Hitchcock classic screens at BAM

By Meredith Deliso

“Vertigo” may be considered Alfred Hitchcock’s finest work, but it didn’t always get the respect it now commands.

When the auteur’s suspenseful tale of obsession came out in 1958, audiences and critics were unenthusiastic.

But the world eventually came around, thanks to commanding performances by James Stewart as an acrophobic San Francisco detective and Kim Novak as the woman he’s hired to track; a swirling score by Bernard Herrmann; and, of course, groundbreaking shots by the master director.

“ ‘Vertigo’ is one, if not the most, beautiful and complex films ever produced in Hollywood,” said Jake Perlin, program associate for the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s film curation program.

If no other reason but for that, BAM will screen the masterpiece for six days starting tonight, in 35 MM, just how it was screened in the theaters more than 50 years ago, before we knew any better.

“Vertigo” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music [30 Lafayette Ave. between Rockwell and Ashland places in Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100], June 3-8. For info, visit www.bam.org.