you, as they're flying through space, fucking love it. What's the song?
Speaker 1:The Blue Danube, that Daisy.
Speaker 2:Oh, that one. No, I don't know.
Speaker 1:It knows, that's it. That's our discussion on Vertigo baby. Oh, what a good episode I feel like we just recorded, and you know what's going to be a good episode Next week's, because we're discussing our first Christopher Nolan movie. How fun we're doing my favorite Christopher Nolan movie, dunkirk baby. I don't know why it's my favorite, but when I watch it it just makes me feel great, and it's the only Christopher Nolan movie that I don't have a single complaint about. And so I'm like, oh, I guess it's my favorite.
Speaker 2:What other Christopher Nolan movies?
Speaker 1:Interstellar the Dark Knight trilogy.
Speaker 2:Okay, memento, I never paid attention to directors before this podcast. What else did he do? What's wrong with me?
Speaker 1:Oh, he did Oppenheimer. I haven't seen that one either. He won the Academy Award for that one, fuck yeah. But Dunkirk's perfect film. I can't wait to see it. I think it's a masterpiece. It's just like a regular. It's just it's because Christopher Nolan loves like Like outside of the Dark Knight trilogy, like he does shit with time like crazy. He loves messing with time. Right Tenet Time, go front and back At the same time.
Speaker 2:I've tried to watch that movie several times. I've never been able to finish it, for some reason. It's not because I didn't like it. Yeah, that movie is just like no, the bullet's already there.
Speaker 1:It's insane and I absolutely love it. It's insane and I absolutely love it.
Speaker 2:It's probably like my second favorite of this movie.
Speaker 1:Fuck, yeah, man, it's just it does not fully work and it's. The best part of the movie is that it's like dude, I don't know how it's supposed to work, but it doesn't. And I like it Like I don't know how. That's just where you're just watching a really good director do stuff and just like he had a thing in his mind and he put it on screen and it's like I get it. But you guys might the audience not get it. But yeah, dunkirk, it messes with time on how he tells the story. There's not like time travel or anything, but it's the way he puts scenes in certain time that makes it work. It's crazy.
Speaker 1:I can't wait for you to watch it. I can't wait to watch it. So join us next week for Dunkirk. Also, give us some fan mail. I told you earlier in it that where you can go to do that Link in description or at the very bottom there's our email. We recommend mailbag at gmailcom. Leave us some reviews. Baby, we got a few more new listeners, listeners, if you're listening. Hair in the mouth yeah, if you like. When jesse gets a hair in his mouth and for the last 10 minutes of the plot he's dying inside. Uh, give us five stars for that it makes you more relatable.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, I would say follow us on our social medias, but honestly, I hate all the social medias. Uh, x is unusable. Yes, yes, tiktok's, annoying Facebook's, just weird now. And I don't have an Instagram because it won't let me set it up. I don't know why, even though that's the only good social media at this point I feel like. But yeah, anyways, if you do find us on the social medias and you want to follow us, just go to the link tree forward slash. We recommend podcast. Thank you. I'd like to thank Joey Prosser for our intro and outro music. You can follow him on X at Mr Joey Prosser. And this has been the we Recommend Podcast. I'm Jesse, I'm Jason, jason. One person podcasting is just wandering. Two people podcasting are going somewhere. Let's hold hands Bye.
