How did Gavin know exactly when to be at the mission? How did he get real Madeline up there? Why did Gavin not pay to get the other girl to leave town, instead leaving the opportunity for Scotty to see her? Why would Judy cooperate? Given the modest living circumstances and critical decision to stay in town, it doesn't seem like she was paid enough to agree to be an accessory to murder. This whole plot is so absurd that it really makes me wonder why this movie has jumped so high in critical estimation recently. I find it too hard to watch.

@@flarrfan I totally agree with you. Including this plot could have happened as per getting Scotty to think Madeline is suicidal and then push the real one off a cliff or some other simple but apparently self-induced method which would also mess up her face to disguise her identity. But then Hitchcock couldn't use his fancy new camera. But this is also a problem of many a murder-mystery. Agatha Christie is full of these highly choreographically plots where the slightest mishap would leave the murderer holding the bag. I complain about them too - although no one listens to me -then I sit back and watch the movie by blotting out the bits of disbelief (which as seems to happen here for you for this movie, sometimes you can't get past). Not in this movie, but a common accepted trope is the "stairways of death" where the evil doer can reliably plan on pushing someone down a flight of stairs to their ultimate demise. Or the knock on the noggin which so easily renders someone unconscious (skulls are hard). Or the murderer who first makes the police- and the readers - think he or she is guilty, then gets out of it, particularly in a legal "double-jeopardly" manner, only to be revealed in the end to be guilty.

@@flarrfan The Best Thing About This Film Is .... Bernard Herrmann's Score!

A wealthy woman like Madeleine Elster wouldn't have a job. And, in general, women didn't work outside of the home as much then as they do now.

@@jamesalexander5623 I think Hitchcock misses occasionally and gives us a pretty good but not great film, but Hermann never misses.

Agreed. Loads of classics. Long may it continue.

True, watching any movie requires a suspension of disbelief. Some movie flaws/plot holes might be too over the top to ignore, and it also depends on the viewer. Personally, I feel that Vertigo's "possession" is still believable, so I didn't have a problem with that.

Of course, I'll be watching them in the future! 😉

Earlier Hitchcock to me is at least the 30s. And it's nice to see Hitchcock outside of Hollywood. Rebecca is good, though the ending (no spoilers) doesn't fit the style for me.

Glad you enjoyed the reaction! 😊 I'm not surprised Vertigo is one of your top five 👍 Indeed, that is a scene to remember~

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it 😊 Welcome aboard 🤗

Cool, I might add that movie to my list~ 😉

​@@henryellowPLEASE react to Bell, Book and Candle! 🔔 📖🕯

I was glad to see the two of them together in a happier movie.

@@henryellow Another witch movie to check out is _I Married a Witch_ with Veronica Lake. These two movies probably inspired the television series, _Bewitched._

Yes, I remember being really creeped out by it as a kid too.

That scene can be scary for kids, especially with the music. Not to mention it's probably the first time CGI was used in a film.

Scottie's obsession wasn't a prerequisite for the murder plot, as far-fetched as it was, to succeed. All Gavin needed was Scottie to: 1. Hear the stories about Madeleine's family past 2. Follow Madeleine to the correct places 3. Become interested enough in the case that he felt compelled to help Madeleine 4. Take Madeleine to the mission the second time she turned up at his door

⁠@@maximillianford9301Hitchcock himself said that the major flaw of the plot bothered him. That Gavin Elster could not be absolutely sure that Scottie would not make it to the top of the bell tower and thus see him and Judy

Coming soon~ 😊

Well put, though Rear Window is certainly a great movie as well.

Indeed, it deals with obsession, as with Psycho. Now that you point it out, the movie indeed starts with someone falling to death, and ends the same way. In the end, I believe the emotionally shocking incident cured his acrophobia. An alternate ending? 🤔 Is it like a director's cut by Hitchcock?

@@henryellow No, the extended ending was simply to placate censors. It showed Scottie and Midge together hearing a radio report of Gavin Elster getting arrested. Censors wanted it made absolutely clear that he didn't get away with the crime.

@@joebloggs396 Ah, I see. Thanks for sharing that.

Well, he convinced me for a moment that it might be a supernatural movie 😂

Another great parallel that many miss the first time is the dialogue about Elster and Carlotta’s husband. When Scotty first goes to Elster’s office, Gavin says he wished he could have lived in the days of Old San Francisco, when men had “power and freedom.” Then Pop Liebel tells Scotty the story of Carlotta and how her husband “threw her away.” Adding, “he had the power and the freedom” to do that. Then Gavin literally throws his wife away... off the bell tower. Gavin tells us in his very first scene what he is going to do, but we don’t have all the information yet to make full sense of it. Brilliant writing.

@@johnmoreland6089 great points. Even tormented Scottie realizes it to an extent when he says to Judy on the bell tower stairs, "Gavin with all that power and all that freedom..."

@robertjewell9727 which cue by Bernard Herrmann are you referring to? @johnmoreland6089 Great observation on that "power and freedom" parallel. I didn't even notice at all.

​@@henryellow if you go about the 41:10 mark on this complete score recording (I couldn't isolate the bars themselves) bit it's a rising and falling series of notes that imitates precisely Scottie earlier saying while standing on a stepladder "I look up. I look down. I look up. I look down." This occurs just after he's left now Judy's apartment and we realize who she really is.

@@robertjewell9727 Oh, it was only for a short moment after Judy's "memory reveal". It's so subtle, can't believe you caught it 👍

I highly doubt that's a Chinese saying 😂 He sure knows how to rub salt into people's wounds. I wasn't clear on whether Judy was aware that Gavin planned to kill his wife. What John said at the top of the tower was never confirmed by Judy.

@@henryellow Some of her part in the plot was contained in that letter she started writing to John when he first found her and followed her up to her hotel room when she was back to Judy.

I do have Identity (2003) in my list, haven't watched it yet though. Thanks for your suggestion 😉

@@henryellow Just make sure you don't spoil the plot before you watch it by reading any promo bumf. 😉

Thanks for the fun fact~ Cool that you met one of the cast, though not the likable character in the movie 😂

@@henryellow Henry Jones also has supporting roles in _The Bad Seed_ and _Deathtrap,_ which I think you'd enjoy. (On a side note, _Sleuth,_ which features one of the stars of _Deathtrap_ and one of _Rebecca,_ is also worth a look. No Henry Jones there.) Henry Jones was a very good character actor.

And???????

Alas, he left before I had a chance to engage him in conversation.

How did I miss this comment before? I'll add those 3 movies you suggested, thanks! 😊

Sure, I'll check out David Lynch. Thanks for your suggestion! 😊

I'll add it to my list. Thanks for suggesting! 😊

@@henryellow William of Baskerville is the friar. The author was a Sherlockian.

Scotty's obsession makes him very creepy. I think Hitch could have been more successful with more subtlety.

Yes, his grief and trauma transforms into an unhealthy obsession. Perhaps it is also a message about staying in a toxic relationship where the person changes their partner to their liking, instead of actually loving the partner as they are.

@@henryellow But is this a story about what happens with an unhealthy obsession, or is Hitchcock using this in order to take his story to where he wants it for the story itself? (Of course, either way, one can derive some insight.)

@@henryellow That's why he cast Stewart, someone whose side the audience instinctively takes--because the character is not that nice, really.

Before a movie, I'll glance at the basic info. I might check out what type of movie it is, the cast, if it's based on any novels, etc. It depends on the movie, really.