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Summary: The best on Hitchcock's best.
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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Summary: Fact-filled but dull account.
Review: Fact-filled but dull account of the creation, and rebirth, of this absorbing, extraordinary film. Ubiquitous film maven Martin Scorsese provides yet another say-nothing foreword. Nice selection of photos, though.
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Summary: Trivia abounds
Review: Great reference book, but I did get bogged down on all the technical information/processes of the films restoration. Otherwise it's very interesting and enjoyable.
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Summary: "Vertigo" Answered My Questions
Review: I have a strong interest in the film "Vertigo," as I live only 8 miles from Mission San Juan Bautista where some of the scenes were made, and a relative owns Hitchcock's former estate in Scotts Valley, CA (not Los Gatos, as Auiler mistakenly states in his book)where James Stewart spent the night right after making the San Juan Bautista scenes. Auiler answered many of my questions -- like why Mission SJB has all rounded arches in the film, and a couple of large square openings in reality (answer - Hitch used plywood fillers in the film to give a more uniform appearance). I also wondered how Stewart and Novak drive through a well-known stretch of road bordered by tall Acacia trees on their way to SJB, when that road actually is south of San Juan Bautista, in the opposite direction of their route. (Answer: Hitch liked the trees and who in the audience would know?) Another question: where was the Coroner's inquest held? I had looked all over the Mission grounds trying to find it without success. Auiler tells: the site was actually a Paramount set, and looked so real it appeared to be "on location." I still enjoy wandering Mission San Juan Bautista on weekends, looking for Vertigo scenes. Auiler's book has turned me into an informed fan. It is a very well-researched and well written book.
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Summary: Why Vertigo?
Review: I'm often asked, Why Vertigo? The answer can only be personal in nature. I love Hitchcock films--I have since I was a boy, but only one of his films has haunted and provoked me. Vertigo. Writing this book was in many ways my quest to know the answer to that question: Why Vertigo? One of the answers to this question that I am sure of now, after more than a years research, is that this film was intensely personal to Hitchcock too. In fact, it is unique in that sense in his body of work. Not that Vertigo was his favorite film, but that it expressed feelings which were profound and perhaps disturbing to the London born director. I also know, after writing this book, that I am not alone in being deeply affected by the film. I went on a Vertigo sites tour after college--and I discovered that several other fans, artists and film makers have followed the same path. This book, as I suspect the film was to Hitchcock, was a labor of love and respect. I hope you enjoy it.
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Summary: Harper's Bazaar review
Review: In the January issue of Harper's Bazaar, Dan Auiler's Vertigo is listed as one of the top ten films books of 1998.
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Summary: LA DAILY NEWS REVIEW, Aug. 2, 1998
Review: L.A film historian Dan Auiler has written VERTIGO: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic which, with its nice balance of technical, personal and critical detail, seems a model for this sort of book. Illustrated throughout with storyboard sketches, stills and correspondence (and with a foreword by Martin Scorcese), the trim volume has a color photo insert that strikingly shows the movie's vivid palette. And the book's jacket, which incorporates artists Saul Bass and John Whitney's "Vertigo" design work, is also beautifully done.
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Summary: Entertainment Weekly, June 12, 1997 Review
Review: Like the protagonist of Hitchcock's flawed yet indelible masterpiece, Auiler is A Man Obsessed. His mission: to unravel the sinuous helix-a French novel, botched early screenplays, a disgruntled little knot of blondes-that swirled beneath the director's highly buffed Paramount surfaces. And, he does an admirable job, especially considering that this is a rabbit hole down which so many (Donald Spoto, Francois Truffaut and countless academics) have tumbled before. The storyboards he found are eerie; so, too, is how narrowly the film escaped being called, urp, Face in the Shadow. A- --Alexandra Jacobs.
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Summary: Little insight, little research
Review: The author's main source for this book are the production notes from the film, when it was photographed in 1957. And it shows. There are few interviews, few insights on the filmmaking/creative process. If you're looking for something like a travel guide of San Francisco and a dry account of the number of takes Hitchcock printed for each scene, then you'll be satisfied with the book. If you're curious about why Hitchcock or Jimmy Stewart make the decisions they do, and their opinions on their own work, you'll find little of that here. I loved the film--it's one of my favorites, but I was very disappointed in this book. Better to read Hitchcock by Truffaut for an inside look at filmmaking with Hitchcock...
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Summary: Wonderful book! Tells everything about Vertigo, step-by-step
Review: This neat book traces the genesis of the movie Vertigo from it's beginnings as a French novel right through to modern day retrospectives. It tells absoultuely everything about the production, but never gets bogged down. Also tells the current status of the many locations in the film. Just a great, fun read. It also provides real insight into Hitchcock's way of collaborating with writers, cameramen, etc.
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