Who Played Me in "Vertigo"? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jean Corbett

Corbett, born on December 8, 1911 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was cast as Madeline Elster. Madeleine was married to Gavin and he claimed that he was caught off guard by her rather odd behavior. He sought the assistance of a friend to investigate her to see what the matter was and showed the friend a photograph of Madeleine. Around this time, a woman named Judy Barton lived in town and had a surprising resemblance to Madeleine. Midway through the film, Madeleine wound up dead when her husband killed her.

However, it was believed she committed suicide by jumping off a church tower. Corbett starred in the films, 'The Young Stranger', 'Jailhouse Rock' and 'The Caddy'.

Answer: Jimmy Stewart

Stewart, a native of Indiana, Pennsylvania, portrayed John "Scottie" Ferguson. Scottie opened up the film by chasing a suspect on various rooftops in San Francisco. When he leaped towards a building, he failed to nab the suspect when he slipped and nearly fell to his death.

As he looked at the ground below, Scottie began to get a dizzying sensation. Shortly afterwords, he quit his job with the San Francisco Police Department. Scottie was eventually diagnosed as having acrophobia, a fear of heights, in which one symptom was having vertigo.

In the following scene, Scottie attempted to balance his cane but unfortunately dropped it after losing his balance while standing on a chair. Later on in the film, Scottie suffered from a mental breakdown which required hospitalization but eventually he got better enough for his doctor to discharge him. Stewart had roles in the films "It's a Wonderful Life", "The Big Sleep" (1978) and "The Shootist".

In 1941, he won an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the film "The Philadelphia Story".

Other Oscar nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role that year were Charlie Chaplin for "The Great Dictator", Henry Fonda for "The Grapes of Wrath", Raymond Massey for "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" and Laurence Olivier for "Rebecca".

Answer: Barbara Bel Geddes

Bel Geddes, born in 1922 in New York City, played Midge Wood. Midge was with Scottie in her first scene when she noticed he seemed to not be well so she asked him if he had any aches or pains. Scottie informed her the corset which he had been assigned to wear by his doctor led to much discomfort for him. Midge figured that the corset was not of a three-way stretch variety, culminating in her classifying it as an "un-chic" garment as she drew a sketch.

This also led to Scottie commenting to her about the police department often referring cops to physicians who possessed no sense of style. Scottie told Midge his corset would be coming off the next day, much to her satisfaction. Scottie asked her if she supposed many men wore corsets, so she informed him more men than he estimated donned them. Midge asked Scottie what he would do now that he quit the force. Scottie informed her he would not do much of anything for a while. Bel Geddes was seen in the movies "The Todd Killings", "Summertree" and "By Love Possessed".

In 1949, she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for the movie "I Remember Mama", but lost to Claire Trevor for "Key Largo". Other Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actress that year were Ellen Corby for "I Remember Mama", Agnes Moorehead for "Johnny Belinda" and Jean Simmons for "Hamlet".

Answer: Tom Helmore

Helmore, born on January 4th, 1904 in London, England, landed the role of Gavin Elster. Gavin was at his office during his first scene with Scottie when the latter asked him how he ever managed to enter the shipbuilding business. Gavin insisted he was actually only in the business as he married into it and otherwise classified it as a dull industry. Scottie remarked on Gavin's abilities allowing him to not have to be in the business for a living but Gavin insisted he needed to be responsible for his wife's interests as her family was all gone. Gavin then spoke about business and how he felt what made San Francisco unique appeared to be disappearing fast. Scottie then pointed to a couple artifacts in Gavin's office which suggested he longed for the olden days of San Francisco when it exuded color, excitement and power. Gavin then spoke to Scottie about his fears concerning his wife and that he wanted him to investigate her. Scottie was hesitant about it, at first, only to reluctantly agree to his friend's assignment.

Helmore guest starred on the TV series "Night Gallery", "Marcus Welby, M.D." and "Dr. Kildare".

Answer: Kim Novak

Novak also portrayed Judy Barton in "Vertigo", pulling off double duty as her and Madeleine. Judy was an actress whom Gavin hired to impersonate Madeleine when he hired Scottie to spy on Madeleine. Scottie followed Judy around one day until she stopped at a graveyard to pay someone a visit.

A little later, Scottie found out that the person's grave which Judy visited was that of Madeleine's great-grandmother, Carlotta Valdes. In a subsequent scene, Scottie noticed Judy near the Golden Gate Bridge when she all of a sudden jumped into the San Francisco Bay. Scottie rescued Judy and took her back home in order to get her body warmed up. Scottie became depressed after "Madeleine" perished, only to learn that the woman he thought was Madeleine was actually Judy Barton, an actress from Kansas. Scottie also figured out that Judy helped Gavin to cover up the killing of his wife earlier on at the church. Novak starred in the films "The White Buffalo", "The Great Bank Robbery" and "The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders".

Answer: Ellen Corby

Corby was cast as the manager at the McKittrick Hotel in "Vertigo". Scottie followed Judy into the hotel one day and the manager asked him if she could be of assistance. Scottie asked if she could tell him who occupied a corner room in the hotel and then pointed to the corner which he referred to, but the manager stated it was not the hotel's policy to release that information to anyone due to client privacy. Once she stated it might be illegal to give out the information, Scottie showed her his badge, and the manager began to tell him about the occupant.

She informed Scottie the woman likely had been staying at the hotel for two weeks and her rent was due the next day. Scottie asked if she ever slept in the room but the manager stated she only went to sit in the room twice or thrice a week. Scottie claimed he saw the woman enter the hotel that day but the manager insisted she had not been there yet. Scottie asked the manager to just look in her room to verify she had not visited, so the manager entered the room and allowed Scottie to look in it. Corby guest starred on the TV shows "Tenafly", "The Partners" and "Cannon".

Answer: Konstantin Shayne

Shayne, a native of Khariv, Ukraine, played Pop Leibel. Scottie asked Midge one day who knew a lot about tiny bits of San Francisco history, so she recommended that he speak to a man named Pop Leibel, the owner of the Argosy Book Shop. Scottie went there to speak to Pop about Carlotta Valdes, the woman whose grave Judy visited, and Mr. Leibel responded that he knew her history.

He stated she was a beautiful, yet depressed woman who lived in a nice house many years ago but he was unable to remember the name of the man who built her the house. Pop stated that Carlotta came from somewhere small, like a mission settlement, and arrived in San Francisco at a young age.

The man who built Carlotta the house, according to Pop, noticed her at singing and dancing events. Pop spoke of Carlotta's husband and her having a child whom he took from her, causing Carlotta to become depressed after she went on a search for her child. Scottie thanked Pop for being of help to him and departed from his store. Shayne had guest starring stints on the TV series "The Outer Limits", "The Rogues" and "77 Sunset Strip".

Answer: Henry Jones

Jones, born in 1912 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, landed the role of the coroner. The coroner had a brief scene in "Vertigo" when he spoke at a hearing regarding Madeleine's death. While he testified, he explained that Scottie had been entrusted to follow her at the request of Gavin and how he once aided her when she jumped into the San Francisco Bay.

Despite knowing of her suicidal tendencies, the coroner stated that Scottie appeared to be unable to prevent her from dying. He mentioned that Scottie's acrophobia likely hindered his abilities to be more protective of Madeleine, especially at the church where she died.

However, he advised the group in charge of ruling on Madeleine's death not to allow Scottie's shortcomings to somehow influence them on determining the actual cause of death, which the group eventually concluded was suicide. Jones had guest starring stints on the TV shows "Picture Windows", "Coach" and "Murder, She Wrote".

Answer: Raymond Bailey

Bailey, born on May 6th, 1904 in San Francisco, California, was cast as Scottie's doctor. Scottie's doctor treated him when Scottie was checked into a psychiatric hospital following a long spell of severe depression. Midge visited a catatonic Scottie one day to play Mozart for him and spoke to his doctor right before exiting the hospital. Midge asked the doctor for an estimate on how much longer Scottie would remain unresponsive so he told her it likely would be at least six months but no more than a year.

The doctor informed Midge that much of Scottie's progress on becoming communicative again depended on his response to medical treatment. The doctor stated Scottie suffered from acute melancholia as a result of a guilt complex he had over blaming himself for Madeleine's death. Midge opined to the doctor how playing one of Scottie's favorite composers, Mozart, likely would do little to assist Scottie's recovery process. Bailey guest starred on the TV series "Mister Ed", "Twilight Zone" and "Bonanza".

Answer: Lee Patrick

Patrick, a native of New York City, played a woman who Scottie mistook for Madeleine. Scottie noticed a green car one day which looked very similar to the one Madeleine drove, so he went up to the owner to have a talk with her. He asked her where she got the car so she mentioned that she purchased it from Gavin Elster. That was when she assumed Scottie knew both Gavin and his wife.

She then attempted to talk to him about the unfortunate circumstances surrounding Madeleine's death but Scottie did not respond to her about Madeleine.

He simply said goodbye to the woman once noticing she was not Madeleine and then walked away. Patrick had roles in the movies "The Maltese Falcon", "Nobody's Darling" and "Larceny with Music".