MovieChat Forums > Vertigo (1958) Discussion > Spoiler inside: What is it about Madelin...

Spoiler inside: What is it about Madeline/Judy that makes us forget...

posted 6 years ago by Richard Blaine (13)
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...that she's a murderer?

That she didn't herself physically kill Elster's wife is immaterial; she was a co-conspirator.

Judy was Gavin Elster's "side girl", and really nothing more to him than that, though he clearly made her believe they were going to have a life together. He needed her to believe that in order to use her.

Regardless of Judy's motivations, she and Elster plotted and carried out the murder of his wife together. Once it was done he dumped her, knowing she couldn't talk.

So why is it, then, that we tend to view her with sympathy? Is it simply because she has genuinely fallen in love with Scotty, and he with her?

I like to think that much of it is due to Kim Novak's nuanced performance. We see her as a victim, even though she went into the whole manipulation willingly and with eyes wide open.

What do you think?

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Did she know for certain that Elster intended to kill his wife? It's been a while since I saw the movie.

[–] Richard Blaine (13) 6 years ago

She had to know exactly why he enlisted her help. It was to get rid of his wife, so that they could be together. There was no reason for the plot the two of them entered into, other than to kill Elster's wife.

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

No, she didn't have to know. He could have fed her some bullshit story about a joke, a non-lethal scheme, or revenge on Scotty for something. And I think that's the case, because when we see the flashback to the actual murder, she looks horrified, not happy that her lover is finally free to marry her.

And I suppose the reason we don't hold her against it is that she's painfully wracked with guilt during the last half of the film, and is desperately trying to make at least part of what she's done right. She can't make it right with the late Mrs. Elster, but she's desperately trying to make things okay with Scotty, and takes so much abuse in the process that we end up feeling sorry for her.