The Ending We Can't Forget
To watch Vertigo is to experience its ending as a psychological gut punch. After the film’s dizzying web of obsession and deceit unravels, Judy (Kim Novak) accidentally falls to her death from a mission bell tower—the same location where her faked suicide
had been staged. The final shot is of Scottie (James Stewart), his vertigo ostensibly cured but his soul utterly destroyed, staring into the abyss. There is no resolution, no comfort, and no justice for the mastermind of the plot, Gavin Elster. It’s a haunting, ambiguous conclusion that elevates the film from a mere thriller to a profound meditation on obsession and loss. It feels inevitable and perfect, which makes the story of its near-demise all the more shocking.
A Code of Moral Certainty
The conflict wasn't born from a simple desire for a happier story, but from the iron grip of the Motion Picture Production Code, often called the Hays Code. For decades, this self-censoring body enforced a strict set of moral guidelines on Hollywood. One of its core tenets was that crime must never pay. In the eyes of the Production Code Administration (PCA), Vertigo's ending was unacceptable because the villain, Gavin Elster, gets away with the murder of his wife entirely. The PCA's chief censor, Geoffrey Shurlock, demanded that Hitchcock make it clear that Elster would be brought to justice. This put Paramount, the film's distributor, in a difficult position, as it feared being denied a seal of approval and facing issues with foreign censors who held similar standards.
The Compromise Scene
Forced into a corner, Hitchcock did what any savvy director would do: he complied, but on his own terms. He filmed a short, tacked-on scene, a coda meant to appease the censors. The scene takes place in the apartment of Scottie’s devoted ex-fiancée, Midge (Barbara Bel Geddes). She's listening to a radio news bulletin detailing the manhunt for Gavin Elster in Europe, with an announcer stating his capture is imminent. Scottie walks in, Midge turns off the radio, and the two share a silent drink, looking out the window. The scene ties up the loose end of Elster’s fate and offers a glimmer of potential reconciliation for Scottie and Midge, softening the original ending’s brutal finality. It was a tidy, conventional, and morally unambiguous resolution—everything Hitchcock’s true ending was not.
An Artist's Final Cut
Hitchcock, a master of controlling his vision, reportedly never intended for this scene to be part of his final film. He shot it as a bargaining chip. While the exact backroom dealings remain the stuff of Hollywood legend, Hitchcock ultimately won the battle. He successfully argued to have the coda removed from the American release of Vertigo, preserving the devastating ambiguity he had intended. Interestingly, the alternate ending was attached to some prints shown in Britain and other parts of Europe to satisfy local censors, leading to confusion for years among film buffs who had seen different versions. Today, the scene exists as a DVD extra, a fascinating artifact of a battle between artistic integrity and commercial censorship. By fighting for his bleak vision, Hitchcock ensured Vertigo would be remembered not for its tidiness, but for its tragic, haunting power.
