Per the back of my paperback edition, 'Boileau-Narcejac is the nom-de-plume of Pierre Boileau (1906-89) and Thomas Narcejac (1908-98), one of France's most successful writing duos.' Pushkin Vertigo has published another title by these authors: She Who Was No More. It is a treasure trove of information for those who love this film and the city of San Francisco. There are over 90 pages devoted to this film, including many historical and contemporary photos. The San Francisco locations for scenes in this film are featured in Footsteps in the Fog: Alfred Hitchcock's San Francisco by Jeff Kraft and Aaron Leventhal. The development of the screenplay and the decision on locations to film are discussed at the Alfred Hitchcock Wiki. San Francisco was chosen for the setting early in the screen writing process. Hitchcock's film based on this book is set in San Francisco and he uses that setting with great effect. However, Hitchcock changed the characters and their involvement with each other to present the movie he wanted, so that the movie and book seem very different even though they tell the same basic story. A book almost always provides more depth into what is going on with the characters than a film.

But having already seen the movie did not spoil the experience because of the variations in the setting and the mood. It was unusual to read a book after I have watched a movie so many times. I am very glad I decided to read this book. And if you haven't I don't want to spoil either the book or the movie. If you have seen the movie you can guess some of the plot points. The plot has many twists and turns after this point and I don't want to reveal any more. The book is a story of obsession and deceit. He saves her and then becomes obsessed with her, continuing to see her and developing a relationship.Īll of this takes place in France shortly before the German occupation of France during World War II. Eventually he sees her try to commit suicide by jumping into a river. Gévigne, a wealthy shipbuilder, and Flavières, a lawyer, were once in school together, which explains why Gévigne makes this strange request and why Flavières gives in against his better judgment.įlavières does start following Madeleine, watching her behavior. Gévigne's wife, Madeleine, is acting strangely and he is afraid she will disappear or hurt herself. The book opens with Paul Gévigne asking Roger Flavières to watch over his wife and protect her from herself.

There are significant differences between the book and the film but the basic story is the same. It was the basis for Hitchcock's film, Vertigo. This book was originally published in France in 1954 as D'entre les morts in 1956 it was translated to English and published as The Living and the Dead.

Vertigo pierre boileau