[slade]

Triple HHH: that was great about the colors. I especially like the insights you added about the black scarf and the white coat. One thing the white coat did for me: when they were in the redwood forest and she walked off by herself she looked very ghostly. It really made me begin to believe that she was either being taken over by the ghost or psychotic. I didn't think that Scotty would find her--that she would have just disappeared at that point (to be found later at her house or something).

I thought Hitchcock did a great job of making the audience believe something was wrong with Madeline. I never guessed that it was all a set-up. Did anyone else?

I also thought it was great that he let us (the audience) know it was a set up before Scotty so we could see all the anxiety more clearly in Judy as Scotty forces her into situations that she is all too familiar with (having already been "forced" into that character before). I wonder how differently the movie would've played if we didn't find out until Scotty did?

Another thought about the being made over theme: in the production notes Kim Novak is quoted as saying how she was drawn to the role becuase of that theme. In particular her line: "Can't you love me for who I am" (loosely quoted). She said that it reminded her a lot of the pains she went through when she arrived at Hollywood and they wanted to make her into something she wasn't in order to sell their movies. In her character bio on the DVD it said that the studio (I can't remember which one it was now) had signed her on hoping that she would be their answer to Marilyn Monroe--so I'm sure she really felt made over into someone else! Perhaps that is why she did such a great job with that role. And, it also makes the movie autobiographical for her as well as Hitchcock.

One thing that did bug me about the movie was timing of the apparent suicide of Madeline. Becuase it happened about 90 minutes into the movie, and I didn't know how long it was, I expected it to end soon thereafter. When it didn't it felt like it kept draggin on. Although the last half hour is very intriguing, it was hard to enjoy becuase I kept wondering if it was going to end at any moment.

Triple HHH said, "There's something so painful about Scotty's situation....to just get a grasp of something he was chasing (and may have offered closure and cured his vertigo), he loses it all over again, and his cycle of grief and suffering is to start all over again."

That's definately the impression you get from the original ending. Did you watch the European ending? I think it really spoils that feeling to see Scotty again with Madeline. And what was that ending all about anyway? Just to let audiences feel good about not letting a criminal escape into Europe without them going after him? I didn't get it.

sorry for rambling.