Pictures Gallery For North by Northwest

North by Northwest (1959)

Overall Score: 9 out of 10

The master of suspense presents a 3000-mile chase across America

Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, Leo G. Carroll, Josephine Hutchinson, Philip Ober, Martin Landau, Adam Williams, Edward Platt, Robert Ellenstein, Les Tremayne, Philip Coolidge, Patrick McVey, Ed Binns

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Running Time: 136 minutes

US MPAA rating: N/A
UK BBFC rating: PG
Adventure, Mystery, Thriller

On DVD On DVD

Do not adjust your sets. Yes, it's Cary Grant, and yes - he really is that lovely shade of orange. In this, his fourth and final outing under the gifted eyes of Alfie Hitchcock, the satsuma-faced screen legend produces perhaps the finest performance of his outstanding career. He's Roger Thornhill, the suave advertising exec mistaken for an international man of mystery, and he's going to need more than a twinkle in his eye and a nicely-pressed suit to get himself out of this particular pickle.

Things start to go askew for our tangerine-tanned hero when some spivs bundle him into the back of a car and whisk him off to a countryside manor, where he's grilled by sleazy villain Phillip Vandamm (James Mason) upon his arrival. Fortunately he manages to get loose and, thanks predominantly to a marvellous assortment of cheese-encrusted pick-up lines, hooks up with train-travelling beauty Eve (Eva Marie Saint) - but it seems his probs are only just beginning.

Ernest Lehman's fantastic screenplay incorporates spies, henchmen, double-crossers and no less than THREE of the most memorable scenes in Hollywood history (a murderous crop-duster, a rudely-interrupted art auction, and a game of tig on the face(s) of Mount Rushmore). It's practically tailor-made for the helmsmanship of Hitchcock, who gets to have a whale of a time playing with our minds, throwing our suspicions first one way and then the next as he refines techniques reminiscent from 24 years previously in 'The 39 Steps'.

This isn't quite in the same league as Hitchy's very best work - check out

DVD Extras: Cast and crew stuff, audio commentary from screenwriter Ernest Lehman, a 'Making Of' hosted by Eva Marie Saint, and a theatrical trailer. Extras: 6 out of 10

It's Got: A 'Cliffhanger' ending.

It Needs: Some proper climbing equipment.

Alternatives: The 39 Steps, Vertigo

Summary: A sizzling Hitchcock classic - not the man's very best work, but it's right up there. Overall Score: 9 out of 10

Review by Gary Panton

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External Links

North by Northwest at the IMDB

Comments

2 Comments

Ah yes! Those were much better times! I saw the movie when it first came out on the big screen!
Comment by:- Anonymous | | 28 July 2004 | ip: logged

Big deal
Comment by:- Anonymous | | 24 August 2004 | ip: logged

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