Cold sweats: what alternative ending was shot?

Released in cinemas in 1958, the cult movie Cold sweat, worn by James Stewart and Kim Novak, will be rebroadcast on Sunday January 16, 2022, from 8:55 p.m. on the Franco-German channel art. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, this feature film has established itself over the years as one of the best films in the history of cinema. The story begins in San Francisco, and features the character of John Ferguson, known as “scottie“, played on screen by James Stewart. Living on his income, this former police officer, eaten up by guilt, left his job after one of his colleagues was killed during a chase on the roofs, saving his life.

Having become acrophobic, Scottie maintains a relationship that has become friendly with Marjorie Wood, known as “Betty“, performed by Barbara Bel Geddes, who is still in love with him. One day, Gavin Elster, one of his old classmates, played by Tom Helmore, contacted him to follow Madeleine, his young wife of 26 years, performed by Kim Novak. He believes her to be possessed by the spirit of her maternal great-grandmother, abandoned by her lover, and dead in despair at the same age as her, a century earlier. Upon its theatrical release, Cold sweat was received very timidly by American critics at the time. If the public did not follow en masse, the receipts of the film nevertheless exceeded its budget. Having cost 2.5 million dollars to produce, this feature film brought in 7 million in total.

Cold sweats: elected second most important feature film in the history of cinema

Yes Cold sweat is now considered one of the most important works of Alfred Hithcock’s career, it could have been otherwise. Indeed, the filmmaker had shot an alternative ending for this feature film. In fact, an additional final scene was recorded to meet the requirements of some European countries, in which no wrongdoing should go unpunished. During this famous sequence, a voice on the radio announced that the character of Gavin Elster was about to be extradited to the United States. Scottie then returned to Betty’s, where he gazed at the horizon through the window. As a reminder, Cold sweat was voted the second most important feature film in the history of cinema, behind the Citizen Kane by Orson Welles, by a group of international critics brought together in 2002 by the journal Sight and sound.

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