Although now regarded as a masterpiece, it has taken a long time for the 1958 picture to reach appropriately vertiginous heights. ... The mixed reviews almost certainly hurt Vertigo at the box office and the film was widely regarded as a failure.

Why was Vertigo considered a flop?

Vertigo was castigated as a failed thriller, with Hitchcock inexplicably giving away his movie's "surprise ending" half an hour early. Critics attacked the use of popular glamorous movie stars, expensive sets, the plot full of coincidences and calculated twists.

Why is Vertigo considered a great movie?

Vertigo, the film Hitchcock regarded as his most personal, sees the director tackle obsessional love, one of his recurring themes. ... The film is famous for a camera trick Hitchcock invented to represent Scotty's vertigo - a simultaneous zoom-in and pull-back of the camera that creates a disorientating depth of field.