North by North West (1959)
North by North West by Alfred Hitchcock has always been one of my favourite movies. It is almost made up entirely of sequences which have become classics in their own right.
The scene with the cropduster plane comes to mind, as well as the dinner scene on the train where Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint start to fall in love with each other.
North by North West also marked the beginning of a new genre: the action thriller and served as an inspiration to the James Bond series and counters other movies.
It also tells one of the classic ‘innocent man on the run’ stories that Alfred Hitchcock was famous for.
Cary Grant plays advertising executive Roger O. Thornhill, but is mistaken for one George Kaplan, who is believed to be a secret agent, and is therefore kidnapped by members of a criminal organisation who are afraid he will foil their plans to smuggle secret information out of the country.
After Thornhill manages to escape certain death, he is framed for the murder of a U.N. executive, he is forced to flee to prove his innocence, his only ally being a young woman who goes by the name of Eve Kendall. But even her true motives are a mystery.
It’s fun to see their characters move the plot, which is nothing more than a MacGuffin to keep the story moving forward. Thornhill is cunning. Kendall is sly. They both have a lot of tricks up their sleeves, which makes everything very interesting.
The quite brilliant script was written by Ernest Lehman, who told Hitch he wanted to write the ultimate Hitchcock movie. And in many ways he succeeded.
Hitchcock's direction is masterful, there is a style and grace to the proceedings that makes you forget some of the more far fetched elements of the story.
The intriguing opening titles by Saul Bass, the hypnotic score by Bernard Hermann and the wonderful widescreen lensing by Robert Burks are also of note.
North by North West was one of the most successful movies of Hitchcock’s long and illustrious career. It was also nominated for three Oscars - screenplay, editing and art direction - and even though it didn’t win any its reputation of an all time classic has only grown over the years.
The film features excellent performances by all cast members and the chemistry between Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint is a joy to watch.
North by North West offers pure cinematic entertainment. If you ever get a chance to see it on the big screen, do yourself a favor and go.
Oene Kummer
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