One of Hitch's Best

Rating: 9/10 (23 March 2012)

Coming in the midst of Hitchcock's most productive and highly rated period as a director, this movie is definitely one of his best. To me, it is one of the most entertaining films I've ever watched. It is a double identity thriller involving a New York ad executive, played by Cary Grant, whose routine suddenly falls apart when he is suddenly thrust into the role of a decoy in an international game of espionage. His female counterpart is a secret agent played by Eva Marie Saint, who meets up with him on a train to Chicago. The movie is stylish, with a well written dialogue, stunning photography, humour and suspense. It has the picture postcard look of the 1950's in a series of settings that take the viewer from New York's United Nations and Grand Central Terminal to the Mid-Western cornfields and finally to Mount Rushmore in North Dakota. Leo G. Carroll is the mastermind of the espionage game that pits him against James Mason on the other side, although the two never meet. Mason's henchmen are led by Martin Landau, the star of Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemenors 30+years later. The one flaw that I saw was that Grant was far older than the character he played; however, Grant's stellar performance and iconic presence is memorable. Always a joy to watch, viewers are treated to the witty dialogue and funny scenes that keep coming throughout the movie, not to mention the scintillating repartee among the main characters.