Week 9: North by Northwest
Sunday 20th Nov – Pleasance Theatre
Alfred Hitchcock, 1959, 131 min
Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant) your mild-mannered advertising executive is mistaken for a secret spy and interrogated by a gang of spies lead by Phillip Vandamm (James Mason). He must then avoid the agents and try to find out what the heck is going on. Along the way he is helped by an Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) who is connected to Vandamm and appears to know more than she is willing to tell. Eventually meeting up with American spy leader he agrees to help bring down Vandamm and rescue Eve. The film climaxes in a chase scene through the woods and down the face of Mt. Rushmore.
Filmed between Vertigo (1958) and Psycho (1960), ‘North by Northwest’ is Hitchcock’s longest piece and is much lighter entertainment opposed to his previous thrillers. The backdrops particularly are far more striking; including the face of Mt. Rushmore and the crop-duster scene which has since become a legendary film moment. Thornhills resourcefulness in the face of danger is what saves him from near death and sets him apart from other Hitchcock heroes, such as when he’s stuck in the auction room and makes a big commotion so the police escort him out and away from Vandamms goons. WHERE’S HITCHCOCK? At the very beginning during the rush hour traffic he rushes to catch a bus only to have the door slam on his face.
A spy film without the gadgets of Mr. Bond and that subsequently does not suffer from the passage of time. Watch if you like ‘Quantum of Solace’, ‘The Bourne Identity’ or ‘Casablanca’.
Written by Huw Bowdler