The Coolidge Corner Theatre

with psychoanalyst Catherine Kimble, MD

During a rooftop chase, police detective John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart) is grossly overcome by his acrophobia (a deep fear of falling) which ultimately brings about the death of a fellow officer. After retiring from the police force, Scottie attempts to return to normalcy, but his life takes another unusual turn when an old school acquaintance asks Scottie to shadow his wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak). Scottie is wary but the minute he sees her he cannot resist the chase. As his fixation with Madeleine grows, however, so too does her obsession with death. When Scottie's vertigo prevents him from saving Madeleine's life, his one chance at perfect love comes crashing to a halt. Later, Scottie sees a woman walking down the street who looks exactly like Madeleine-- but she is Judy Barton, a salesgirl from Kansas with her own secrets--secrets that will once again turn Scottie's world into a dizzying battle between illusion and reality. Psychoanalyst and psychiatrist Catherine Kimble, MD, joins us before the film with a presentation on the realities of vertigo and anxiety.

dir. Alfred Hitchcock with James Stewart and Kim Novak, 1958. 2h8m