A San Francisco Treat

This has happened a few times to me. I order something from Netflix that I think I should watch, like a classic that I have never seen, or one of the recent heavyweight movies I missed at the theatres. But then it arrives, and I just can't bring myself to watch it. Other movies come and go, multiple shows from Tivo are viewed, and the movie sits there on top of the DVD player, unloved and unwatched. So I resolve that if-I-don'’t-watch-it-by-this- weekend-I-will-send-it-back. But something nags at me, like you should really watch this film and you've paid all that money to let it sit there collecting dust.

I've gone through this process a few times, with recent highly rated movies such as Munich and Capote, only to end up sending them back because I just don'’t make the time to sit down and watch, and after they sit there for over a month, I figure I probably never will. Well, I finally sat down to watch one of these this past weekend, and what a treat it turned out to be.

I watched the Alfred Hitchcock classic, “Vertigo”, a movie that I had never seen. The basic premise is about a former detective that watches a colleague fall to death, becomes powerfully afraid of heights, and retires. An old college buddy asks him to take on a special project that involves following his wife, who he is convinced has been inhabited by a spirit of a woman who has been dead for over 100 years. In traditional Hitchcock themes, nothing is what it seems and the plot certainly kept me interested, as well as the actors, including James Stewart'’s lead role, Kim Novak as the blonde bombshell, and a WAY pre-Dallas Barbara Bel Geddes in the role as the detective'’s best friend and unrequited love. At 2+ hours, the movie is a bit sprawling and some of the effects that I'’m sure were frightening back then wouldn'’t even scare a kid on an amusement park ride, but I'’m glad I kept watching. The twist of the plot puts anything M Night Shamalyn has done to shame, the score is hauntingly beautiful, and the last 2 minutes are simply stunning.

But the real star of the movie to me was San Francisco. Released in 1958, Hitchcock chose to make the setting of the city a true part of the film. From the Golden Gate Bridge to the Presidio to Coit Tower, many of the familiar icons are represented in all of their glory. The pic to the right is from a key scene in the movie by the Golden Gate. Beyond that, however, was the representation of a gloriously colorful and clean city, filled with people dressed in suits and fur tulles going about their business. The shots that were filmed along the streets of the city shocked me with their pristine and I'll just say it, clean, nature. The remasteredremastered the movie did a terrific job of presenting the 50s theme of innocence that is deliciously juxtaposed against the darkness and fear of the plot and characters. As I'’ve continued to settle into feeling like a San Franciscan, this movie made me proud to be a resident of the city.

So I highly recommend to anyone from the Bay Area to add this movie to your queue and don't let it languish. It's a real San Francisco Treat!