La Mort aux trousses

My favourite director, Alfred Hitchcock has directed many classics like Psycho, Rear Window and Vertigo, and I will say that this deserves to be up there among his best. I absolutely loved it! The best aspect of this movie is the always charming Cary Grant in a brooding and entertaining performance as Roger Thornhill, a man wanted for the murder of a diplomat. Solidly supporting him all the way are the lovely Eva Marie Saint as Eve Kendell and oily James Mason as the villainous Vandamme. They are further advantaged by some excellent camera-work and a wonderfully atmospheric music score. The script is focused and suspenseful, and Hitchcock's direction ensures the film rarely slips, even if some of the complicated plot does fly over people's heads. The climax though is simply the icing on the cake. Overall, a hugely enjoyable film, which I will give a 9.5/10. Bethany Cox

"North By Northwest" is another of Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers where an ordinary man is put into an extraordinary situation. As in most of these movies, the hero has to quickly adapt to his situation or perish.

This time it is Cary Grant who is thrust into a world of international intrigue when is mistaken by villain James Mason for an American operative named George Kaplan (the film's "McGuffan" by the way). Along the way he is seduced by Mason's mistress (Eva Marie Saint) while being pursued by Mason and his cronies from New York to Chicago to South Dakota and ultimately to Mount Rushmore for the film's climax.

"North By Northwest" is full of classic Hitchcock moments. First,there is Grant's frustration and fear as he tries to explain to Mason that he is not the person they are seeking. Next, the scene in the cornfield where Grant is isolated and attacked by a plane is pure Hitchcock. Then we have the art auction where he cleverly escapes Mason's henchmen and finally, the finale at Mount Rushmore in a scene reminiscent of a similar one in "Sabotage" (1942) (which took place at the top of the Statue of Liberty).

The cast, as in most Hitchcock films is excellent. Grant is understandably confused and frightened as the the hero, Eva Marie Saint has never been sexier as the femme fatale, James Mason is suave and sinister as the villain and Martin Landau in an early role, is good as Mason's chief henchman. Hitchcock regular Leo G. Carroll is cold heartedly sinister as the "professor". Jesse Royce Landis as Grant's mother (she was about Grant's real age) is wasted and unnecessary to the plot.

The only problem that I have with this and other Hitchcock films is his over reliance on back projection and soundstage "exteriors". Other than that. "North By Northwest" has to be considered as one of Hitchcock's best. Watch for Hitchcock's hilarious cameo appearance at the end of the opening credits.

North by Northwest will need no introduction to most movie-goers. It's a classic, greatly admired by audiences and critics alike. The story about a befuddled ad-executive fleeing from spies and the police (the spies want him dead because he knows of their plot, the police want him captured because they think he's behind a murder) is done at a breakneck pace and deals with Hitchcock's most frequently used theme: an innocent man on the run.

Cary Grant is urbane and smooth as the hero. James Mason oozes silky menace as the principal villain (Martin Landau also plays a villain, giving his character a seriously nasty toughness). Eva Marie Saint is simply fabulous as the woman whose loyalties seems torn between good and bad.

The set pieces are rightly considered to be moments of cinematic genius. Grant's escape from a crop-duster; the fight atop Mount Rushmore; the auction house bluff; the drunken car journey; the murder at the UN building.... each scene is brilliantly devised by script writer Ernest Lehmann and just as brilliantly filmed by director Hitchcock. Everyone should see this movie... it's a masterpiece.

I saw this film for the first time when I was a freshman in college as part of an english class I took entitled "writing and the movies". Little did I realize that I would be seeing a film that would stay with me to this day and in essence become one of my all time favorites. Then, a few years ago, I caught it on the big screen at the Fine Arts theater in downtown Chicago. I remember that it was a rainy, cold October day. Perfect weather for a Hitchcock film I thought to myself.

For me, half of the fun of North by Northwest is its incredible story. This film has something for everyone within it: a little comedy, a little romance, great snappy dialogue and more action than any Bruce Willis Die Hard film combined. Hitchcock was a master at this and in North by Northwest he lets his genius shine through totally. It seems to me that whenever I watch it, everyone who made this film from Cary Grant on down had nothing but sheer fun making it. Perhaps my two favorite scenes are the infamous "crop-duster" sequence and the last twenty minutes or so at Mount Rushmore.

I must give special mention to Ernest Lehman who yet again managed to write a screenplay that totally knocks your socks off. How he came up with the idea, I've not a clue, but what an idea it is. The screenplay itself was nominated for an Academy Award that year, but lost to Pillow Talk. North by Northwest was also nominated for Best Set Decoration and Best Film Editing, but lost to Ben-Hur in both categories.

All in all, what a film. If you haven't seein it, do so ASAP. North by Northwest just reinforces my belief that Alfred Hitchcock was one of the greatest directors of all time. Period.

My rating: 4 stars

With everything you expect from Hitchcock and more, "North By Northwest" is terrific entertainment from the master. There are interesting characters, an exciting story with intrigue and suspense, lots of fine photography, and some of Hitchcock's best-known set pieces. It's capped off by a fine Bernard Herrmann score that is almost as good as the one he wrote later for "Psycho".

Cary Grant may be the ideal Hitchcock actor, and he is a big part of making this such great fun. As one of the man-on-the-run characters that Hitchcock loved to make movies about, Grant is entertaining and believable, maintaining good humor even as he tries to work his way out of a series of desperate situations. The other stars, James Mason and Eva Marie Saint, also are very good, and the supporting roles are all filled by good character actors.

The story is one of Hitchcock's most exciting. It's slightly longer than usual, and it occasionally stretches credibility, but it all goes by quickly because there is always something interesting going on, and there is also plenty to look at. Whether using the famous landmarks or using more everyday settings, there is always lots of good detail, and the settings complement the story nicely. At times the plot becomes somewhat fanciful, but probably deliberately so, for it only emphasizes Hitchcock's mastery of technique that he can have his characters do almost anything and make you believe it at the time.

With everything that characterizes Hitchcock at his very best, this fully deserves its reputation as one of the finest films by him or any other director. You can watch it several times and still find it just as entertaining.