"an unprecedented trajectory"

James Stewart and Kim Novak star in "Vertigo." (UCLA Film & Television Archive) Bid goodbye to summer in style with a drive-in screening of "Vertigo," the Alfred Hitchcock film that's had an unprecedented trajectory. Dismissed on its original 1958 release, it has steadily risen in critical estimation to the point where it displaced "Citizen Kane" as the best motion picture of all time in Sight & Sound's recent poll of film critics worldwide. "Vertigo's" view of San Francisco might be the most elegantly spooky vision of an American city ever put on film, and no chance to see it on a big screen should be missed. More than that, the film showcases Hitchcock's ability to take two of the biggest stars of his day, James Stewart and Kim Novak, and use them to create as dark and deeply personal a scenario as anything that's appeared at Sundance. Screening at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Electric Dusk Drive-In's 24-foot-by-18-foot screen at the City Market, 1000 San Julian St. near downtown. Tickets are $10 (online) and $13 (cash at the door). Gates open at 6:30 p.m. More information at: http://www.electricduskdrivein.com.