Vertigo

Uncredited second unit cameraman Irmin Roberts invented the famous "zoom out and track in" shot (now sometimes called "contra-zoom" or "trombone shot") to convey the sense of vertigo to the audience. The view down the mission stairwell cost $19,000 for just a couple of seconds of screentime.

Both times the main characters drive to the old mission, the wide shots show them driving on the right side of the road. However, all shots inside the car show them driving on the left side of the road. This is because the US 101, where filming took place near San Juan Bautista, is split with two lanes in each direction by a grove of Eucalyptus trees. The film shows only one of the road's directions, giving the appearance that Scottie and Madeleine are driving on the wrong side of the road.

The opening Paramount logo is in black and white while the rest of the film, including the closing Paramount logo, is in Technicolor.

An additional ending was made during post production for some European countries due to certain laws prohibiting a film from letting a "bad guy" get away at the end of a film. In the new ending, after Scottie looks down from the bell tower (the original ending) there is a short scene of Midge in her apartment sitting next to a radio and listening to reports of the police tracking down Gavin Elster hiding out in Europe. As Midge turns off the radio, the news flash also reports that three Berkeley students got caught bringing a cow up the stairs of a campus building. Scottie enters the apartment, looks at Midge plainly, and then looks out a window. Midge makes two drinks and gives one to Scottie. The scene ends with both of them looking out the window without saying a single word to each other. This alternate ending can be found on the restoration Laserdisc as well as the film's DVD debut.