Vertigo assignment
Director Alfred Hitchcock on his movie: “In the novel on which the movie is based, it’s only at the very end that both Scottie and the reader discover that Madeleine and Judy are one and the same woman. That’s the final surprise twist. In the screenplay, we used a different approach. At the beginning of the second part, when Scottie meets the brunette, the truth about Judy’s identity is disclosed, but only to the viewer. Though Scottie isn’t aware of it yet, the viewers already know that Judy isn’t just a woman who looks like Madeleine, but that she is Madeleine! Everyone around me was against this change; they all felt that the revelation should be saved for the end of the picture.”
Who do you think was right, Hitchcock or everyone around him?
December 3rd, 2007 at 10:35 am
I think that Hitchcock definitely chose the right way to direct his movie. By choosing to reveal Judy’s secret to the audience before Scottie, the audience is kept in suspense because it is anticipating something big. The immediate reaction of the audience is complete shock, but the shock is prolonged because the audience is anticipating Scottie’s reaction. If Hitchcock had chosen to direct his movie the way the book ended, the audience would not be held in suspense. Hitchcock is very successful in letting the audience in on a secret that the actors do not know.
December 3rd, 2007 at 11:52 am
I think everyone else was right–I think the movie would have been much more exciting if Hitchcock waited until the end to reveal Judy’s real identity to both the viewers and to Scottie. Once I learned the truth about Judy, I thought the movie would have ended much sooner than it actually did. Once Judy put on the necklace, it would have been a bigger shock for the audience because we would be trying to solve the mystery along with Scottie. Scottie ends up figuring out Judy’s secret anyway and repeats what the viewer already saw at the top of the towers. I think it would have been more suprising and exciting if we were kept in the dark, and Scottie revealed the mystery to us while he was on top of the tower with Judy, along with flashbacks being played as Scottie told the story. I found that once I knew what was going on, the rest just became slightly boring as I found myself not caring about the rest of Judy and Scottie’s dates. Had I not known about who Judy actually was, I would probably be questioning her identity throughout the rest of the movie until the end.
December 3rd, 2007 at 11:53 am
I agree with Melissa, in that Hitchcock was correct in making that move. It smoothly led into the next scenes. If Hitchcock had followed the book, it would have been so pointless, and there wouldn’t have been suspense. Most film makers strive for suspense, because this is what keeps the audience’s attention, while moving the scenes alone. It also pulls the audience into the movie, knowing this secret. It sort of asks for audience participation indirectly, as each member of the audience are questioning in their minds, or wishing this to happen, or the character to find out or not find out.
December 3rd, 2007 at 12:14 pm
I think everyone else was right. Judy’s flash back to the night when Madeline died seemed rushed and out of place. As a viewer I was bored waiting for Scottie to realize that Judith and Madeline were one and the same. I understand Hitchcock’s attempt at dramatic irony, but I felt that it was poor executed. I think the audience reaction would have been better if everything clicked for them when it clicked for Scottie. As it stands now, the movie plodded on as the audience waited for Scottie to put the dots together.
December 3rd, 2007 at 12:47 pm
I think what Hitchcock did was great. The fact that we knew Madeline was really Judy before Scottie did (i feel) was essential. In this way, we could watch as the rest of the drama unfolded and really understand the feelings and actions of both the characters as we are looking in on them. Scottie lost it by the end, obsessed with constantly changing Judy’s physical appearance to match his memory of Madeline. For me, the fact that the I had the knowledge of Judy’s true identity made me feel sorry for her. She made a mistake by using Scottie as an ulterior motive to a larger scheme, and now she is forced to suffer knowing that Scottie was devasted by this event, and will never be the same man he once was.
December 3rd, 2007 at 1:17 pm
While I really enjoyed the movie, I think that Hitchcock should have waited to reveal Judy’s secret. Knowing that Judy was Madeline (or however you want to explain it) made the relationship between Judy and Scottie less believable and certainly took away sympathy from Judy for her resistance to dressing like Madeline, after all, she made her bed, it’s time for her to lie in it.
However, it’s definitely easy to argue that the revelation came at the right time, because then the viewer’s sympathy is focused solely on Scottie, who at this point is traumatized by the “death” of his love and left entirely in the dark about what really happened, all while trying to bring himself to terms with what happened.
Just as a side note, does anyone but me wonder what happened with the character Midge? She seemed like a major character early on, and seemed like she would have played a more major role in Scottie’s life after the mental institution, but she disappeared completely from the film.
December 3rd, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Jesse, thank you. I was confused about Midge’s disappearance at the end. The last time we see her she is talking to the doctor, but when she walks out you expect her to do something else. I think if Scottie would have talked out the Madeline/Judy thing with Midge it would have been more believable.
December 3rd, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Thanks Jesse for pointing out that it was really hard to sympathize with Judy when Scottie tried to change her entire appearance to look like Madeleine. If Hitchcock had waited until the end to reveal Judy’s identity, I could have sympathized with Judy about how absurd and disturbing Scottie was being…trying to reconstruct his dead lover! Instead, I felt her reluctance to change her appearance was out of place and just plain boring since I already knew she WAS Madeleine.
On a side note, I find that the best movies are ones where the secret is revealed at the end–I’m not sure if all of you have seen any of the SAW movies [revealing the big secret at the end for everyone is a KEY component to each of these movies]..just think how different your opinion of the movie would be if you knew the big secret before the end of the movie. I know my opinion would definitely change!
-Sonam Sani
December 3rd, 2007 at 3:01 pm
I absolutely loved Hitchcock’s decision! It was fascinating to see Scottie grapple with his supposition that Madeleine and Judy are somehow inexplicably related. I have watched Vertigo countless times with my Dad and we never tire of the last scene in which Scottie drags Judy/Madeleine to the top of the bell tower. It’s so sadistic and exacting; indeed, it’s the making of a classic thriller.
On a side note, I never get upset when Madeleine & Judy die. There is no doubt that Vertigo was Kim Novak’s best performance. However, I find Midge to be the more sympathetic character. She has loved Scottie since their college days and my heart just goes out to her. I remember when I was finally old enough to realize and to understand that Vertigo was not only a psychological thriller but a story about romance and even unrequited love.
I was fifteen years old and I was watching the movie on my VCR… Alone. Midge was telling Scottie about her renewed interest in art and she encourages him to look at what she has done. She has painted herself into a replication of the Carlotta Valdes painting. Scottie is shocked and angered and he immediately leaves. James Stewart
December 3rd, 2007 at 3:01 pm
is an absolutely amazing actor and it’s a real treat to watch his facial expressions change at that moment. Midge is devastated and she smears the painting with dashes of black. And she keeps berating herself saying, “Stupid! Stupid!” I cried so much during that scene and I think I actually rewinded the tape so that I could watch it again. Midge is trying so hard to reclaim Scottie’s attention. But she knows she’s losing him. It was definitely one of the most extraordinary cathartic moments I’ve ever experienced.
December 3rd, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Jesse, I just read your post and I have to agree. I miss Midge at the end of the movie.
However, I just think this emphasizes Scottie’s fascination with the unattainable. Judy dies because Scottie is unable to accept her.. He loves Madeleine first and foremost. And yet, she is only an image. The Madeleine that we watch is just Judy’s creation. Do we really know the character of the real Madeleine, Elster’s wife?
Midge is right there… She’s always been available and in terms of women, Scottie is never interested in what’s there…
- Anita Sonawane
Sorry, my earlier post got fragmented into two pieces.
December 3rd, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Although I liked the movie, I think it would have been better if Hitchcock listened to what everyone else was telling him. It would have been much more shocking if the audience found out the truth at the end of the movie. Sometimes it’s better to find out secrets/revelations along with characters. I find that I feel like I’m part of the movie, or get more involved and interested, as I learn things at the same time as the main characters do. I think the best movies are the ones where everything ties together and makes sense in the end. Once I already know something, I get bored waiting for the other characters to figure it out.
-agnes michalik
December 3rd, 2007 at 3:57 pm
I think Hitchcock was wrong in revealing the secret before the end of the movie. I felt, after the revelation, the movie just seemed to drag on into the scenes I anticipated. Of course Judy couldn’t build a stable relationship around such a huge lie, and sooner or later, she would slip and Scottie would find out. If Hitchcock had cut the flashback scene, the necklace around Judy’s throat would have had a huge impact on the audience. The audience would have felt great sympathy for Judy while she was surviving Scottie’s antics of dressing and virtually making her into Madeleine, and an even greater sense of betrayal when the necklace was finally revealed. In the movie, only Scottie is really shocked; the audience just anticipates what he will do about it, not at the shocking scene.
The plot of the thriller was extremely well-written and acted out, but because of the early revelation, I got bored with the scenes afterward and just wanted the movie to wrap itself up.
December 3rd, 2007 at 5:24 pm
I also think that Hitchcock did not make the right decision; while I really enjoyed the movie, I remember thinking even while I was watching it that the revelation should have come at the end. Like Sonam, I also love movies with the twist at the end. If the truth was not revealed to us beforehand, we would have been kept in suspense, all the while wondering about the true identity of Judy. I know I would have felt pity for her, seeing Scottie hopelessly trying to transform her into the dead Madeleine. Plus, discovering the secret along with the main character would have allowed me to connect with him a little more. Instead I was, like a few you already said, a little bored waiting for Scottie to put the pieces together.
I too think it was extremely odd that Midge just disappeared from the movie. And when she left, Scottie was unable to speak. I found myself wishing there was just a bit more information about what happened and how long he was in that state.
-Angelie Thomas
December 3rd, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Yes, the dynamic of closeness and unattainable is clear in Scottie and Midge’s relationship, but what I’m saying is that the contrast drops off when we stop seeing Midge in the movie. Her whole role just disappears and that contrast is lost because Scottie is just shooting for the stars with no ground under his feet, and nearly makes it. Earlier in the movie, Midge is his support system and clearly picks up the pieces of his life when he falls down, but we don’t get a sense of his use of Midge as a therapist throughout his quest to change Judy into the Madeline he knew.
December 3rd, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Thinking back I feel that Hitchcock should have listened to everyone else and revealed the truth to the audience at the same time as Scottie finds out. I think the process of Scottie changing Judy to resemble Madeline would have been deeper and more emotional if the audience did not already know that she was Madeline to begin with. It would have dug into Scotties psychological problems in dealing with Madeline’s death. However, he was right. He was not changing Judy because she was Madeline, he was not crazy or stalking her only because she looked like Madeline but because she truly was. In knowing this, I felt the anticipation and drama was lost for the audience. If the audience did not know that Judy was really Madeline the anticipation would keep building throughout the scenes of Scottie and Judy’s relationship. Also, the audience would be able to understand and sympathize with Scottie as an individual truly disturbed and effected by previous events in his life. All I got out of knowing Judy was Madeline was realizing how crude of a prank she pulled on Scottie and how terrible the whole incident was for him. I was kind of hoping he would not find out the truth by the end of the movie.
As far as Midge, I agree with Anita that it was an essential part of the film and did bring romance and unrequited love into the story. I also found it odd that she was not in the last half hour of the movie and that Scotties stay in the mental hospital was only one scene long. However, Hitchcock did have an extremely long story to continue after that point in the movie so I suppose he could not drag out the scenes too much.
December 3rd, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Both of the choices are arguable in my view. In allowing the audience to know Judy’s secret, Hitchcock has given the audience to know something that the characters such as Scottie do not know. This makes some of the scenes more understandable for the audience and the reasons as to why Judy did not want to dress the way Scottie wanted her to. This gives the audience the upper hand and they can’t wait to find out when Scottie would find out this secret and what his reaction would be. However, with this knowledge the audience knows the ending and can walk out of the theatre or turn off the television after finding out. If the audience finds out with Scottie, then they are able to relate to Scottie’s reactions and emotion. However then the scene with Judy’s reluctance to dress like Madeline does not make sense at all. Its like the audience is also living the movie instead of watching it. There is no right to this because both of the choices have their own advantages and disadvantages.
December 3rd, 2007 at 7:40 pm
I disagree with Sara that if the audience did not know that Judy was Madeline, Judy’s reluctance to dress like Madeline would not make sense. I think it would make more sense. If the audience did not know that she was Madeline they would still understand that she resembles a women that Scottie held a deep attraction too. If I were in the same position I would not want to dress up like another woman in order to keep my boyfriend with me. I think it makes more sense actually because there is no reason for Judy to want to look like somebody else, no girl would unhesitatingly agree to looking like another woman. However, in knowing that Judy was Madeline I found myself confused as to why she resisted the change so much. She understood that he loved Madeline, not Judy, and she also understands how much pain she put him through but most of all she knows and we know that she IS Madeline to him, not Judy.
December 3rd, 2007 at 9:00 pm
I think what Hitchcock did was absolutely right. By revealing Judy’s true identity to the viewers, he had created a certain secret between the audience and Judy which is more exciting because it’s almost like we are able to tell Scottie, “I know something that you don’t.” The audience feels more related to the movie. One shock is over but the audience then impatiently waits for Scottie to figure out Judy’s identity, as Melissa said earlier. How would Scottie find out? What would Scottie do? Will he forgive and forget? Those are all the questions that would be swarming the audience.
If Hitchcock had decided to reveal Judy’s identity at the end of the movie, he would have to spend a considerable part of the movie building up the relationship of the two in order for the audience to be truly shocked. But for a movie, where people don’t want to be bored even for a second, this is not realistic. The audience would just be seeing that some unknown Judy who resembles Madeleine and Scottie are going on dates. Throughout the second part, the audience would have been bored because they would have nothing to look forward to.
Even though I knew that Judy was Madeleine, I still sympathized with her when Scottie forced her to dress like Madeleine because she was forced to face her dreadful past. Also, as others have brought up, I would have loved to see the sweet Midge more in the movie. I would have also liked for Elster to get a punishment he much deserved for killing a woman and having Scottie lead a horrible life.
December 3rd, 2007 at 10:09 pm
I rented a VHS copy of Vertigo, and at the end there was a behind the scenes look at the film. They talked mainly about the restoration of color and sound but also about how it was filmed. They said Alfred Hitchcock wanted the viewer to identify with James Stewart’s character, John Ferguson. They used the example of when “Madeleine” is viewing the painting, and the camera zooms in on the flowers next to her and then the flowers in the painting. Then there is a close-up of her hair followed by a close-up of the hair in the painting.
The viewer notices these resemblances as John notices them. So if Alfred Hitchcock wanted the viewer to see things through John’s eyes, his friends were right. The audience should not have found out about the true identity of Judy until the end.
Giving the audience knowledge that John does not yet possess separates us from him. After Judy’s identity is revealed, the audience is seeing things through her eyes, wondering when or if her secret will be revealed. Judy is trying to win the love of a man who was in love with a character she played. She tries to change, hoping he will grow to love her true self, but he is only in love with a fictional character: Judy’s impersonation of Madeleine.
If Hitchcock had waited til the end of the movie to disclose Judy’s identity, the audience would be confused as to why she cared to be in a relationship with John. After all, he admits to her that he only wants to go on a second date because she reminds him of the woman he loved and lost. Why would she agree to this if she had no idea who he was? The audience needs to know her motives so they can analyze her actions.
December 4th, 2007 at 12:28 am
I do not think it mattered whether Hitchcock should have revealed Madeline’s identity at the end of the movie. I think the real suspense occurred at the end when Madeline ironically dies for real after her “first death” was supposedly fake. It would have been apparent or obvious anyway to the audience that Judy was Madeline since both characters were played by the same actress. The underlying suspense rested in Scottie’s inability to make a clear distinction between Judy and Madeline and in Madeline’s inability to come to terms with herself and the cruel prank she had done to Scottie. As long as the audience knows by the end of the movie that Judy is indeed Madeline, it should not matter when Hitchcock revealed it. Throughout the whole movie, the main focus was Scottie’s vertigo. I was more shocked by the way his problem was cured (through the death of Madeline) than I was with the revelation of Madeline’s identity. I honestly had no sympathy at all for Madeline, considering what she put Scottie through after she supposedly died the first time.
December 4th, 2007 at 12:55 am
I am torn as to whether or not Hitchcock should have waited till the end to reveal to us, with Scottie, that Judy and Madeline are the same person. I don’t know if anyone ever saw the movie The Prestige–it was amazing I highly recommend it–but there was a similar plot twist there which involved one person who was actually two people, and the audience doesn’t find that out until the end, with the other main character (I know that was vague but I don’t want to ruin it for those that want to see it, even though I kind of did already). anyway, when I found out that this one person was really two, I was blown away, and everything started to make sense, and it was brilliant. Knowing that Judy and Madeline were one and the same from the middle of the movie made everything to come make more sense, which is a good thing, but even though it was more suspenseful to see Scottie’s reaction, and also to see how she would tell him, I would have liked to find out with him at the end, and have everything rush and make sense for me at the same time as him. On the other hand, it would be interesting to have read the book and see how it ends there, and then see if I liked the surprise ending better or if I like the direction of the movie better.
December 4th, 2007 at 3:02 am
Had Hitchcock decided against his intuited direction I feel the entirety of ‘Vertigo’ would’ve completely insulted the viewers’ intelligence. Perhaps the decision to save this Madeleine/Judy revelation for the very end of the novel worked because it was exactly that–a novel, entirely textual, sans Kim Novak looking very much like Kim Novak as Madeleine and–shocker–like Kim Novak as Judy. If Hitchcock had neglected to revamp the sequence of events in this regard, I’m afraid he’d have been expecting his audience to completely overlook all glaringly obvious physical similarities between Madeleine and Judy. This would have proved a disastrously distracting impossibility.
December 4th, 2007 at 9:46 am
I have to disagree with Audrey. I think audiences are willing to overlook certain obvious flaws in a film’s production or plot for the overall enjoyment of the film. After all, who better to play someone who is supposed to look exactly like Kim Novak’s character than Kim Novak herself? Sure, we know it’s the same actress, but if Hitchcock left the information that it was the same character, the audience’s shock wouldn’t be affected by what everyone would have initially dismissed as a plot hole, although it does open the way for a few whispered “I told you sos” among the audience members.
December 4th, 2007 at 10:39 am
When Hitchcook is a genius! The movie was directed in a great manner. I liked the fact that I knew what was going on before the main character did. I wanted to see how James Stuart’s character would figure out the twist. I wanted to see if I figured out the twist correctly. Watching this movie was very exciting and I am glad Hitchcock did it that way.
December 4th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
I felt that Hitchcock made the correct decision in revealing Judy’s real identity at that point in the movie. Truthfully, I thought that the whole first hour and a half was a little on the boring side. I mean the movie was a thriller so I accepted the fact that the beginning would be a little dull and sacrificed for a solid ending. But as soon as Judy’s real identity was revealed, that was the turning point for me and I was totally enveloped in the plot. I definetly agree with Melissa all the way back in the first comment that once you knew Judy’s real story, we were now very antsy to find out how Scottie would react in the end. In addition, some of the scenes in the movie just would not have worked if we did not know Judy’s identity. For example: the scene with the grey suit, the scene with the dieing of the hair blonde and finally in the last scene when Judy was hesitant to climb up the stairs. If Judy’s identity was not revealed these scenes would have just been too confusing to the audience and they might have lost interest. Still, had Hitchcock not revealed her identity, he could have changed some of the scenes to either hint to her identity or just spook us out and make it even more confusing.
As for the the pending issue of Midge, it did not really bother me so much. I mean once Scottie made it clear he had no interest in her the plot really moved and led up to the eventual confrontation between Scottie and Judy. At that point I think Midge’s character might have interrupted the flow of the movie, although I do concede that she was her character was a significant one in the overall story.
December 5th, 2007 at 10:16 am
I have to disagree with you’re point that the audience would have been confused at the last tower scene if they didn’t know Judy’s identity. It seems to me that if a man has been trying to change you into his dead lover, and then takes you to a place and tells you thats where she died, you’d be a little more than freaked out, and probably resistant to putting yourself into the same situation she was in.
If i didn’t know Judy was Madeline, I would not have at all wondered why she was extra hesitant to go up the tower with Scottie, just as it would have been natural for her to be resistant to dressing up like Madeline for him. And since we did know who Judy was, it left me wondering why she was resistant at all, she knew about Scottie’s Vertigo and should have safely assumed (just as Elster did) that he couldn’t have made it up the tower anyway.
December 5th, 2007 at 11:19 am
I also have to disagree with Sara’s earlier comment about how Judy’s reluctance to dress like Madeleine wouldn’t have made sense if the audience didn’t know her secret. Like Alyssa, I feel this would have made even more sense! It would pry into Scottie’s disturbed psychological and emotional state and the audience would truly feel for him..he would come off as a total maniac trying to revive his dead lover, and the audience would be able to sympathize with him as well as Judy.
By revealing the secret to the audience earlier, I think Hitchcock took away from the audience’s ability to relate to and sympathize with Scottie’s character. Judy’s reluctance to be dressed as Madeleine didn’t seem sympathetic anymore, I wasn’t even concerned for Scottie’s terrible loss and his disturbed emotional state after losing Madeleine…for me, it was all about Judy trying to cover up her murder plot, and it took away from Scottie’s character.
December 5th, 2007 at 11:53 am
I agree with Jesse. Judy’s overall hesitation in being transformed into Madeleine would have made so much more sense had we not known that she was in fact Madeleine. With the way it was, I was also wondering why she was so against it, knowing that Scottie was in love only with the image she had created. The fault was entirely her own, and her resistance seemed to symbolize her reluctance to accept the blame for the trauma she had caused Scottie. I found I could not sympathize with her.
If Hitchcock had changed some of the scenes to hint that there was more to Judy (through her facial expressions - he seems to be very good at filming that) and not given away the secret so soon, I don’t think the film would have been boring. Reuven said it may have been confusing, but I think it would have really added to the mystery and eeriness of the movie, and have had resulted in an even more dramatic ending.
December 5th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Sonam, I only just read your comment now - it seems we agree! The early revelation disconnected us from both Scottie and Judy. It only became about Judy’s attempt to hide everything. I think your also right in that it took away from Scottie’s character. At the beginning he seemed like a really intelligent detective, but when we found out the truth before he did, we were waiting for so long for him to figure it out. He did not seem so smart anymore, because we were waiting for his detective skills to come into effect and his knowledge to catch up to ours. If we had both found out the secret at the same time, we as an audience would have felt the full effect of Judy/ Madeleine’s betrayal, and total sympathy for Scottie.
December 5th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
After reading everyone’s really valid arguments for both sides, I have become very confused myself as to whether Hitchcock made the right choice or not. But I do have an inclination toward one view while I understanding the other.
Although it makes sense to say that the twist is best to see at the end,
It was definitely fascinating to watch Scottie trying to figure out why Judy and Madeleine looked so similar and it emphasized the complexity and confusion audiences could have been feeling of the murder situation as a whole. Plus, Hitchcock’s way of letting the viewer in on the secret was entirely unique and gave the audience so much more to work with such as the suspense of waiting for Scottie to go about discovering the secret plot and the mystery of how “Judy” would react to Scottie’s psychological trauma for losing Madeleine. This took the plot to an entirely new and elevated level, which to me, was not boring in the least bit.
Thus, I say that Hitchcock’s plot in Vertigo should be left untouched the way it is.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:42 am
It is interesting to read the different opinions; however, I still believe that Hitchcock was successful in his attempt to use dramatic irony (thanks for the word kim..i couldnt remever it). Dramatic irony has been used for my years by directors in order to captivate the audience’s attention, and if Hitchcock had not chosen his unique ending, he would not have had the opportunity to captivate the audience’s attention as he did.
I was sitting next to a man who was definitely a HUGE Hitchcock fan considering that he had some of the lines of the movie memorized, and this man, who had obviously seen the movie before, was even kept at the edge of his chair when Hitchcock used dramatic irony.
-Melissa Kashizadeh
December 9th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
In response to Jesse and Audrey’s conversation about insulting the viewer’s intelligence, I have to bring up one of my favorite movies: the Sixth Sense.
*SPOILER ALERT*
If you do not want to learn the ending of the Sixth Sense, read no further.
In the Sixth Sense, the viwer finds out in the last scene that Bruce Willis is actually dead. He died in the first scene. The filmmaker’s watched the movie and thought, “We have so many clues. How will we ever fool the audiences into believing he is alive?”
Yes, there are certain people who claim they knew he was dead when he was Haley Joel Osment told him in the hospital room, “Some ghosts don’t even know they’re dead. They walk around like normal people.”
But most people bought it, and most people were completely shocked to find out that he had been dead.
So, bringing this back to Vertigo, I think that (had he wanted to) Hitchcock could have fooled audiences into thinking that Judy and Madeleine were different people. Sure there would be a few that would watch it and say, “It’s the same actress. She’s the same person.” But if the film did not emphasize this, then audiences could have been tricked until the last moment. (Personally, I thought they did a great job dressing down Kim Novak for the role of Judy. Her hair and make-up were so different I questioned whether it was the same actress or not.) And even if audiences knew that Judy and Madeleine were played by the same actress, they could have assumed that Hitchcock did this on purpose because he wanted the characters to resemble each other.
December 10th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Wow Abigail, that is a very valid argument. The audience can be persuaded in any direction and be directed into believing whatever the director wants them so. Pointing it out with the movie Sixth Sense does make it more obvious that the audience can be oblivious to certain clues handed to us. I also agree with the point that even if the audiences knew that Judy and Madeleine were played the same actress….resemble each other. The audiences can be persuaded anyway that Hitchcock wanted to and he chose to reveal it to the audience in the middle, which gave the audience the upper hand.