Reminds me of Vertigo


Certainly in mood... but if you think about it, there are a lot of similarities between P.O.J. and Vertigo...

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LoL! I thought so too after watching again tonight; I finally saw Vertigo not too long ago. Oh, but for those tender-hearted who'd care to "make that typical type correction," VERTIGO reminds us of Portrait of Jennie (shrug & smile).

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I'm still a bit puzzled though... I wonder if Hitchcock was influenced by this movie. Consider the older man in pursuit of a nearly ethereal young woman, a mystery. Climaxes at towers\lighthouses... Convents, etc.

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Hitchcock always wanted - but was never able - to make a film of the J.M. Barrie (of Peter Pan fame) 's ghostly play 'Mary Rose' (1920):

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"A girl, Mary Rose, who vanishes on a mysterious island while on holiday with her parents in the Hebrides. She returns weeks later, unaware that any time has passed, and grows up strange and immature, subject to odd fancies. As a young woman she marries and has a child, but still remains childish herself. With her husband, Simon, she revisits the island and vanishes again, this time for twenty-five years. When she comes back this time she fails to recognise her middle-aged husband and elderly parents. She is desperate to find her "baby" and in a macabre scene accuses Harry, her grown-up son, of stealing her baby from her. Eventually she is reconciled with her adult son and manages to get back to the mysterious other world where she has spent most of her life, since there is no longer a place for her on earth."

"As a child about to enter adulthood, Mary Rose disappears from a Scottish island on which her family are holidaying, only to emerge weeks later with no account of what has transpired. At a second significant juncture, as she enters motherhood, she disappears from the same ill-omened place, only to emerge, eerily, a generation later. What is emphasised about the character is her continual, childish innocence, as if, after her first disappearance, her growth is stunted."

"Mary Rose is one of the best ghost stories written for the stage. It is the story of a mother, who is searching for her lost child. Eventually she becomes a ghost."
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Reminds me somewhat of 'Portrait of Jennie', one of my favorite fantasy films.

Ofcourse 'Vertigo' was a perfect Hitchcock workout, for him the original Boileau and Narcejac book was a good basis for his cinematical themes. But indeed, 'Portrait of Jennie' crept up inside my head while watching this wonderful Hitchcock classic.




"The Beamer Xperience: 9 feet wide home cinema bliss."

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Here's a take on the similarities between Jennie and Vertigo that I've wondered about for a long time: Not only are the stories similar, but why did the 'makers' choose to make them? For Selznick, Jennifer Jones really WAS his 'Jennie' -- a muse-woman he became obsessed with, and focused his artistic energies around. And Hitchcock is famous for the stories of how he became somewhat obsessed with his leading ladies, such as Tippi Hedren, dressing them exactly, telling them how to act exactly, etc -- VERY similar to Vertigo. These are both controlling, not very attractive men with obsessive, hidden inner lives that got played out in their art, and we all benefit from it!!

Baby, I don't care!

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[deleted]

rather an interesting thought. hadnt made that connexion before tho i daresay i see a few similarites. theres a sweetness to portrait of jenny tho that i didnt feel whilst watching vertigo which felt much darker in my opinon.

cheeers

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...it is the DARKNESS(in Vertigo)that sets it apart;

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Thanks for this post and everyone's input. Makes total sense. I'm sure Sir Alfred enjoyed this, despite his not being so keen on its producer.

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[deleted]

I agree. At one point, the same thought crossed my mind, and I found myself wondering what Vertigo would have been like with Jennifer Jones playing the lead.

Because of its playing with time, and the effect that has on love, it also might remind one of Groundhog Day or Brigadoon.

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Me too!

Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize!

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