Rating: 
Summary: Better Than the Documentary
Review: "Vertigo" is easly my favorite picture by Hitchcock, so naturally reading this excellent book was a delight. Dan Auiler has created the Bible for fans of "Vertigo" with this well-written and well researched book on the making and after affect of "Vertigo". This book provides information about almost everything you wanted to know about the making of "Vertigo", as well as information about those who helped create the films, those who didn't but were connected to it, as well as the techniques used, various notes and memos from the director himself, and an interview with the two men who restored the film. And even if you're not a fan of "Vertigo" but are still very much interested in the film making process, the Hollywood of yore, or are just planning a trip to San Fransisco, this is still a great book to read.
Rating:
Summary: CLASSIC
Review: "Vertigo" is not only my favorite Hitchcock film; it is also one of my top five favorite films of all time. It is a film that, at first viewing, seems merely like a slightly irregular, well-made, not quite formula murder mystery. You go away from the movie with doubts in your mind (questions keep pricking you over and over) and then the "Vertigo" vertigo starts: How did they do it? How did they get away with it and why? Why is James Stewart so obsessed with, at first, a living woman and then, tragically, a dead woman? Why does Kim Novak allow Stewart to manipulate her into becoming a different person? Why do the director and author tell the audience who-done-it long before the movie is over? (This is a particularly thorny point in Auiler's book). And those are only the questions which pop to mind after a first viewing with no preconceptions. With a foreward (really a short appreciation of "Vertigo")by Martin Scorsese, Dan Auiler's book is a "Vertigo" encyclopedia: the author has collected color and black & white photographs from the film and from ad campaigns; he shows us reproductions of Hitchcock's famous storyboards; he has researched and explained how and why the screenplay was written (and by whom!)and lets us know how Hitchcock participated in the writing in this and everyone of his films and why the studio did not want Hitchcock to direct this movie, preferring that he do another African adventure after the success of "The Man Who Knew Too Much." We learn how Bernard Herrmann's score came about and was recorded, why the specific actors were chosen for their roles and how they worked with their director, how the movie was made ready for the public and how the public received it, originally and in its re-release. There is also a discussion of the process used in making VERTIGO which was called Vistavision. Auiler also explains the process by which this great, sad, twisted, dark, mysterious, complicated, brave movie was saved from destruction by complete restoration, a painstaking process that directors such as Scorsese support and fund on a regular basis. This book is a must-read for any fans of Alfred Hitchcock, of "Vertigo" and, indeed, for any film fans. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Rating:
Summary: CLASSIC
Review: "Vertigo" is not only my favorite Hitchcock film; it is also one of my top five favorite films of all time. It is a film that, at first viewing, seems merely like a slightly irregular, well-made, not quite formula murder mystery. You go away from the movie with doubts in your mind (questions keep pricking you over and over) and then the "Vertigo" vertigo starts: How did they do it? How did they get away with it and why? Why is James Stewart so obsessed with, at first, a living woman and then, tragically, a dead woman? Why does Kim Novak allow Stewart to manipulate her into becoming a different person? Why do the director and author tell the audience who-done-it long before the movie is over? (This is a particularly thorny point in Auiler's book). And those are only the questions which pop to mind after a first viewing with no preconceptions. With a foreward (really a short appreciation of "Vertigo")by Martin Scorsese, Dan Auiler's book is a "Vertigo" encyclopedia: the author has collected color and black & white photographs from the film and from ad campaigns; he shows us reproductions of Hitchcock's famous storyboards; he has researched and explained how and why the screenplay was written (and by whom!)and lets us know how Hitchcock participated in the writing in this and everyone of his films and why the studio did not want Hitchcock to direct this movie, preferring that he do another African adventure after the success of "The Man Who Knew Too Much." We learn how Bernard Herrmann's score came about and was recorded, why the specific actors were chosen for their roles and how they worked with their director, how the movie was made ready for the public and how the public received it, originally and in its re-release. There is also a discussion of the process used in making VERTIGO which was called Vistavision. Auiler also explains the process by which this great, sad, twisted, dark, mysterious, complicated, brave movie was saved from destruction by complete restoration, a painstaking process that directors such as Scorsese support and fund on a regular basis. This book is a must-read for any fans of Alfred Hitchcock, of "Vertigo" and, indeed, for any film fans. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Rating:
Summary: Better Than the Documentary
Review: "Vertigo" is easly my favorite picture by Hitchcock, so naturally reading this excellent book was a delight. Dan Auiler has created the Bible for fans of "Vertigo" with this well-written and well researched book on the making and after affect of "Vertigo". This book provides information about almost everything you wanted to know about the making of "Vertigo", as well as information about those who helped create the films, those who didn't but were connected to it, as well as the techniques used, various notes and memos from the director himself, and an interview with the two men who restored the film. And even if you're not a fan of "Vertigo" but are still very much interested in the film making process, the Hollywood of yore, or are just planning a trip to San Fransisco, this is still a great book to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Good description of the making of Vertigo
Review: An fine narration of the genesis of the movie, dispelling some popular myths about the making of the film. Covers all aspects of its making. I hoped for a critical and psychological approach to the film also, but I still enjoyed it.
Rating: 
Summary: Nine-Tenths of a Great Book- More or Less
Review: As soon as I learned of Dan Auiler's book on the making of 'Vertigo', I bought it, and devoured it. I came away curiously hungry, and it took me about a year of ownership before I figured out what the problem was. Auiler has constructed his book on the basis of the production records that still survive, and they do give many insights into what was done when during 'Vertigo's' shooting schedule. What he didn't get- or give to us- were the interviews with surviving participants that would have fleshed out his calendar of events. There's not a word from Barbara Bel Geddes, and not any new info from Kim Novak. What I would have liked to see from this book was a definitive interview with Miss Novak about her experiences making the movie. How did she feel about this scene- or that one? What were the inner resources she drew on to find the characters of Madeleine and Judy inside her? Unfortunately, Auiler quotes only from extant Kim Novak interviews, and that sparingly. I realise that Kim Novak is perhaps the most difficult person to secure for an interview since Greta Garbo, but to have NOTHING new with her in a 'Vertigo' book meant to be definitive is a crying shame. There's also a certain skimpiness in the photo sections; there are some handsome frames from the 1996 restoration of the movie, but not anything like enough material showing shooting in progress. One nice touch is when Auiler shows us the actual hotel room used to plan the set of Judy Barton's room in the Empire Hotel; I wish he'd done this for each of the major sets, such as Ernie's, Scottie's apartment on Lombard Street, and Ransohoff's. There is a way for readers to cure this book's problems; this book needs to be purchased along with a copy of the movie in letterbox format. At the end of the movie, there's a terrific little American Movie Classics special on the making of 'Vertigo'; it shows much of the photo material Auiler's book lacks, and has an interview with Kim Novak to boot. Novak's interview is short, but I got a lump in my throat when I saw what she was holding in her hands while talking- the original green knit dress she wore forty years earlier in the movie. The special also shows many of the original set drawings for the film, and some amateur 'home movie' footage of the shooting done at the mission at San Juan Bautista. Despite my reservations, I do think that any Hitchcock or 'Vertigo' fan should definitely buy this book- but I think that AMC special on the video of the movie is the only way you'll ever get any of the info Auiler doesn't provide.
Rating:
Summary: Nine-Tenths of a Great Book- More or Less
Review: As soon as I learned of Dan Auiler's book on the making of 'Vertigo', I bought it, and devoured it. I came away curiously hungry, and it took me about a year of ownership before I figured out what the problem was. Auiler has constructed his book on the basis of the production records that still survive, and they do give many insights into what was done when during 'Vertigo's' shooting schedule. What he didn't get- or give to us- were the interviews with surviving participants that would have fleshed out his calendar of events. There's not a word from Barbara Bel Geddes, and not any new info from Kim Novak. What I would have liked to see from this book was a definitive interview with Miss Novak about her experiences making the movie. How did she feel about this scene- or that one? What were the inner resources she drew on to find the characters of Madeleine and Judy inside her? Unfortunately, Auiler quotes only from extant Kim Novak interviews, and that sparingly. I realise that Kim Novak is perhaps the most difficult person to secure for an interview since Greta Garbo, but to have NOTHING new with her in a 'Vertigo' book meant to be definitive is a crying shame. There's also a certain skimpiness in the photo sections; there are some handsome frames from the 1996 restoration of the movie, but not anything like enough material showing shooting in progress. One nice touch is when Auiler shows us the actual hotel room used to plan the set of Judy Barton's room in the Empire Hotel; I wish he'd done this for each of the major sets, such as Ernie's, Scottie's apartment on Lombard Street, and Ransohoff's. There is a way for readers to cure this book's problems; this book needs to be purchased along with a copy of the movie in letterbox format. At the end of the movie, there's a terrific little American Movie Classics special on the making of 'Vertigo'; it shows much of the photo material Auiler's book lacks, and has an interview with Kim Novak to boot. Novak's interview is short, but I got a lump in my throat when I saw what she was holding in her hands while talking- the original green knit dress she wore forty years earlier in the movie. The special also shows many of the original set drawings for the film, and some amateur 'home movie' footage of the shooting done at the mission at San Juan Bautista. Despite my reservations, I do think that any Hitchcock or 'Vertigo' fan should definitely buy this book- but I think that AMC special on the video of the movie is the only way you'll ever get any of the info Auiler doesn't provide.
Rating:
Summary: Ken Mogg's review from The MacGuffin
Review: Congratulations to Dan Auiler, film collector, teacher, and Buddhist, living in Los Angeles, whose book on the phenomenon that is Hitchcock's Vertigo has the breadth and grasp that were needed...Not a critical text, and with nary a footnote for unwary readers to stumble over, 'Vertigo: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic' nonetheless is both amply-researched and evocative. Auiler accessed the Hitchcock production files and interviewed key surviving personnel who had worked on the film (and, in a final chapter, Messrs Harris and Katz, who restored it on 70mm in 1996)....A final note says: 'In all of the interviews and conversations that went into the preparation of this book, those who worked with Hitchcock were consistent in [projecting] ...an overall admiration for the man and the artist'. For Hitchcock's healthy approach to working with his writers (alternating 'work' and 'play'), see p. 37. My impression is that the book is itself a healthily-conceived and written one. Auiler is entitled to conclude: 'Those of us who are "healthy" do not wander the old places, looking for ghosts. But the film expresses a truth that may be dark but is unavoidable ... In [a] sense, we all stand with Scottie in the tower.'
Rating:
Summary: A worthy companion to Hitchcock's best film.
Review: Dan does a nice job here providing lots of information on the development of the script, the circumstances of the adaptation from the french novel, the shooting sequences, and the relationships of the actors and actresses once the camera stopped rolling. Vertigo is my favorite film and I was generally pleased by this book. My only complaints concern numerous printing/spelling errors that I came across. These errors do not contribute to any misinformation about the film, but they are annoying. The reproductions of various movie posters and pictures from the set throughout the book are a nice addition. This book is a must for film buffs-especially Hitchcock film fans. Dan makes a convincing argument for the claim of many who say this is the master's best film. Hopefully some of the typographical errors in my first edition will be corrected in the future-nothing major, but enough to drop my rating one star. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Little insight, little research
Review: Even if you don't agree that this was Hitchcock's greatest film, you can't deny that this is a great companion to the film. It covers each stage of production in great detail and spares nothing short of the best. Only if other behind the scene books were made this way.
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