North By Northwest (1959)- A Club Discussion [Archive]

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seanc

03-31-17, 05:29 PM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Northbynorthwest1.jpg/220px-Northbynorthwest1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/69jS62b.jpg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_by_Northwest)

http://i.imgur.com/SvcxUQu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/bd8v0bm.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/yIiyJst.jpg

Yoda

03-31-17, 05:30 PM

Got too caught up for Rear Window (might still happen) but since I own this one already, I'll definitely be rewatching and taking notes in the next week or two, tops! Can't wait.

MovieMeditation

03-31-17, 05:39 PM

The first Hitch I saw. The one that started it all for me... my love for Hitch and my love and admiration for old movies and classic cinema. Thank you, Hitch.

This will be a great revisit.

seanc

03-31-17, 06:21 PM

North By Northwest

My second time watching North By Northwest. I definitely enjoyed it more this time. The slapstick nature didn't bother me as much and I actually found it quite funny. Grant is a magnetic actor. Some personalities draw you into a film all on their own, and Grant is in that category. At this point he only has a couple films I count among favorites but I have never been bored watching him on screen. Saint is very good as well, although not given as much to do as most of Hitch's blondes. This is a movie where I also recognized an awful lot of faces, which is always fun.

Not as much to talk about as far as camera work goes, but I will say this films looks stunning on Blu-ray. Very nice use of color. Unfortunately this film just doesn't draw me into its story and I really hate the Rushmore set piece. Remains lower on the Hitch spectrum for me, still not a bad watch and I will give it a third chance at some point.

3

rauldc14

03-31-17, 06:50 PM

Wish you liked it more but I think it is one of those we films that is hard to love, in a way. Fortunately, I do love it.

rambond

04-02-17, 04:35 AM

for me the best hitchcock film along with psycho and vertigo

Cobpyth

04-02-17, 08:08 PM

I rewatched North By Northwest last year and, while I wasn't that big a fan of it in the past, I was absolutely stunned by its brilliance the second time around. Everything suddenly worked for me. I immediately started regarding it as a Top 5 (maybe even Top 3) Hitchcock film.

It's basically the perfect spy film. It truly does everything right. It has a mad, twisty and complicated plot, the film is full of great eventful setpieces and Cary Grant acts through it all with a great sense of charm and wit. As usual with Hitch, what truly made me reconsider my earlier assessment was the fantastic filmmaking that is displayed. Each scene in the film has a purpose and a certain logical construction behind it. What's so great about Hitch is the fact that his filmmaking is always emotionally or rationally motivated. Almost nothing is ever just there for the sake of it.

My favorite moment is probably the jump cut ending. The whole film is so full of suspense and tension and then this very sudden moment of relaxation weirdly feels like the perfect conclusion. I think it's a pretty underrated moment, because it's truly one of the most ballsy moves of Hitch's career to make this gigantic spy picture end with a jump cut and a dirty metaphore (the equivalent of a cinematic joke, if you will) in order to release the viewers from their escalated fears.
I've always considered Hitchcock's capability of ending films to be one of his lesser developed skills*, but the ending of North By Northwest, in my opinion the best of his career, surely must be one of the greatest of all time!

* Although some of his films certainly do have very good endings, like for instance Rear Window...

seanc

04-04-17, 06:49 PM

Anyone planning on watching?

Nope1172

04-04-17, 06:58 PM

rauldc14

04-05-17, 11:48 PM

NBNW is probably my favorite Hitchcock film. I think it is his most fun, entertaining, and thrilling film. It usually doesn't get as much recognition as Psycho or Vertigo, but I think it is leagues better than both of those films.

It's my second favorite, but it's very high up there for my top 100. Psycho keeps closing the gap, but it's still a fairly sizable margin.

Citizen Rules

04-06-17, 12:30 AM

Anyone planning on watching?I have it waiting for me at the library and should be watching it Friday.

rauldc14

04-06-17, 02:03 AM

You know I will watch!

MovieMeditation

04-06-17, 05:59 AM

Anyone planning on watching?
Yes. But I'm so dann busy it's crazy..

Citizen Rules

04-08-17, 12:56 PM

https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=590x10000:format=png/path/sff2028f4bb119d0a/image/i365c3274bd388c69/version/1405940454/image.png

North by Northwest (1959)

I love the composition of that scene in the dust covered corn field. The big empty space, with Cary Grant off to one side, speaks volumes. Though it does not look like something Hitch would normally do.

I always enjoy Hitch's movies:) I can't think of a Hitch film I've seen that I disliked. I say that because I tend to focus my critique on things that I didn't care for, (but I still like the film).

Right off the bat, I loved the opening title credits and music score...The title credits are important, they set the theme of the movie...and it's feeling. The credits were frantic, fast paced, with diagonal lines...lines everywhere! Like points on the map.

Then the credits dissolve into a diagonal shot of the U.N. building. Very cool! Then the theme of fast, confused movement continues as Cary Grant bustle's down a very crowded New York City street. There's people everywhere! All going somewhere, movement, movement, movement!....That's the theme of the movie...and Hitch brilliantly establishes that in the opening scene.

Instantly the film grabs me and pulls me into it's world. The first 45 minutes where Cary is mistakenly abducted was gripping. The script is very intelligently written through out the entire film. Cary reacted to his kidnappers in the way I would have expected him to. And the plot twist and grows as it's story elements continually broadening the underlying spy theme. Well done.

Cary Grant is perfect for this role. As much as I like Jimmy Stewart, he would have been all wrong here. But the suave and yet irritated Cary worked perfectly here. So did James Mason. Damn is this guy good or what! The more I see of James Mason, the more I like him.

So, I was in bliss here with the movie, until Eva Maria Saint appears. I do like her but I feel the movie stalls when her character appears. She seemed to controlled in her acting, dramatic, but not real like Cary Grant was. She was austere, cold and distant. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know that was her character, but later in the movie when we learn more about her, she still stays in this same mode. I feel the same way about her in this movie, as I did about Grace Kelly in Rear Window and especially Dial M for Murder.

But wait a minute! I recently watched On the Waterfront and in that Eva Marie Saint was very good. She was believable and very much in the moment. So it's not her, as I know she can act up a storm, which means maybe it's not Grace either....It's the way Hitch handles some of his leading ladies. He seems to actively seek out, blonde arm hanger actresses in many of his 50s-60s movies. They're often the cold, cool, beautiful bitchy type. I've heard Hitch had a thing for that type. It's too bad because I found Eva's character somewhat lacking, and she could have been so much more here.

The last hour is fun/exciting/good, but more on par with Spielberg's Indian Jone type film, with lots of action, and thrills and trick camera shots.

rating_3_5

Citizen Rules

04-08-17, 11:10 PM

I just found this site, very cool
1000 Frames of North by Northwest (1959) (https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/1000_Frames_of_North_by_Northwest_%281959%29_-_frame_18)

rauldc14

04-09-17, 03:39 PM

Going to get to this today finally.

MovieMeditation

04-09-17, 03:54 PM

seanc

04-09-17, 03:57 PM

Started this up a couple of hours ago, but I'm not sure if I can finish it today. I gotta revisit Furious 7 today and finish my F&F binge leading up to the new movie - and I only got today because I'm going on vacation...

So YES, I'm holding Vin Diesel and mindless action above Hitchcock and masterful suspense here. :D I'm sorry...

BUT I may be able to finish the rest of NBNW before I go to bed. We'll see...

It's all about family Meds. Get to the Hitch. I try my hardest not to sound like a movie snob because I'm not a good one but I am floored that there are cinephiles who like those movies. The new trailer has to be one of the worst things I have ever watched.

Camo

04-09-17, 03:59 PM

So MM is banned from the Hitch Club, right? :D

MovieMeditation

04-09-17, 04:01 PM

It's all about family Meds. Get to the Hitch. I try my hardest not to sound like a movie snob because I'm not a good one but I am floored that there are cinephiles who like those movies. The new trailer has to be one of the worst things I have ever watched.
We all have one movie or one movie series that we love despite the hate.

Iro enjoys the entire Resident Evil franchise for example...

rauldc14

04-09-17, 04:01 PM

Fast and Furious over Hitch?!?!? Oh boy...

Cobpyth

04-09-17, 04:06 PM

We all have one movie or one movie series that we love despite the hate.

I don't love anything even remotely as despicable as the F&F series. :p

rauldc14

04-09-17, 04:09 PM

I actually didn't mind the first 3. Don't think I've seen one since. Of course it's more mindless entertainment than anything of value.

MovieMeditation

04-09-17, 04:10 PM

Yeah yeah, go ahead and mock me. :(

MovieMeditation

04-09-17, 04:11 PM

I actually didn't mind the first 3. Don't think I've seen one since. Of course it's more mindless entertainment than anything of value.
Uh, entertainment value :p

Citizen Rules

04-09-17, 04:12 PM

Fast and Furious MM...and a rewatch of it too? Hmmm:suspicious: I don't know about you MM;) You need to become more of a movie snob and only watch serious movies, like this serious art house film, I reviewed.
https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=1633441#post1633441

seanc

04-09-17, 04:14 PM

We all have one movie or one movie series that we love despite the hate.

Iro enjoys the entire Resident Evil franchise for example...

You mean like Cob with Twilight and Raul with the Divergent series?

Cobpyth

04-09-17, 04:16 PM

You mean like Cob with Twilight

Don't you dare.

MovieMeditation

04-09-17, 04:17 PM

You mean like Cob with Twilight and Raul with the Divergent series?
If that's a fact then yes. But I sure hope Cob doesn't seriously like those films... or else he put himself in a pretty dumb situation. :p

At least most of the F&F franchise is actually well reviewed. :shrug:

rauldc14

04-09-17, 04:17 PM

You mean like Cob with Twilight and Raul with the Divergent series?

Never seen it, but that has Shailene Woodley right? You could be onto something!

Cobpyth

04-09-17, 04:18 PM

If that's a fact then yes. But I sure hope Cob doesn't seriously like those films... or else he put himself in a pretty dumb situation. :p

Please.

seanc

04-09-17, 04:19 PM

That would have been a good spot to use the I love you code, but I don't know it.

MovieMeditation

04-09-17, 04:23 PM

But anyways... Hitch is one of my favourite directors ever and I love his films... the F&F series got nothing on those films, but on their own they are great fun and have some very good action. I grew up with them and have watched them ever since so they have some nostalgic value to me. I've come to love and enjoy watching these characters on screen and I have a weak spot for creative action and despite becoming more crazy as time goes by they still do it well and always practical. I don't care what anyone says I still like them. But I'm worried about the new one... haven't seen the latest trailer though. I want to go in more fresh.

Citizen Rules

04-09-17, 04:26 PM

It's cool MM, I don't know if you looked at my review link, but I love the Hallmark Murder She Backed movie series. Silly, yes! Fun yes!

seanc

04-09-17, 04:27 PM

rauldc14

04-10-17, 03:00 PM

North By Northwest

As I've said before this is my second favorite Hitchcock movie. The script makes the film go to a whole new level. It's probably the film with the best scripted dialogue that I've ever seen. There are so many jokes that fly under the radar I think I unravel a new one every time. My favorite is perhaps the sexual innuendo, like when Eve says she's a big girl, Thornhill replies, yeah and in all the right places.

Speaking of those two characters, it was a perfect casting choice by Hitchcock. I read somewhere that Jimmy Stewart wanted the lead role, but I think Grant is more crafty and funny so I'm glad they went with him. And Eva Marie Saint played the role perfectly. It has the feel of a James Bond film, with Grant as Bond and Saint as a Bond Girl.

A lot of iconic scenes to be certain, but I'm going to go with the obvious as my favorite with the crop duster scene. The scene starts off as not much special but after a while we get a sense in feeling that something is going on, as cars and trailers are whizzing by. Before that, it is otherwise silent. A blue car drops another man off and we are left to wonder why. As they talk about the crop duster and the other man boards the bus, we get the feeling that maybe everything is alright again. But then thenplanemout of nowhere directly comes after Thornhill. Brilliant filmmaking there :up:

As for the ending, I agree that it is a very strong Hitchcock ending. Really the last 20 minutes is pure brilliance for me. Very tense stuff. And of course the innuendo at the end is a great Hitchcock staple.

GulfportDoc

04-12-17, 08:11 PM

It would be difficult to overestimate the impact this wonderful film had on the moviegoer of 1959. Hitchcock was at the zenith of his status as legendary genius director, so the public was primed for a fascinating picture. The second that the opening credits started, the viewer was overcome by the exciting and pulsating music by Bernard Herrmann and the unique and avant-garde title sequencing by Saul Blass. The anticipation created by the opening credits lasted well into the film. Even today, 58 years later, I find it stirring and mood building. Herrmann's scoring alone was a bonafide masterpiece.

Written by Ernest Lehman, he stated that his objective was to write the ultimate “Hitchcock” film. There’s no question that he succeeded, with Hitchcock’s assistance.

The picture flows in a seemingly flawless way, moving from scene to scene. The “crop dusting” portion is one of the great scenes in cinema, ranking up there in memory with the shower scene in Psycho. Robert Burks’ cinematography created the perfect expanse for the action. I even enjoyed Malcolm Atterbury’s cameo as the man at the crossroads. The tension in that scene was magnetic.

True to form, Hitchcock’s “macguffin” --in this case, microfilm with government secrets-- made no difference to the plot or action. It could have been anything. In fact I never realized what the object of the espionage was until I’d seen the film 2-3 times!

The sexual innuendo between Grant and Eve Marie Saint was electric for the time. In fact some of the dialogue had to change to satisfy the censors. What remained was hot stuff for its era-- especially the sexually suggestive back and forth between the two. And the train entering the tunnel at the end after they’d piled into the bunk was a stroke of genius.;)

So this remains one of the great films. Surely there has been a director since who had the public’s rapt following that was Hitchcock’s, but no name comes to mind.

~Cheers

MovieMeditation

04-12-17, 08:20 PM

I almost finished this today, but then Suspect posted about Mechanic: Resurrection and well...

I just HAD to watch that one again! jokes y'all... jokes

Citizen Rules

04-14-17, 11:21 PM

I just watched the DVD extras on North by Northwest. It's well worth the watch. It gave me a new appreciation for the movie...though I already considered it one of my favorite Hitch films.

The film extra was hosted by Eva Marie Saint, with interviews with her, the scriptwriter Ernest Lehman and Hitch's daughter Pat Hitchcock. It really was fascinating hearing these people who actually worked on the film talk about Hitch and the process of making North by Northwest. Just a couple tidbits:

Scriptwriter Ernest Lehman tells the story how Hitch was making a film for MGM based on the novel of The Wreck of the Mary Deare. After some time went by Lehman tells Hitch he's sorry but he just can't write the movie. Expecting Hitch to be mad and fire him...Hitch instead surprises Lehman by saying they will just make another movie, but not tell MGM.

And Hitch has an idea, it's actually only a visually scene that he has created in his head. He wants to film people being chased across the face of Mt Rushmore. Lehman likes the idea! and he jaunts down some notes.

A couple weeks later Hitch tells Lehman another idea that he had kicking around in his head for some time. Hitch has envisioned a scene at the U.N. building where an ambassador is giving a speech, when he pauses and says, "he won't continue until the ambassador from Peru wakes up"...One of the U.N. staff touches the Peruvian ambassador on his shoulder, only to find he's been murdered.

And that's how the story of North by Northwest got wrote! Oh...if you hadn't noticed the scriptwriter, Ernest Lehman is the writer for The Sweet Smell of Success. No wonder North by Northwest is such an intelligently written film.

MovieMeditation

04-15-17, 01:20 PM

Finally got back to this yesterday...

North by Northwest is still a great film. Hitchcock loves his movies about "the wrong man" and this might just be the best of them or at least the ultimate one in terms of that thematic fundament. It's one of Hitchcock's longest films but it doesn't drag and while this movie doesn't have the best suspense Hitch have ever created it does hold an impressive stretch of suspense and subtle tension and thrills considering the length. Also, the story and mystery is a fun one and it's well built. It isn't always believeable nor does it hold tightly together but it's always entertaining enough and is put together so well that you can't seem to care enough to really criticize it for that. And it's clear that Hitch believes so much in his vision that you are easily persuaded to just follow along for the (thrill) ride.

Grant is great in the lead and Eva Maria Saint is pretty decent as well. The crop scene is as great as ever and I was entertained throughout. Lovely revisit.

4

seanc

04-15-17, 01:22 PM

Would have been better if he got chased by a submarine.

MovieMeditation

04-15-17, 01:39 PM

Would have been better if he got chased by a submarine.
Very true. :laugh:

The characters are not airborne enough in this movie either. Shame.

Yoda

05-19-20, 08:02 PM

https://twitter.com/MisterABK/status/1262688181478137856

MovieMeditation

05-19-20, 08:35 PM

That is absolutely hilarious. :laugh:

Worthy thread bump.