Vertigo Scenes 36-37 Summary

  • In the car, Judy starts to get nervous and wonders where they're going.
  • Scottie doesn't say anything until they arrive at the Mission San Juan Bautista.
  • Judy starts freaking out and asks where they are and why.
  • Over her protests, he gets her out of the car and pushes her into the Mission and up the stairs of the bell tower. She's terrified.
  • As he hauls her up the stairs, Scottie forces Judy to confess.
  • He now knows what we knew after the flashback: that Judy had played Madeleine all along and faked "those beautiful phony trances."
  • Elster taught Judy how to act just like Madeleine. The whole thing was a plot to get Scottie to witness Madeleine's "suicide."
  • Judy tells him that the real Madeleine was already dead when Elster threw her off the tower; he'd broken her neck.
  • Why did they choose Scottie?
  • Judy said it was because of his "accident." Elster had heard about it and knew his vertigo would keep him from saving Madeleine.
  • Judy tells him that Elster escaped to Switzerland after the murder.
  • Judy thinks Scottie won't make it to the top of the bell-tower, but he does. He gets a little dizzy on the way but makes it to the top. He seems to have finally conquered his fear of heights.
  • Judy tells Scottie that she still loves him and begs him to keep her safe.
  • Scottie says that it's "too late," because there's "no bringing her [Madeleine] back."
  • They kiss passionately for the (spoiler alert) last time.
  • A nun, having heard the voices from the tower, comes up the stairs. Judy lets out a scream and falls to her death.
  • Just like Madeleine.
  • Scottie's in shock.
  • In the film's final image, we see him staring down at Judy, totally helpless and stunned.
  • The music swells and that's it.