Abstract

In one of Vertigo’s pivotal scenes, Jimmy Stewart could not take his eyes off Kim Novak as she strolled through Ernie’s in an emerald green gown. Director Alfred Hitchcock set this scene in his 1958 film in San Francisco’s most important restaurant. This psychological thriller follows Stewart’s spiraling obsession with Novak. Hitchcock deliberately dressed Novak in green to contrast her against Ernie’s famous maroon Scalamandre silk brocade interior. The quintessential San Francisco movie was naturally set in that city’s most important restaurant. ¹