Cast and Crew:  Bernard Hermann (Score)

What It’s About: Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart) retired from police work after his crippling vertigo resulted in the death of a fellow officer during a rooftop pursuit of a suspect.  An old friend Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) hires Scottie to follow his beautiful, but very strange wife Madeline (Kim Novak), who he believes is suicidally obsessed with her ancestor.  As Scottie follows Madeline, he begins to become obsessed with her…

Why Watch It Today?:  Today is lead James Stewart’s birthday.  Stewart gave many fine performances, most famously as good-natured but passionate every men,  but director Alfred Hitchock often allowed him to play more complicated, troubled characters.  Vertigo is quite possibly the best of these films, and is easily one of the best films that either man every made, a haunting suspense film and study of obsession.

Where to Get It:  iTunes, Netflix(rental), libraries, or Amazon

Here are the wonderful opening credits; most trailers give far too much away about the film.