The Movie Forums Top 100 of All-Time Refresh: Countdown

Anyway, we all know there's still time for Twilight, Justice League (cinematic version), and Uwe Boll's House Of The Dead to appear.

8 - North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959)

My favourite Alfred Hitchcock film, North by Northwest is one of the most fun and enjoyable film watches that I have experienced, Grant is excellent in the central role of the innocent man wrongly accused. There's many fantastic scenes and set pieces, the famous scene pictured, Mount Rushmore, UN building and many more. A film that I have got on blu ray ready to re watch in the future and one I believe I will love for many years to come, my original review below:

1958 to 1963 saw the production of four Alfred Hitchcock films. In 1958 there was “Vertigo”, followed the next year by “North by Northwest” and the next by “Psycho”, then three years later “The Birds”. These are four of the most famous films from Hitchcock and it is incredible to think he was able to create four fantastic films consecutively.

“North by Northwest” is probably my favourite Hitchcock film that I have seen so far. I love them all but this film in particular stands out for me, it was one of the first Hitchcock films I had seen and it was one that immediately attracted me to the work of the director.

The plot is one that Hitchcock loved to use, an innocent man that becomes the victim of mistaken identity. Cary Grant stars as Roger Thornhill in the lead role and does a fantastic job as a man running to escape from foreign spies attempting to kill him.

Grant was actually wanted to star in a James Bond film in his career however he turned down the opportunity, only willing to participate in one film where as the producers wanted to tie him down to a franchise. If you’ve seen “North by Northwest” then you’ll know why Grant was wanted for the role with his cool and confident personality and physical appearance seemingly perfect for the role.

“North by Northwest” is everything you could want for an adventurous thriller and makes for an extremely enjoyable and fun movie. Hitchcock uses his famous style to create a suspenseful escapist film as Grant is chased across America with some fantastic scenes displaying this such as the famous Plane scene in the middle of nowhere.

As usual Hitchcock casts a beautiful young woman to support the main star, in this film it is Eva Marie Saint who works perfectly alongside Grant, and thanks to her we can see the full capabilities of Grant’s acting as his character shows his different reactions to different situations. Throughout the film the character is put in a variety of different scenarios where we see different sides of him such as his conversations and sexual awkwardness with Eve Kendall (E. M. Saint), his calmness in dangerous situations and also his humour such as the great auction scene and some of the opening scenes with his mother.

The film is not without its flaws however and watching it over 50 years since its creation we certainly see some of the elements differently now, some of the screens and backdrops used are less than convincing and the editing of the final scene has been criticised by some but this is not enough to detract from what is an exhilarating and exciting film that is filled with everything you could want for a film of its kind.

Another thing that is great is Hitchcock’s use of famous scenery to create iconic images as mentioned in my review of “How to Catch a Thief” where I talked about those created by the Golden Gate Bridge in “Vertigo”. In this film the setting is Mount Rushmore which he uses to create a terrific chase scene.

In terms of filmmaking perfection, frame by frame you will not get the quality achieved in a film by “Vertigo” but I love this film because of its plot which allows us to sit back and enjoy this incredibly fun thriller.

Actually that leaves 5 slots. Lebowski and The Departed could obviously too. I'm probably missing a couple glaring omissions.

The photography is what stands out of course, and I absolutely love Robert Mitchum - a shame one of my top list picks Pursued with him isn't going to make it.



Give it a watch if you haven't seen it. Like Hunter the photography is incredible, Robert Mitchum gives an awesome performance, and it's got a really gripping dark story at the centre of it.

Cukoo's Nest and Chinatown are in I think. I'm on the fence about Rashamon. I still think Fight Club doesn't make it. We have surprises coming, which is really cool.

I am going to be bummed if Altman gets zip, but I don't see any of his coming. I still remember my surprise at how Nashville got thrashed in the HOF I nominated it for. He is a lukewarm director here I think. I knew my choice of his wouldn't make it, but I wanted to give it some love.