Sidmouth Film Society to screen Hitchcock classic 'Vertigo'

The film classic, voted no 2 in the BFI's list of best ever films, will be presented in ultra-clear digital. The screening is open to all - no membership required. Tickets are £5/£6, and include a cup of coffee during a short discussion afterwards, which filmgoers are more than welcome to attend. 

Sidmouth Film Society organiser Martin Jennings-Wright said: "It's been one of my ambitions for many years to show an immaculate copy of Vertigo on the big screen. A few years ago I showed it at one of the cinemas I used to run, but it was a scratchy old print that featured a lot of jump cuts that the director really didn't intend. The copy we're using this time is a magnificently pristine digital copy, so the framing and colours will be exactly as Hitch wanted." 

In Vertigo, James Stewart excels as a former detective getting increasingly out of his depth as he spirals into an obsession with a melancholy and strangely bewitching beauty, played by Hitchcock archetypal ice cool blonde Kim Novak. 

The 1958 PG-rated film also features a rare big-screen outing for the superb Barbara Bel Geddes (perhaps best known for her small screen work as Dallas' Miss Ellie!)

Sidmouth Film Society started in 2023 with screenings at Kennaway House. At the end of 2023 the decision was made to move to Sidmouth's much-loved Radway Cinema because of the better screening facilities and more comfortable surroundings. 

Upcoming film society screenings, again, open to all and only £5/£6, comprise A Matter of Life and Death (U) on Sunday, February 25 and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (PG) on Sunday, March 31, both starting at 7pm.

The screenings are open to all, and are preceded by a short introduction and followed by a chance to exchange thoughts and feelings about what we've just seen. Ideas for future screenings are very welcome.