Vertigo (1958)

Starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A police detective who's entered into retirement due to his crippling vertigo is asked by an old friend to follow his wife, whom he fears has been possessed by a spirit from the dead.

One of the great films of any era, this is not just a mystery or a love story, but a tale of obsession on the level of a Greek tragedy, beautifully filmed and acted.  Stewart's character is imbued with the actor's natural charm and delivery, but also requires he goes into the darker corners of the man's psyche, and the actor does an excellent job of showing how desperate his mind his is to recover what he loses.  Novak, in dual roles, playing the upper-crust and refined Madeleine, and later the more earthy and independent Judy, is also exceptional, and Bel Geddes is endearing and amusing as Stewart's former flame who still has a friendly relationship with the detective.  Relying less on expository dialogue than the camera and clever editing by George Tomasini to tell the story, Hitchcock takes the audience into the narrative perhaps more personally than any of his other films.  Bernard Herrmann's excellent score also heightens the emotional tension and is an important component in the film's storytelling, particularly his wonderful cue "Scene d'amour," which underscores Stewart and Novak's passionate romance.  It's a great film, and one worth revisiting again and again.

After The Thin Man (1936)

Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart, Elissa Landi, Joseph Calleia
Directed by W.S. Van Dyke
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

On their return home to San Franciso, Nick and Nora Charles are drawn into a new mystery involving the disappearance of her sister's husband, which soon leads to murder.

The first of many sequels to the classic mystery-comedy The Thin Man, the film reunites Powell and Loy as the husband and wife detective team in a new story crafted by Nick and Nora's creator Dashiell Hammett.  I didn't find it quite as funny as its predecessor, but it's certainly enjoyable, and is notable for the inclusion of Jimmy Stewart a few years before becoming a major star.  You'll have to stay alert to catch all the twists and turns within the mystery, but the interplay between Powell and Loy was the highlight of all of these films and they're in fine form here once again.