I Sure Wish Vera Miles Would Give An Interview
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Vera Miles
ecarle — 19 years ago(October 12, 2006 10:09 AM)
As of this posting, Vera Miles is 77 years old and evidently living in retirement in Southern California. Earned and nice.
But she's a key, surviving member of the casts of several great movies: The Searchers, The Wrong Man, Psycho, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, among others and I think a lot of fans would love to hear her reflections on at least these four films.
Her involvement with Alfred Hitchcock is its own story. In addition to appearing in "The Wrong Man" (a great performance) and "Psycho" (her most famous role, and a performance of great importance in film history), Miles was Hitchcock's original choice to star in "Vertigo" and worked for him in one of the first Hitchcock TV shows ("Revenge.") It would be great to hear her thoughts about him. There are some on record, but a few more with more depth couldn't hurt. (I always liked her quote: "'Psycho' is Hitchcock's most famous movie, but it is not his best movie.'" What WAS?)
John Ford was no slouch, either, and Vera did two movies with him (one of which put her in the romantic middle between John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. Gotta be some good stories there!)
Perhaps Ms Miles does not want to be seen or photographed anymore. But if a professional journalist could make an approach for a print Q and A, I think a lot of movie fans would be most grateful.
Somebody should try this. Any professionals reading this: please do. -
gtaylor0 — 19 years ago(January 01, 2007 03:26 PM)
And don't forget Disney - she did a few films for him, and must've known him. But she won't even give book interviews, which I don't get. And I agree, it's a tremendous waste, considering that people like her are living film history and when they're gone, they gone.
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ecarle — 19 years ago(January 06, 2007 12:44 AM)
Disney, indeed. "Follow Me Boys" and a few others.
Vera Miles was one of an interesting breed of fifties/sixties actresses. She seemed to work in movie leads and TV with equal fervor, often in the same years. Never a star actress, she nonetheless had the female leads in such hit or notable movies as "The Wrong Man," "The FBI Story," "Psycho" (Hitchcock effectively said that Lila is the LEAD of the movie, but that he put bigger star Janet Leigh in the shower victim role as a surprise), "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance."
But I think if you look at those movie years, you'll find Vera doing TV shows at the same time. Either/or, the paychecks were all good. -
huweyjenkins — 18 years ago(May 17, 2007 10:01 AM)
I appreciate what you say and it would be nice to hear from Vera but not all 77-year-olds enjoy the best of health. Perhaps this is one of the reasons she has stayed silent. I don't know for a fact it's just supposition.
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cmjohnson87 — 18 years ago(January 23, 2008 03:02 PM)
Perhaps her health has decreased considerably that she is no longer able to make public appearances do interviews, and or she is just an older woman who has no wish to be in the spotlight any longer. And wants to spend the rest of her days in peace. She's earned it
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pouncemo — 13 years ago(October 17, 2012 10:48 PM)
I think the poster meant that she won't do it because it would involve talking about her relationship with Hitchcock. That's a shame because that was just one miniscule part of a very long and prolific career. I don't even care what her relationship with him was. Her story would be intriguing and rich even if she left Hitchcock out of it entirely.
Problem is, if she tried to avoid the topic entirely, people would assume the worstwhatever that would be. Personally, I think it is just what it appeared: he was obsessed with her and couldn't have her. Seems like people won't be happy until they hear her say, "I slept with him to get the part", or whatever.