Flick of The Day: Vertigo

The most recent issue of Sight and Sound detailed the results of the venerated magazines once a decade poll of directors and critics to produce a list of the best films of all time. Orson Welles brilliant Citizen Kane has long enjoyed a position atop the pile so it was a surprise then to see it drop to 2nd in the latest poll and perhaps equally surprising was the film which toppled it. Hitchcock's Vertigo was for many years seen as one of the great directors lesser pictures, being as it was box office flop on its original release in 1958. This was if it was seen at all, Hitchcock had purchased the rights for the film so that they be passed on to his daughter in his will and the film was thus largely unavailable for distribution until a new print was issued in 1996. This served to garner the film a reappraisal as a classic.

Vertigo

Opening with a bravura foot chase sequence across the rooftops of San Francisco, this is a film that oozes modernity and it quickly becomes obvious why it was misunderstood on release. Jimmy Stewart plays a police detective, John "Scottie" Ferguson, who due to his sudden bouts of vertigo can no longer do his job and is forced into retirement. He spends his days verbally jousting with his old friend Midge, played by Barbara Bel Geddes who would go on to fame in the 1980's with TV's Dallas. He is approached by an old friend Gavin Elster who is worried that his wife Madeline has become possessed by the spirit of a deceased relative. Scottie reluctantly agrees to investigate Madeline, played the icy blonde Kim Novak. He follows her around the city in a near wordless montage, captured in gorgeous Technicolour. After saving her from a suicide attempt, he falls in love and gradually becomes obsessed with Madeline's beauty before tragedy strikes. The second half the film then challenges our perceptions about what we thought we saw and of the true nature of the characters involved.

After the failure of the film to shift tickets at the box office, Hitchcock blamed Stewart for being too old to play the interest and they never worked together again despite what had been a rich vein of success up to that point. Whether this was the cause of the film's failure is an arguable point but what can't be argued is that Jimmy is showing his age. Looking all of his 50 years, the age gap with 25 year old Novak is noticeable given the direction of the plot. That said, there is no doubting the quality of Stewart's performance. It is unlike almost anything else in his career and is by the standards of the day, out there. He gradually becomes gripped by the memory of Novak's Madeline and becomes a dangerous wild eyed obsessive. This is not the laconic and verbose Stewart of Rear Window, this is a man on the edge.

In terms of technical prowess, this is equally impressive. Hitchcock pioneered the use of a dolly zoom to create the effect of a perspective shift to the viewers eye. This combined with the hypnotic score of Bernard Herrmann create a film that is at times unsettling, forcing the viewer to be on edge throughout. As regards its depiction of obsession and the dangers therein, there are few films to match it. Stewart's Scottie is a man with a tortured psyche who it becomes clear can not be relied upon.

So then is it the best film of all time? That is a difficult question, it is more compelling then it is enjoyable. It really depends on what you are looking for in determining greatness. I have long believed that it is the technical superiority and ground breaking narrative which have given Citizen Kane such a burnished reputation. For me, it is still the better film. Though neither would rank so high in my rank of favourites.

Flick of The Day: Rear Window

Following on from last week's debut Hitchcock flick of the day, today's is another classic from the master of suspense. Perhaps his best work, Rear Window, is one of those rare films that is as good and as thrilling today as it was upon release. 

Rear Window (Collector's Edition)

A story so breathtakingly simple that it has been redone and ripped off innumerable times since the original, Rear Window is a classic of suspenseful film-making. Starring the ever reliable James Stewart as LB Jeffries, a dashing photojournalist who is layed up with a broken leg in his tiny courtyard apartment. Between visits from his nurse, a wonderful Thelma Ritter and his girlfriend Lisa played by a gorgeous Grace Kelly, he watches his neighbours idly. There is the young couple, the struggling musician, the siren, the depressed spinster and perhaps a murderer. Late one night, Jeffries witnesses what he thinks is the murder of a neighbour by her long suffering husband Thorwald, played by Raymond Burr. Of course he can't be sure, and as an audience we are sceptical but as Jeffries gets drawn into the chase and shares his obsession with the initially sceptical Lisa, the tension begins to mount. A thrilling finale ensues but not before some nail-biting drama.

Stewart and Kelly are perfectly cast as a couple with his world weary cynic Jeffries dove tailing with her young idealism. There is great chemistry between the pair and Grace Kelly never looked more radiant as in this film. The history of cinema is littered with famous beauties, but for my money she is the last word. There is wonderful interplay between the two.

Lisa: I wish I were creative. 

Jeff: You are. You're great at creating difficult situations.

The various characters which populate the courtyard are perfectly drawn and avoid being mere ciphers to advance the plot. Indeed as the film trundles along, they each have their own small story which is tied up neatly at the end. All solid film-making so far then but what sets this apart? As usual it is Hitchcock's ability to gradually raise the tension over the course of the film, sucking the audience in so that when Lisa is in danger and a helpless Jeff looks on from his apartment, we are equally worried. 

It is a very simple camera setup, with the vast majority of the film being seen from the window of Jeff's apartment or indeed in Jeff's apartment. Indeed it is only at the conclusion that we see a shot looking toward his apartment and it is momentarily jarring.In this way, Hitchcock limits what the audience can see to what Jeff sees. The audience becomes the voyeur. Like Jeff, we are immobilised and cannot intervene. It is an interesting study into why people look and perhaps indicates a normal universality to it.

Jeff: She wants me to marry her. 

Stella: That's normal. 

Jeff: I don't want to. 

Stella: That's abnormal.

All in all, a wonderful film that perfectly blends thrilling tension with comic moments. Hitchock displays a lightness of touch not normally seen in modern Hollywood thrillers and this is satisfying even today. Technicolour gives the film that wonderful glow of 1950's modernity and Grace Kelly and James Stewart sparkle in their roles. Ultimately when the ending comes, we want to dive back in and spend more time with Jeff and his girlfriend and the happenings of the small apartment building. A classic.

Flick of The Day: Call Northside 777

Filmed in a pseudo-documentary style by director Henry Hathaway, perhaps better remembered these days as director of two John Wayne's best films True Grit and The Sons of Katie Elder, today's flick of the day is a true crime tale set in 1940's Chicago. The documentary style is used to highlight the true to life tale at its core.

 Call Northside 777 (Fox Film Noir)

In 1932, prohibition era Chicago a policeman is gunned down inside a speakeasy and Frank Wiecek played by Richard Conte is quickly arrested and sentenced to 99 years for the crime. Fast forward 11 years and Wiecek's ageing mother places an ad in a newspaper offering a reward of $5,000 for any information. She is firm in her belief that Frank cannot be guilty. This leads a sceptical editor of the Chicago Times, Brian Kelly played by the always brilliant Lee J. Cobb to assign one of his reporters P.J McNeal to investigate. Jimmy Stewart, perhaps the greatest American actor of his time, shines as McNeal. He imbues the character with the kind of lived in feeling that earned him the nickname The Ordinary Hero.

Of course, as soon as McNeal starts to investigate, the case which had at first seemed so solid begins to slowly unravel. As he chips away at the evidence that sent a cop killer to jail, he comes up against resistance from all corners of the justice system. Everyone is keen for Frank Wiecek to stay where he is. Eventually it comes down to McNeal having to prove that a witness lied in court. In a thrilling finale, an enlarged photograph plays a crucial part, the tension mounting as the photograph is enlarged, reminiscent of The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe.

The use of a documentary style gives the film an air of fact. You feel like you are following an investigation as each step McNeal takes is lay out in front of you. The use of then cutting edge technology also enhances this feeling. There is a lie detector test in which each operation of the machine is described in such a manner by the operator that he is either a very wooden actor or a real life lie detector. The crucial photograph is sent via the telephone, oh what wonders!. Again this is described in great detail. These scenes are enjoyable curiosities but not overly compelling. The real highlights are the performances of Cobb and Stewart. Its an enjoyable yarn, particularly when Stewart goes searching in the Polish slums for a missing witness. His everyman going where we wouldn't. Sure the ending feels a little corny and god bless america-ish but then you have to watch it in the context of which it was produced. The second world war had just ended and people wanted uplifting tales that reaffirmed their belief that all those people that died, did so for a just cause.

Aw, look, Frank, it's a big thing when a sovereign state admits a mistake. But remember this: there aren't many governments in the world that would do it

Overall, this is a fine film, worth seeing if only for another great performance from Jimmy Stewart. The first film shot on location in Chicago, there are some excellent location shots of that fine city. Well worth a look on a quiet day.

Flick of The Day: It's a Wonderful Life

It is you know. What can be said about this film that hasn't been said already? This is the film that invented feel good cinema. Its directed by the masterful Frank Capra and stars the every-man James Stewart playing the every-man George Bailey.

A commercial failure upon its release in 1946, this was the film that marked the end of Frank Capra's long run as the director of choice for populist features. It was only after it became a staple of the Christmas TV schedule that this film came to be seen as the classic that it is to the surprise of all including its director who told the Wall Street Journal in 1984:

"It's the damnedest thing I've ever seen, the film has a life of its own now and I can look at it like I had nothing to do with it. I'm like a parent whose kid grows up to be president. I'm proud"

It is a classic tale of redemption. The film opens on Christmas Eve, George Bailey, a man whom we know nothing about is in trouble, on the brink of suicide. The voice in the sky sends a guardian angel to earth to save George and show him the value of his life, but before he can be dispatched to earth, he needs to know George. So unfolds the life story of George and how he came to his moment of doubt and pain upon a wintry Christmas Eve. 

James Stewart inhabits the role of George so completely, giving his downfall such pathos that you cannot but be moved by his tale. At all the key moments in George's life which we witness during the film, be it saving his brother from a frozen lake, or staying at home to run the family business after his fathers death, George does the right thing. He does the moral thing and selflessly gives up his own dreams and aspirations to do the right thing. A man who wanted to travel the world in the search for adventure, he spends his whole life in the same small town. You would be a hard person not to feel sympathy for him. It is something which we all struggle with, squaring the needs of friends and family with your own personal ambition, perhaps the most difficult of tasks.

Of course, being the good son or daughter, sometimes it doesn't lead you to where you want to be. It just leaves you unfulfilled. So it is that George finds himself on Christmas Eve on the brink of suicide before he is made to see the happiness he has brought to other people and the value of his life in the good he has done.

Most importantly, all of the people who he helped along the road of life are there for him at the end. Maybe that is the greatest gift of all.

Featuring a superb supporting cast including the incomparable Lionel Barrymore as the evil old Mr Potter, George Bailey's arch nemesis, this is one of the finest films of all time. Christmas just wouldn't be the same without it and the ending will put a smile on anyone's face and give you faith in your fellow man. It is often forgotten how dark it gets before the redemption. George bitterly wishing he wasn't born and then being granted that wish. The darkest hour is before the dawn though and the emotional pay-off is worth it.

It is a wonderful life...most of the time.

The Daily Flick will return in the New Year. Have a Merry Christmas!