NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)

Neha says
You don’t need to be told you’re watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie- there’s just a trademark tone, paranoia, suspense and style that’s as distinctive as it is repetitively enthralling. If North By NorthWest was not made by Hitchcock it would seem as homage to his own 1935 classic 39 STEPS (the parallels are uncanny) but if your more inclined to compare the film with the more traditional Hitchcockian psychological thrillers like Psycho, Vertigo, Dial M for Murder or even Rear Window, then North By NorthWest is a different Hitchcock experience. While the Master of Suspense plays to his strengths with a story that plays out like a detective thriller enveloped in mystery and intrigue, there is an epic quality to this grand outing. Train rides, shifting landscapes, a hair raising climactic chase at Mt. Rushmore and another one that involves our hero trying to outmatch a menacing airplane on his trail would give the action/spy movies a complex. In fact Hitchcock shows us he can do FUN as well as he can do creepy with a great balance of an old-school, passionate romance and adventure, wry humor, drama and action making this fit into a genre of its own that’s both entertaining and pulse-racing. The premise is simple with a suave bachelor Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) caught in a case of mistaken identity, accused of stealing and murder and on the run trying to absolve himself of crimes he did not commit while unearthing a far more sinister conspiracy along the way. But Ernest Lehman’s multi layered script and Hitchcock’s maverick eye for detail makes sure “simple” is the last term you would associate with this one. Trust him to know how to hold on to a moment be it comic, thrilling or dramatic. The pacing, Bernard Herrmann’s suspenseful soundtrack and the exhausting focus with which revelations, twists and confrontations are handled keep you on edge. My favorite scene has to be the one at the art auction where Cary Grant confronts the nefarious Phillip Vandamm (James Mason) while simultaneously sparring with his love interest Eve Kendall (Eve Marie Saint). Hitchcock gives us a master class in conflict management with such a heightened awareness of setting. We are so caught up in a moment that we don’t even realize Hitchcock is actually setting up a plot device that will catch us unaware at a later point in the film. Cary Grant even at 50 is the epitome of cool, debonair and sexy. He would have made such a brilliant James Bond. James Mason plays a great foil to Grant and makes for one of the most enigmatic villains of celluloid. Eve Marie Saint, the femme fatale of the story holds her own and brings a certain class and dignity to Kendall. North By NorthWest is everything you would expect from a Hitchcock-Grant movie and more…Hold your breadth because this creative synergy (the last, final and best of the four films they’ve done together) is in one word “explosive.”

Ira says

If you think the Bourne series is slick and suspenseful, Catch me if you Can is smart and clever and Date Night is funny, you’re missing out on the sophistication of a Hitchcockian classic NORTH BY NORTHWEST. Marked with the natural charisma, old world sex appeal (yes, he does seem to be irresistible to the opposite sex especially in this one) and coming timing of a dashing Cary Grant (his 4th spy thriller with the director), the rich and pulsating music of long-time Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann, the original and ingeniously plotted screenplay by the prolific Ernest Lehman who blends the intelligence of an espionage caper with drama, tension, humor, politics, action, adventure and sizzling romance (watch out for the train sequence in the film) in a typically Hitchcockian cloak of storytelling in tandem with the director, as well as the siren-like presence of the master filmmakers favorite female character, the evil seductress or femme fatale (an arresting Eve Marie Saint) this one is a thoughtfully told, and superbly made film.

Despite being one of his most commercial ventures in terms of its scale and exciting plot, as Hitchcock always likes, there is a sense of immediacy and intimacy to his storytelling that is unique to him. Shots are meticulously conceived, the camera alert, watching and involved, frames are carefully constructed, scenes are played out to their fullest, and in terms of story and characters, nothing is forgotten, everything is relished and little surprises provide sudden thrills or moments of wry humor. The film is long, yes, but one to be noted not just for is technical brilliance and action whoppers, as in the famous crop dusting airplane sequence where Grant is being chased by a plane or the famous climactic Mt. Rushmore set piece (where do you think our Hindi films got their inspiration from then?), but for the nuances in the color tones, the camera angles, the performances, the touches that Hitchcock is famous for and only he could achieve. Savor the master at his most entertaining best and get ready to feast your eyes on one of the first of what the international espionage thriller we know today looks like way back in 1959.