Last month, I wrote about the 50th anniversary of the filming of
Alfred Hitchcock’s
”
Vertigo
”
and its San Juan Bautista connection. With the Poppy Jasper Film
Festival (PJFF) coming up this weekend in Morgan Hill, I’d love to
tell you about the
”
lost scenes
”
I recently discovered from that classic thriller.
Last month, I wrote about the 50th anniversary of the filming of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” and its San Juan Bautista connection. With the Poppy Jasper Film Festival (PJFF) coming up this weekend in Morgan Hill, I’d love to tell you about the “lost scenes” I recently discovered from that classic thriller.
South Valley’s very own movie festival celebrates those independent filmmakers who are willing, like the characters of “Vertigo,” to go over the edge – at least the edge of celluloid productions lasting 30 minutes or less. And if you enjoy thought-provoking movies, check out some of the showings at this year’s PJFF.
This Saturday night, I plan to attend the special filmmakers party the festival is holding in downtown Morgan Hill. And hopefully I might meet some ambitious Alfred Hitchcock wannabe whom I can tell about the lost scenes of “Vertigo,” filmed in 1957.
OK, there really aren’t any lost scenes. But in the spirit of the PJFF, I’d love to make an over-the-edge spoof of the famous film that “Hitch” partly set in the South Valley. See, I figure the two main characters of Hitchcock’s thriller – the detective Scottie Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart) and the lost soul Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak) – must have driven down the South Valley’s Monterey Road on their way to their fateful day at San Juan Bautista’s historic mission. Back when Hitchcock made his movie, the Highway 101 bypass didn’t exist, so the couple would have traveled through downtown Morgan Hill and downtown Gilroy.
In my “lost scenes” flick, I figure they’d stop in Morgan Hill to fill up the car’s tank with gasoline at a local filling station. After they fill up, Jimmy Stewart pulls out his wallet and pays the gas station attendant.
“Nice little town,” Stewart says. “Is it named after that mountain over to the west there? Is that Morgan Hill?”
“No, sir,” says the attendant. “Hiram Morgan Hill was a man who once lived here. That mountain is named El Toro.”
“Bull,” Stewart tells him.
“Sir, it’s no bull. That mountain really is called El Toro,” the attendant replies a little heatedly.
Stewart chuckles. “I meant, ‘El Toro,’ means ‘The Bull’ in Spanish.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right. Sorry. I misunderstood you,” the attendant apologizes. “Hey, maybe in spring you might want to climb it. The local historical society arranges a public climb once a year. Great view from the top.”
Stewart stammers a little bit. “Ah, I reckon I’ll skip the offer. I’m afraid of heights.”
“Oh, yeah? Got acrophobia, huh?”
Stewart nods and explains, “Comes from witnessing a fellow police officer fall to his death from a roof while we were chasing a crook a while back. Guess I never got my nerve back. Now, I always get a dizzy sensation called vertigo when I’m up somewhere high.”
“Oh, that’s too bad, buddy,” the attendant sympathizes. “Say, if you want to hunt for rocks at the base of El Toro, you can look for this pretty little gemstone that locals call poppy jasper.”
“Poppy jasper, huh,” Stewart says. His eyes wander and he sees the Granada Movie Theater nearby. “That might make a great name for a film festival. You can call it, ‘The Poppy Jasper Film Festival.'”
The gas station attendant shakes his head. “That vertigo you say you suffer from must’ve affected your brain a bit. That’s the craziest name for a film festival.”
Stewart nods. “Well, maybe you’re right. But get a load of the girl in the car. She thinks she’s possessed by a ghost. It drove her to nearly drown herself at the Golden Gate Bridge. Talk about loony-tunes. I’m taking the kook down to San Juan Bautista to prove to her that she’s not possessed by some haunt.”
Stewart gets back in the car and Novak looks at him as he starts to engine. “Nice town,” she says.
“Yeah, it’s famous for its poppy jasper gemstone,” Stewart says. “I told the guy they should name a film festival after it some day.” Stewart drives down Monterey Road heading south. “You hungry?”
Novak nods her head.
“Well, I know a great little place up ahead in Gilroy,” Stewart tells her. “The Milias Hotel. They serve the best steaks in town.”
“Just so long as it doesn’t have any garlic in it,” Novak says.
OK, if Hitchcock had ever shot this silly scene, it definitely would have ended up on the cutting-room floor. But on the weekend of the Poppy Jasper Film Festival, it’s fun to consider how Morgan Hill might have played a cameo role in one of Hollywood’s greatest movies.
