for Hitchcock, there are a bunch of good, fun movies and then there's "Vertigo," which my dad took me to see when it came out (I was 9, but a very seasoned moviegoer), and it did something to me that I couldn't forget. I don't think he knew what it was going to be like, otherwise, he probably would have brought me to see a western (like "The Searchers," which I'd dragged him to see more than a year before, after I'd already seen it three times...he couldn't stand John Wayne). I watch "Vertigo" at least once a year. at least. it's also certainly Bernhard Herrmann's greatest moment, the shrieking violins in the "Psycho" shower scene notwithstanding. I also love "North By Northwest" and "Rear Window" remains great fun (and there IS the Grace Kelly thing to recommend it), even if you've seen it a lot (the first time, I was so terrified when Raymond Burr kept creeping up on Jimmy in the wheelchair I came pretty close to puking). "Notorious" is still really sexy (there's Hitchcock's famous extended-kiss-that-wasn't-really-extended-but-sure-fucked-with-the-code gambit). but "Vertigo" is both sexy and very, very disturbing, every time. I saw "Strangers On a Train" again a few weeks back and it's still fabulous. for anyone who went to high school in Forest Hills, the real star is the tennis stadium half a block from a little bar called "Sebastian's" where you could get drunk at sixteen without being carded. it's also the scene of the famous Dylan concert in the Summer of '65 in which I didn't think there was nearly as much booing as people like to say there was. but I can't wait for your screenplay, Tom. about whatever the more personal stuff is, I figured something was happening and you KNOW how I feel.