tremendously entertaining

Rating: 10/10 (26 May 2008)

I'm something of a latecomer to the films of Alfred Hitchcock. For some inexplicable reason, I had it in my head for years that I wouldn't enjoy most of his work. Even sillier is the fact that the two Hitchcock films I HAD seen, 'Psycho' and 'The Birds,' were two of my favorite movies ever. Go figure. A few years ago, I rented two of his lesser offerings, 'Rope' and 'Marnie,' which seemed to confirm my suspicions. (Loved the giant backdrop of the battleship at the end of 'Marnie,' though.) Then this year, I have watched three bona fide Hitchcock classics- 'Rear Window,' 'Vertigo,' (both commented on elsewhere) and last night, 'North by Northwest.' Need I even point out that I am now a full-fledged Hitchcock devotee and am really looking forward to seeing the rest of his catalogue. As with 'Vertigo' and 'Rear Window,' I had no preconceptions about 'North by Northwest' and it, like those other two, took me very much by surprise. It is an almost perfect blend of thriller and comedy, neither aspect overwhelming the other. In fact, they compliment each other beautifully. A favorite Hitchcockian theme is the misunderstood main character, in this case Cary Grant's Roger O. Thornhill (the 'O' doesn't stand for anything), and there has probably never been a more misunderstood character in the Hitchcock canon, maybe in all of cinema. Through the most casual mistake imaginable, a group of foreign spies come to believe Thornhill is actually George Kaplan, an American secret agent on their tail. Naturally, Thornhill's protestations to them (after they abduct him) that he is not Kaplan only serve to reinforce their conviction that he is hiding his true identity by pretending to adopt another. It would be an understatement to say Thornhill's life is never the same from that point on. James Mason and a very young Martin Landau portray the foreign (Soviet?) spies and they are perfect choices for their roles. Mason's character, Phillip Vandamm, reminds me quite a lot of one he would play over twenty years later, the defense attorney in 'The Verdict.' Both are well-spoken, quietly threatening, and absolutely cold-blooded while appearing very mannered and reasonable. Nobody does this type of role as well as Mason. After a point, it is revealed that in fact, there is no government agent named George Kaplan. He is a purely fictitious character created by US intelligence to provide cover for another, flesh and blood agent working the case. Thornhill accidentally and unintentionally being mistaken for Kaplan provides the US agency both risks and opportunities; in any event, they are not at all inclined to come to Thornhill's aid and clear him as that would endanger the real agent. Yes, it's complicated and I'm even leaving a lot of stuff out! The head of the intelligence unit, 'The Professor,' is wonderfully underplayed by reliable old Leo G. Carroll. Nothing surprises The Professor anymore, everything the agency does makes perfect sense... this is a man who long ago resigned himself to doing whatever is necessary to achieve, well, whatever is necessary. Because there's nothing else you can do, really. Carroll's conversations with Grant are priceless. The final piece in this convoluted puzzle is a strange woman named Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) who Thornhill meets on a train as he tries to evade both the spies and the police. Eve helps him and for a while her motivation is unclear; it seems as though she may just be a thrill-seeker who likes living dangerously by picking up strange men. There are some wonderfully provocative exchanges between her and Thornhill; I suspect these are about as far as a mainstream Hollywood film could go in 1959 but aside from that, they are beautifully written by Ernest Lehman and just as well-acted by Grant and Saint. There is a real chemistry between them and... what's the old saying? 'Sparks fly?' Cary Grant himself seems like an odd choice to play Thornhill. With his cultured mannerisms and one-of-a-kind manner of speech, he's hardly the Everyman James Stewart specialized in portraying for Hitchcock (Stewart was originally to play the role but was dropped in favor of Grant.) It is an unusual character for Grant, but one thing is for certain- he is much more convincing as a ladies' man than Stewart ever was. And a funny thing about the character of Thornhill is we really don't get to know him well before the identity mix-up, other than he's a fast-talking ad exec who's twice divorced. Everything else that we learn about him, we learn from his reactions and responses to the situation he finds himself in. He's far from being perfect or brilliant, but he is resourceful and seems to surprise even himself in the degree to which he is attracted to and cares for Eve. Lehman and Hitchcock have thrown everything including the kitchen sink into the plot of 'North by Northwest' and somehow it all works magically. No doubt this was a real crowd-pleaser back in 1959 and it managed that without compromising Hitchcock's talent and vision one iota. A wonderful, wonderful film.