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Rating: 10/10 (10 September 2010)

North by Northwest (1959)
Perhaps a perfect movie, and a perfectly Hitchcock movie. This has great sets (including a mock up copy of Mt. Rushmore and the real United Nations exterior, shot by stealth from a car). And it has three great performances from two great actors and an actress who rises to her best for this demanding role. This would be of course Cary Grant at his middle aged peak of handsome easy charm, James Mason at his middle aged peak of handsome easy charm (and very different), and Eva Marie Saint, nearly a decade after her searing appearance in "On the Waterfront," very much a mature woman, alluring and yet knowing. You can see this is an adult film, by and for adults, including the very adult Hitchcock, who seems to be having the time of his life making it.
The plot itself propels, scene to scene to scene, as if we are in on the chase, and yet it stops for some genuine laughs, hilarious moments snuck between the layers of cold war chill. That seems a contradiction, in a way, since this isn't at all a comedy, in the normal sense. And there are some sexual innuendos that were subtlety working around the fading Hays Code rules, and that now seem like pure brilliance. It's a smart, bubbly, entertaining mix.
Some people don't get Hitchcock, and I get that. I love his films more and more over the years. "North by Northwest" is characteristic of his willingness, even his insistence, on keeping the artificial edges to the movie visible, the clearest example being the runaway car early in the movie, and the famous chase over our dead white presidents at the end. It's as stylish and entertaining as a movie can be, from the costumes (Grant's legendary grey suit and Saint's gorgeous dresses, picked up at Bergdorf's) to the interiors (not only the painted backdrop of the U.N. building but Grand Central, a couple of famous hotels, and a classic stuffy mansion).
You can moan when Grant's character, Mr. Thornhill, grabs the knife out of the man's back, or you can notice the out of order backdrops out the window of the train (it moves from sunset to late evening to sunset, and the bridge appears and disappears in a blink). But that means you're in it for the wrong thing. (In the first case, you want him to grab the knife, because that's the classic mistake in thrillers. In the second, you're supposed to be watching Grant and Saint in one of the sexiest understated dialogs of all movies.)
Yes, I like this film. It is, above all, likable. It's brilliant and all that, too, but when it comes to just enjoying watching a movie, this is top shelf.