San Francisco is still dizzy over 'Vertigo' after 50 years
SAN FRANCISCO -- When Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo premiered here 50 years ago, audiences and critics were unimpressed by the tale of a former San Francisco cop who falls for the mysterious blonde her husband hires him to follow.
But five decades later, Hitchcock's off-kilter love letter to the City by the Bay hovers near the top of every "best movies" list. And it continues to spark pilgrimages and tributes, from this weekend's open-air screening in Union Square to the December debut of the movie-themed Hotel Vertigo.
The moody thriller captured "the heart, soul and pace of the city at midcentury," and Hitchcock — born in Englandbut a longtime resident of the Bay Area — "incorporated San Francisco as if it were a leading character in the film," says Aaron Leventhal, co-author of Footsteps in the Fog: Alfred Hitchcock's San Francisco.
The movie stars Jimmy Stewart as Scottie Ferguson, an obsessive detective with a fear of heights, and Kim Novak as both Madeleine Elster, a socialite who believes she is possessed by the spirit of an ancestor, and a Madeleine look-alike, Judy Barton.
But the city's evocative scenery and architecture get top billing, too. The California Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, where Madeleine spent hours idolizing her ancestor's (fake) portrait, held its own Vertigo tribute in July. At Fort Point National Historic Site, where Madeleine plunged into the bay with the Golden Gate Bridge looming above her, "we always get people asking, 'where did she jump?' " says tour guide Ed McDaneld. (Don't try to angle for the same view: Post-9/11 security fences block public access, and the steps leading down to the water were a Hollywood addition.)
Some of Vertigo's featured locations are now demolished or closed, including Ernie's restaurant, a longtime local favorite where Scottie first spotted Madeleine amid the overstuffed booths. But the city's tony Nob Hill neighborhood, where Madeleine's apartment building, the Brocklebank, still sports a signature beige awning, has "maintained its old-world San Francisco feel," notes Leventhal. Across the street at the Mark Hopkins and Fairmont hotels — Hitchcock usually stayed at the latter when he was in town — "you still see men in suits and ties."
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