North By Northwest: The Art of the Chase

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, Martin Landau, James Mason

North By Northwest is one of the “big three” from Alfred Hitchcock (leaving aside Psycho). Depending on the day, Hitchcock fans might choose either one of these as his masterpiece. However, as far as sheer entertainment goes, North By Northwest is my favorite. I have watched the movie at least 5 times and I never tire of it.

North By Northwest blends adventure, suspense, wit, and charm into an enjoyable celluloid cat-and-mouse caper.

Roger “O” Thornhill has a small problem. He finds himself mistaken for a top government sleuth and is kidnapped. No amount of indignant protests and droll witt can convince his pursuers that they’ve got the wrong man.

“Now look here. I’m an advertising man, not a red herring. I’ve got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don’t intend to disappoint them all by getting myself slightly killed.”

Cary Grant essays Roger Thornhill. This is my first introduction to Grant as an actor and I am blown away. In Rear Window and in Vertigo, James Stewart plays similar characters and I thought Stewart did a stellar job in both the movies. The movies themselves rank very high on my list. However, it is only after I saw Grant play Thornhill that I realised no one else could have matched him for this role.

Grant brings out Thornhill’s cluelessness and utter disbelief in whats happening around him with such boyish charm. He quips his way into danger,charms his way out of it, comes up with ingenuous little schemes to stay alive against a dangerous opponent even though he does not understand what he’s gotten himself into.

Thornhill rocks a charcoal suit that makes even the roughs take note of how well put he is all the time. “He’s a well tailored one isn’t he?” remarks Leonard to Vandamm. Leonard and Vandamm are not too shabby either. In fact, everyone in the whole movie makes one feel very underdressed in life.

The more Thornhill tries to explain himself out of this case of mistaken identity, the more enmeshed he becomes. Soon a national manhunt is on for him, both by the crooks, and the law. Thats when he meets the gorgeous Eve Kendall.

After three movies I guage Hitchcock movies by the warmth of the leading lady. Eva Marie Saint is the warmest. She practically is a furnace compared to Grace Kelley in Rear Window, or Kim Novak in Vertigo. Eve Kendall is by far the most fun and wittiest of the three blondes too.

There is a scene in a diner car in the train where Thornhill and Kendall engage in a verbal joust. Thornhill is glib, a man of the world, but we clearly see that Kendall is more than his match.

It is such moments of levity, with suspense always looming in the background, that makes North By Northwest unique. Very rarely do we see true adventure movies today. Hitchcock may very well have taken the formula of making wholesome, suspenseful movies laced with humour to his grave.

North By Northwest is also a visual treat. As I watch some of these Hitchcock classics, I am realising how unaware of his mastery over color and composition I am. There are scenes, like the introductory credit scene transitioning from a green grid to Manhattan’s sky scraper reflecting the cities traffic, that are so satisfying and concieved so well. Another scene where Thornhill is rushing into a taxi in front of the UN building is just frameworthy. Similarly, Vandamm’s house in South Dakota is an architectural marvel. The inside shots are gorgeously textured, with warm coffee tones and browns with Eva Saint Marie in Orange.

North By Northwest also (like Vertigo and Rear Window) seems to have undergone a much needed and well appreciated remastering, bringing Hitchcock’s visual taste to life.

In between all this madness, there is the famous “crop-dusting plane scene”. As far as action set pieces go, this is a favorite of mine. The whole setup, the slow buildup with the unhurried angles, Cary Grant running through dusty Chicago farmlands and the denouement is one of cinema’s most iconic action sequences.

North By Northwest might not have the emotional depth that Vertigo has, nor the suspense and tightness of Rear Window. But it has its tongue where neither of the two movies had. Firmly in its cheek.