Review: North By Northwest (1959)

East, South, West, I’m directionless no matter how you slice it!

Written By: Ernest Lehman
Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock had developed a reputation by the time of North By Northwest as the director who loved to fool you. People went into his movies expecting there to be some sort of turn, reveal or lascivious moment that would shock the audience. North By Northwest was a different venture for Hitchcock, because there wasn’t any major turn, we all saw where the Eve Kendall character was headed, nor was there any sort of reveal or any shocking moments. Instead North By Northwest was over two hours of pure fun with constant sexual innuendos and suspenseful scenarios not about the twist but about survival. North By Northwest contains the feel of a Hitchcock film, but it also comes across as its own beast, quite different from the typical Hitchcock effort.

Fun was the key figure in North By Northwest. The fun came in the form of Cary Grant’s journey as Roger O. Thornhill. Watching as Grant runs from building to building trying to clear his name, runs from an approaching plane and finally traverses the front of Mt. Rushmore is a complete joy. This is sandwiched by sexual innuendo between Thornhill and Eva Marie Saint’s Eve Kendall that will knock your socks off. Even in today’s movies the way they talk would be considered beyond the social norm, and in 1959 their conversations would be considered near criminal. Every character in North By Northwest has a delectable interplay between them, even when they are trying to kill each other. There are times in other Hitchcock films where the script isn’t able to keep pace with the genius level efforts of the director, but that isn’t the case with North By Northwest.

As with any Hitchcock film, it is necessary to spend some time on his directorial efforts as far as shot selection and the look of the film go. Hitchcock has always had a knack for getting the best shot possible and North By Northwest isn’t any different. From the traveling train shot to show the elapsing of time to the brilliance of shooting a reflection on a TV screen as a tip off about an intruder. Shot after shot screams brilliance, but they also work within the framework of the movie. There are times when a director falls in love with the variance in camera angles or in shot selection and the look of the movie seems fake as a result. Even at his most clever in North By Northwest there is never a moment when the film, or Hitchcock, are dishonest to the tone or atmosphere they have developed.

Cary Grant was in the twilight of his career in North By Northwest, but you wouldn’t know it by watching this picture. He is vibrant and full of life, the whole film is incredibly vibrant in fact, and Grant is slick as can be with every line of dialogue he can deliver. Hitchcock at some point in his career fell in love with the image of the icy blond, and perhaps that is why Eva Marie Saint stands apart from any other leading lady ever employed by Mr. Hitchcock. She isn’t icy cold, she is alive, she is vivacious, she is vulnerable, she isn’t the perfect idea of a woman, she is a woman that is believable. The coldness in North By Northwest was deftly delivered by James Mason and Martin Landau as Phillip Vandamm and Leonard respectively. They are crisp and clean as the villains of the piece, always one step ahead of everyone and completely sure of themselves. So much so in fact that their eventual downfall is all the more fulfilling.

North By Northwest is a fine piece of film making, the best Hitchcock had to offer in his career, although I know that is open for much debate. It is equal parts fun, thrilling, sexual and tense. North By Northwest is a thrill ride that never lets up for a second and culminates with one of the better endings Hitchcock has engineered. There’s no point in telling you to see this film, or railing on about it anymore, if you haven’t seen this film already then you need to, it’s as simple as that.

Rating:

****

Cheers,
Bill