Who'd have thought university would be so time-consuming!
Who'd have thought university would be so time-consuming!
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North By Northwest is, at number 23 on the IMDB's greatest films list, one of Alfred Hitchcock's most enduringly popular movies. Made in 1959, it stars Cary Grant as a suave advertising exec fleeing from the police after being caught in the middle of a CIA undercover operation, even though Grant was about 55 years old when it was made!
He plays Roger Thornhill, an average kind of guy, albeit with a very well paid job and his own personal secretary. He's going to the theatre with his mother in the evening, but first meeting up with some guys in a hotel for drinks.
Suddenly, with no explanation, he is kidnapped and taken to the home of Lester Townsend. Much to everyone's bafflement, they begin calling him by the name George Caplin and asking him how much he knows about their plans. What plans? Who are these people? Who is George Caplin? Needless to say Roger
Thornhill (if that is his real name) is confused and angry - after all, he's supposed to be at the theatre! When he refuses to cooperate, they ply him with bourbon and try to kill him.
Luckily he escapes and drives away, only to be stopped for drink driving! The next morning, however, nobody believes his story - especially when he and the police visit Lester's house and find it empty, clean and with no trace of evidence from last night. Even Roger's own mother doesn't believe him.
So, Roger must enter the murky world of espionage in order to track down the identity of this Caplin character and find out what he's got himself into. Along the way he goes on the run from the police after getting caught at the scene of a murder, meets the seductive, mysterious Eve (Eva Marie Saint) on a train, and encounters more twists and turns than you can shake a stick at.
North by Northwest may not be such an original, thought-provoking film as some of Hitchcock's other classics, like Vertigo or Rear Window, but it sure is entertaining! Boasting some of cinema's most memorable action scenes, such as the fantastic corn-field plane attack and the thrilling shootout atop Mount Rushmore, plus plenty of twists and turns as I already mentioned, this film is one of the most ceaselessly gripping and enjoyable I've seen.
Throw into the mix an excellent, Oscar-nominated screenplay which sparkles with wit, intelligence and some great snappy dialogue, together with the talents of the ever-watchable Cary Grant, and you have yourself a hero who is flawed and realistic, but also engaging, charming and at times quite funny.
The scenes with Grant and Eva Marie Saint on the train are incredibly sexy and entertaining - they really have a fantastic chemistry together, and their dialogue shows that sexual innuendos can be funny if they're done correctly!
As a film it's more commercial and a lot more "Hollywood" than most of Hitchcock's films, presumably because he simply didn't make that many other light-hearted thrillers like this. However, there are still his usual trademark touches, such as the occasional unusual camera angle, the excellent build-up of tension and of course his early cameo appearance, this time as a man just missing the bus!
Of all of his films that I've seen, I would put North By Northwest right near the top - possibly not quite as brilliant as Vertigo, but on the other hand this is perhaps more exciting and entertaining. And entertaining is the key word here: whilst it's still more intelligent than most thrillers today, it doesn't require you to think too hard or look into your soul; just sit back and revel in the twists and turns, the fantastic screenplay and those unforgettable scenes - this is a definite classic. ____________________________________________________
The cheapest I could find this online is £5.99 from www.hmv.com.
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring:
Cary Grant … Roger Thornhill Eva Marie Saint … Eve Kendall James Mason … Phillip Vandamm Leo G. Carrol … The Professor
Classification: PG (some mild violence and sex references)
Running time: 136 minutes
Year: 1959
My rating: 9/10
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