If you haven't seen Vertigo, this is your official spoiler warning.
I've seen 'Vertigo' several times, most recently last night and, for some reason, this was the first time it ever hit me just how absurdly complicated Gavin Elster's plan to murder his wife was.
To succeed, his plan requires the following: A detective, afraid of heights, who can follow a woman who is not Elster's wife, but looks just like her. The detective must become convinced that Elster's wife is not really Elster's wife at all, but that she is posessed by the ghost of her great-great grandmother, Carlotta Valdes. Once the look-alike has convinced the detective of those things, she must lead him to an old Spanish mission and make him follow her into the bell tower. Of course the detective's fear of heights will mean that he won't be able to follow her past the third floor and he will become incapacitated directly in front of a window, just in time to see the body of Elster's REAL wife, whose neck has been broken, fall from several floors above. Finally, since the detective has witnessed all of these things, he must testify that Mrs. Elster was mentally incapacitated and that her death was a suicide. With the plan completed, Elster is free to collect his inheritance and leave the country. All too easy.
Even James Bond villains don't go to this much trouble. Seriously, can anyone name a movie that has featured a more complicated plan to off somebody?
I've seen 'Vertigo' several times, most recently last night and, for some reason, this was the first time it ever hit me just how absurdly complicated Gavin Elster's plan to murder his wife was.
To succeed, his plan requires the following: A detective, afraid of heights, who can follow a woman who is not Elster's wife, but looks just like her. The detective must become convinced that Elster's wife is not really Elster's wife at all, but that she is posessed by the ghost of her great-great grandmother, Carlotta Valdes. Once the look-alike has convinced the detective of those things, she must lead him to an old Spanish mission and make him follow her into the bell tower. Of course the detective's fear of heights will mean that he won't be able to follow her past the third floor and he will become incapacitated directly in front of a window, just in time to see the body of Elster's REAL wife, whose neck has been broken, fall from several floors above. Finally, since the detective has witnessed all of these things, he must testify that Mrs. Elster was mentally incapacitated and that her death was a suicide. With the plan completed, Elster is free to collect his inheritance and leave the country. All too easy.
Even James Bond villains don't go to this much trouble. Seriously, can anyone name a movie that has featured a more complicated plan to off somebody?
It's amusing for us to speculate about it, but of course the movie didn't need Elster to have a back-up plan (not that you were trying in any way to argue that point when you started this thread).
