North by Northwest
The master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, drew on the most basic elements of fear to create his films. His pacing and his ability to conduct the suspense in his pictures made him legendary and his witty humour only added to the intricacy of his films. With 1959’s North by Northwest, Hitchcock is possibly at his very best. This tale of mistaken identity is a stimulating thriller, packed with the archetypal spies and mystery that make these things all the more convincing. North by Northwest was penned by Ernest Lehman, who had wanted to write the “Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures.” With this film, I think he succeeded.

This film was the only one of Hitchcock’s storied career to be released by MGM and the creative differences between the director and the production company began from the start of filming and relented to its conclusion. MGM and Hitchcock disagreed on a number of issues, including the female lead and the editing of the film. MGM had wanted North by Northwest to be trimmed down by about 15 minutes to make it less than two hours in length. Hitchcock had absolute control over the cut through his contract with MGM, however, and refused the request. The studio also wanted Cyd Charisse for the role that Hitchcock placed Eva Marie Saint in.

Cary Grant stars as Roger Thornhill, an advertising executive working on Madison Avenue. One day, Thornhill is mistaken for a government agent and whisked away by two men. He is taken to a house, where he is forced into the staging of a deadly accident. Through a wild and alarming chase sequence in which Thornhill drives drunk down careening roads, he manages to escape and land in the loving hands of the law. Thornhill tries to explain the incident to the police, but they remain sceptical. Thornhill realizes that the only way to prove his story is to locate the man whose identity he has been confused with, so he heads off to find him. The subsequent search takes him from the United Nations, to a blonde bombshell (Saint), to a startling encounter with a crop-duster, and finally to Mount Rushmore for the film’s dramatic finale.

North by Northwest was planned as a change of pace from Vertigo, Hitchcock’s previous dark romantic thriller. The film took shape rather abnormally, as MGM had actually dispatched Hitchcock to do another picture entitled The Wreck of the Mary Deare. That film was never made by Hitchcock because he had thought it to be rather lacklustre. When that film actually was released, incidentally, most people agreed that Hitchcock’s postulation was correct. North by Northwest came out as a result of writer’s block and the outright refusal to make a tedious movie.

Hitchcock has said that North by Northwest is one of his lighter films and lacks the imagery of his other pieces. Despite his insistence that it is intended as a fun thriller, film buffs continue to pine over the material in search of emblematic details. The film is considered a masterpiece for its themes of mistaken identity and moral relativism during the time of the Cold War. The central theme of North by Northwest appears to be that of “performing,” as the characters are consistently playing a role. With Saint’s character, for instance, she continues to coil and circle with the plot and is very difficult to pin down. We join with Thornhill as we ponder the disorientation of the state of affairs and of the characters. Cary Grant actually approached Hitchcock about the script and, confounded, articulated the line “I can’t make heads nor tails of it” inadvertently knowing that the line would be in the film.

North by Northwest is a classic suspense film about the nature of reality. The plot represents one of Hitchcock’s purer plots, but it is the execution that really sets things swirling. Hitchcock conducts some of the most intense sequences on film, such as the famed crop-duster sequence. As the sequence unfolds without music and with lots of wide shots showing the bleak location, the tension rises without the spectators really knowing why. Each passing car becomes an object of foreboding as we wait with Thornhill out on the road and when the plane appears…it’s petrifying.

The cast also includes James Mason, Leo G. Carroll, Martin Landau in a typically eerie turn, and Philip Ober. Hitchcock makes his standard cameo near the beginning of the film, as he misses a bus near the two-minute mark. Sara Berner is used as the uncredited voice of a telephone operator. Berner played the upstairs neighbour in Hitchcock’s Rear Window.

Hitchcock’s North by Northwest is a classic tale of suspense, mystery, and thrills. It is a jaw-dropping film, filled with moments of agonizing apprehension and exasperating action. It is also marvellous fun and the characters are infused with wit and humour. The writing is fantastic and Hitchcock’s proficient direction plays with the screenplay just enough to keep things moving at a solid tempo. Grant is excellent, as always, as Thornhill and his chemistry with Saint is greatly pleasurable. The villains are also a lot of fun, especially Landau’s sinister character. North by Northwest is certainly one of Hitchcock’s finer films and represents a bold chapter in the career of a master director.

10/10

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