The tale of an amnesic James Bond ... or put in other words, the consummate Hitchcock's film ...

Rating: 9/10 (11 June 2013)

For many years, I regarded "North by Northwest" as a chaotic assemblage of action-thriller vignettes for the sake of an unsubstantial plot, using the casting of an aging Cary Grant as a sorry excuse to grab more fans, definitely not worthy of its reputation. After a second viewing, I concede I didn't have the right mindset to appreciate the hidden brilliance of "North by Northwest".
Let's start with the plot: Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is an advertising executive, mistaken for George Kaplan, a secret agent, in reality, only a decoy to distract the villainous mastermind Vandamm (James Mason) from the real agent who happens to be his mistress Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint). Yet for the two thirds of the film, neither Grant nor the viewers are aware of these subtleties. For all we know, Grant is the "wrong man" whose attempts to prove his innocence worsens his case even more, from driving a car over a cliff after being severely imbibed and pulling a knife out of the back of a UN diplomat who's just dropped in his arms, Thornhill is the constant victim of the most unfortunate circumstances.
Alfred Hitchcock directs the film as if understanding the plot was not a priority, he knows the mystery effectively conveys the nightmarish karma of Thornhill, the pawn of a game with unknown rules. For all we know, it's the Cold War and he's torn between two kind of secret agents, the good and the bad ones, Hitchcock doesn't embarrass himself with more details and uses the actors like living props to put in the most extreme and spectacular situations. When Thornhill confronts Vandamm, he pretends not to be 'George Kaplan', to which Vandamm, with Mason's deep and mellowest voice, answers "Games? Must we?". Thornhill is victim of the innocent-man syndrome, using the same rhetoric than a guilty one, inevitably preventing Vandamm to say more. Thornhill can't talk because he doesn't know, Vandamm can't because he doesn't believe Thornhill, at the end, it's only Hitch effectively keeping his little secret.
But this secrecy is not gratuitous either, it effectively induces the paranoid feeling of the story, tapping on one of fear's most effective forms: the fear of the unknown, reaching its thrilling paroxysm in a scene set in the middle of nowhere. For eight minutes, nothing happens, Thornhill is just waiting, for whom, for what? We don't know, and we wait. The suspense is carried by our own interrogations, until a crop-duster comes, not with the friendliest intentions, contributing to the most defining moment of the film. The nightmare goes on and gets so intense that Thornhill would rather get himself arrested by the police. He doesn't know what he's escaping from, but he knows enough about his enemies. Yet the unknown can also come in the form of a beautiful creature like Eve Kendall (Eva Maria Saint) popping out in the middle of the chase and hiding Thornhill, in her bedroom after a dinner with enough sexual innuendo to make good old Grant lower his guard.
But if one can't face the unknown, he can leave it nonetheless. And ironically, Thornhill is given a chance to leave until he's told by one of the 'good' agents, played by Leo G. Carroll, that he endangered Eve's life. Thornhill finally detaches from his passive status by becoming a player and making his own rules. The key is not to 'find the truth', at that point, we know everything, but the point is to stop being Hitch's puppet and finally act like a hero , for a last thrilling confrontation  and to get the girl in the process. No room for subtlety, this is not "Vertigo" or "Rear Window", this is pure hormonal Hitchcock. And Cary Grant is never more at ease and charismatic as during the last sequence, accomplishing the only act that could conceal the paranoia he endured for days, he doesn't escape from the enemy, he goes to it, his direction changed and so did Hithcock's.
In a nutshell, I would say "North by Northwest" is like the tale of an amnesic James Bond. And Hithcocks anticipated all the ingredients that would build the secret agent's legend : the henchmen with killing methods as sophisticated and elaborate as they're ineffective, escapist settings, car chases, a suave and distinguished villain, a sensual lady and naturally the ultimate climax in Mt. Rushmore, the very sequence that catalyzed Hitchcock's desire to make the film. Ernest Lehman, who wrote the screenplay, intended to make the "Hitchcock picture that would end all the Hitchcock pictures." (and unintentionally pave the way for James Bonds' flicks) "North by Northwest" reassembles every Hitchcockian ingredient: the blond, the mistaken identity, the villain, the paranoia induced by the enemy's invisibility, the claustrophobia, even Martin Landau as Leonard is not your typical one-dimensional hit-man and has a sort of "Rope" vibe behind his sensual eyes.
And the film magnificently concludes with one of the riskiest and most memorable ellipses of Cinema's history, the transition from Thornill trying to pull Eve from the Mt. Rushmore to the upper bunk of a train was classic enough, the icing on the cake concocted by Hitch himself was the penultimate shot of the train speeding up to the tunnel, whose symbolism needs no explanations. "North by Northwest" is undoubtedly the consummate Hitchcock movie, even more appreciated when we're familiar with his previous films. For the mark of a great director is to toy with his own trademarks and indulge himself to movies with less substance but never at the expenses of suspense and entertainment, magnificently conveyed by Bernard Herrman's theme and unforgettable opening credits.
"North by Northwest" didn't end all Hitchcock pictures but the great streak of the 50's through a triumph of spectacular entertainment, explaining why, one year after, Hitch would turn to a less ambitious format, almost B-movie like, in black-and-white, for an obscure little film called "Psycho".