Northwest Passage

Rating: 10/10 (24 March 2014)

Confession-this is my favorite Hitchcock film but I do not consider it to be the best one. Nevertheless, North By Northwest, the 1959 suspense/adventure/thriller/romance/mystery starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint is still very worthy of the high acclamation it receives. It could very comfortably fit into any one of the five genres just listed and it is an incredibly fun movie to watch. Ordinary New York businessman Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is abducted and taken to a private mansion where enemy spies plotting against the U.S. government accuse him of being an American spy named George Kaplan. He repeatedly insists that he is not George Kaplan and after escaping, ends up running for his life through various states while being pursued by both the enemy spies and the police, who have framed him for murder. I will not reveal the rest of the plot as it would take me way too long to remember all the twists and turns. North By Northwest has some memorable scenes. The most famous one depicts Thornhill being chased by a crop duster plane. Also, the climax is pretty suspenseful as well. But I think what I love most about this movie is the way it has aged. It's fifty-five years old yet I still feel it could have been released last Friday and still have done as well financially as it did back in 1959. I guess if I had to say one thing against this film, it would be during the climb down Mt. Rushmore. Seriously, do you really think a man and woman could scale and climb down the steep sides of Mount Rushmore with any success while wearing dress shoes and high heels? But that's just me getting really picky. North By Northwest is so much fun to watch. The first time I saw it, I didn't even understand half of what was going on yet I still was enjoying the movie. I remember the second time I watched it, I had so much fun that when it was over, I just wanted to stick the DVD back in and watch it again immediately. Thankfully, I got the 50th Anniversary DVD for Christmas so maybe one day that will happen Oh, and one last note, the main theme to North By Northwest is probably my all-time favorite movie soundtrack theme. Overall, I love this movie way too much and if given the chance, I would even recommend it to my fellow school peers because I feel it's stood the test of time that well.