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Pal Joey --- 'Colorful' Influence on Hitchcock's Vertigo

posted 11 years ago by viaggio1
4 replies | jump to latest

"Pal Joey" was released the year before "Vertigo," and Hitchcock must have been watching Kim Novak very closely ! (Weren't we all !)

In the confrontational scene between Sinatra and Novak (when Novak is drunk), her hair is done up in the "Madeline" style she would wear in "Vertigo," and she is also wearing the exact color green of her dresses in "Vertigo" !

Watching the scenes of San Francisco in Pal Joey, I got the feeling that the gritty underside scenes featured in Pal Joey make a nice companion piece to "Vertigo" --- same styles of autos, clothing, architecture. It was almost like watching out-takes of Vertigo --- when Sinatra and his buddy drop Novak off at her hillside apartment one late night, I almost imagined Jimmy Stewart driving by and doing a double-take at Ms. Novak !

"J'ai l'oeil AMÉRICAIN !"

[–] plwblj 10 years ago

I like that !-esp.since Vertigo is my all-time fave !

ps Viva KIM Novak

[–] viaggio1 10 years ago

Hey plwblj ---

SFvertigofan shared this nugget previously on the Pal Joey board --- there's a great site that compares location shots (from both Vertigo and Pal Joey) with shots of how those locales look today --- http://reelsf.com --- Enjoy !

J'ai l'œil AMÉRICAIN !

[–] conductor71 8 years ago

Yes, it also strongly crossed my mind that Novak's appearance in Pal Joey may have influenced Hitchcock in some way when it came to casting and making Vertigo, although I haven't come across any proof that he even watched this movie.

In his book, Vertigo: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic: Special Edition, Dan Auiler strongly plays up the significance of Hitchcock's screening of The Eddie Duchin Story (also starring Kim Novak) just weeks before his original first choice actress, Vera Miles, reported for hair, costume and makeup tests for the role of Madeleine/Judy in From Among The Dead (i.e. Vertigo).

This link to parts of Auiler's book may interest you:

https://books.google.com/books?id=uNsiAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT35&lpg=PT35&dq=%22vertigo%22%2B%22vera+miles%22%2B%22dan+auiler%22&source=bl&ots=qOQGQja2a0&sig=zYTZg82v68rHTxnt213zd-tHuZw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJg5KYvYvKAhVB2RQKHUwhDCYQ6AEINzAE#v=onepage&q=%22vertigo%22%2B%22vera%20miles%22%2B%22dan%20auiler%22&f=false

[–] ClementinaSpur (831) 9 months ago

Great post! I love connecting the dots with movies like this. Even if it's not true (and I think it is), it's fun to ponder.