Rating Hitchcock's films can be a rather difficult task, especially since the British director made many truly exceptional films during his golden period from the 1950s to the early 1960s. Many of those films are very distinctive from each other, but the difference in quality is microscopic. Therefore, scholars and critics must apply different sets of criteria when they rate Hitchcock's films. The author of this review is consequently unable to name Hitchcock's film that is, in his view, the best. But, on the other hand, I can name Hitchcock's film that provides the best viewing experience. That film is North by Northwest, the 1959 comedic thriller that is often mentioned as the cornerstone of that particular genre.
The plot, based on the original script by Ernest Lehman, begins in New York, where Roger O. Thornhill (played by Cary Grant), a successful middle-aged advertising executive, prepares for a business lunch in the Plaza Hotel. There he is mistaken for "George Kaplan" and is immediately kidnapped by two sinister-looking men who take him to a country house on Long Island. There he is confronted by their leader (played by James Mason), who doesn't believe Thornhill's claims of mistaken identity and decides to kill Thornhill by getting him drunk and arranging a traffic accident. Thornhill, while drunk, manages to escape his captors but is soon arrested and charged with driving under the influence. The authorities view his abduction story as an alcoholic fantasy, especially since they find no evidence of foul play in the house allegedly used by the captors. Thornhill, on the other hand, decides to settle this matter, so he goes to the UN building where he is supposed to meet the owner of the house, UN diplomat Lester Townsend (played by Philip Ober). The meeting ends in disaster for Thornhill – assassins not only kill the diplomat, but Thornhill himself is seen as the perpetrator in front of dozens of witnesses. Thornhill is now forced to flee both from the assassins and the police, and the only way for him to clear his name is to find the real George Kaplan. The trail leads him to Chicago, so he boards a train where he receives assistance from Eve Kendall (played by Eva Marie Saint), an attractive industrial designer who seems to fall for the handsome fugitive and whose presence on the train might not be accidental.
Versatility as one of the ingredients for cinematic genius could be clearly observed during Hitchcock's golden phase. North by Northwest represents another brilliant example of such versatility, especially when we compare this film to Hitchcock's previous masterpiece. North by Northwest in many ways provides a sharp contrast to Vertigo, made one year earlier. Instead of an extremely dark and unrelentingly depressive psychological drama, we are now presented with a light-hearted, almost farcical comedy of errors. Instead of a film that sacrifices tempo and action for the sake of establishing deep characters, we are here introduced to a roller-coaster plot full of breath-taking scenes. Instead of dysfunctional characters on the verge of psychosis, North by Northwest gives us one of the clearest examples of Hitchcock's "ordinary man in an extraordinary situation" formula.
On this particular occasion, the "ordinary man" is played by Cary Grant, an extraordinary actor who had great previous experience with Hitchcock, usually playing suave characters. This time, the character of Roger O. Thornhill represented quite a challenge, because the protagonist of this film was supposed to be a "normal", ordinary person. Unable to brush off his already iconic looks and mannerisms, Grant had to rely on some interesting character quirks that would make this character closer to the perception of Joe Average. So, his character of Thornhill is given some rather unflattering baggage – two failed marriages, boozing and lying habits, plus the image of a mamma's boy that doesn't quite correspond with his greying hair. The ironic dimension of the last element was recognised by Hitchcock, and he accordingly gave the role of Thornhill's mother to Jessie Royce Landis, an actress younger than Grant. Many critics often like to see Thornhill in North by Northwest as the precursor to the character of James Bond, but they usually ignore the fact that suaveness is the only thing Thornhill and Bond have in common. Actually, Thornhill is anything but an extraordinary hero – in the beginning of the film he is only a passive participant in a plot beyond his comprehension. While Bond has some abilities and training to deal with extraordinary situations, Thornhill must more often than not rely on luck or other people to get him out of trouble. In many instances, those people are women, and on one occasion it results in rather humiliating experiences when Thornhill leaves the elevator being ridiculed as a "mamma's boy". Thornhill also on many occasions makes mistakes, some of them bordering on common stupidity, and only through a rather far-fetched set of circumstances fulfils the role of the hero, still suffering setbacks until the very end of the film.
The icy blonde – another important element of Hitchcock's formula – is this time played by Eva Marie Saint, an actress who is relatively unknown compared to other Hitchcock blondes. This is partly because the reputation of Eva Marie Saint has rather tough competition in the forms of Grace Kelly, Kim Novak, Janet Leigh, and Tippi Hedren, but the real reason is the fact that the character of Eve Kendall doesn't exactly fit Hitchcock's stereotypes. This character is more complex and multi-layered, but Saint, despite looking supernaturally glamorous in her role of femme fatale, still retains some down-to-earth qualities of the girl-next-door, making her character even more charming. Because of that, Saint's performance in this film is one of the most convincing female roles in Hitchcock's opus and definitely the most underrated of them all.
Hitchcock in North by Northwest keeps heroes and heroines within the boundaries of his formulas, but strays away from his principles when it comes to the depiction of villains. In this case, they are less interesting than the protagonists. James Mason as the chief villain is suave but menacing, yet somehow his manners are too mechanical. Young Martin Landau as his creepy but intelligent sidekick, Leonard, is more impressive. Some villainous traits are even reserved for characters usually associated with the forces of good, and Leo G. Carroll, a long-time associate of Hitchcock, provides an impressive performance as a chillingly cynical Professor.
Hitchcock's trademarks are not only visible in the realm of characterisation but also in the way he constructed the film. His method of building the movie on a single yet effective scene is here enriched with an excellent script that provided not one great scene but many. And all those scenes make perfect sense by gradually changing the environment and general atmosphere of the film, starting with the noisy, overpopulated streets of New York and ending in the empty, natural state of Mount Rushmore (and culminating in an almost too obvious Freudian comment in the very last shot of the film). To achieve that effect, Hitchcock heavily relied on cinematography by Robert Burks and music by the always reliable Bernard Herrmann. The choice of the latter is superb, especially in the scenes where Hitchcock deliberately decides not to have music in the soundtrack and thus allows the atmosphere to develop through the much more effective silence. The choice of locations – New York, the UN Building, Mount Rushmore – is also very good, as is the rather impressive architecture and interior design of Vandamm's house.
North by Northwest, although probably the most beloved of all Hitchcock's films, has had its share of critics, always ready to rip it to shreds with nit-picks. There are some elements in this film that might be seen as flaws, namely when it comes to the plausibility of certain scenes. For example, in the scene that takes place in the UN building, Thornhill acts as no sane man would act in similar circumstances. The finale is marred by a somewhat too convenient deus ex machina. And, finally, even the most cherished of all Hitchcockian moments – the crop-dusting scene – might be perfect from the technical point of view, but it nevertheless features the most idiotic method of assassination in cinema history. However, by the time this happens, the audience has already been exposed to the farcical nature of this film, in which nothing on screen can be taken too seriously. Viewers who bother with such details make the same mistake as those who are ready to ponder at length about the true nature of the "MacGuffin" in North by Northwest. They should simply sit, relax, and enjoy watching this as one of the best films ever made.
RATING: 9/10 (++++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on October 1st 2000)
==
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
Cent profile https://beta.cent.co/@drax
Minds profile https://www.minds.com/drax_rp_nc
Brave browser: https://brave.com/dra011
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/213-north-by-northwest?language=en-US
Critic: AAA