Entertaining thrill-ride from start to finish

Rating: 10/10 (13 November 2005)

Alfred Hitchcock made a lot of films, many of which are very good; and a select group of which are out and out masterpieces. His 1959 spy thriller, North by Northwest is undoubtedly among the man's best work; yet it stands out as something of a black sheep among the great director's other works. While the likes of Vertigo and Rear Window pull the viewer into the story by way of an intriguing and mysterious plot line; North by Northwest goes completely the other way, and draws you in with simple, old-fashioned entertainment value. It's true that there isn't much substance here, but at the same time; you can't doubt North by Northwest's credibility for a second, as Hitchcock has laid on the style and his story telling is as sharp as ever. The plot is typically Hitchcockian and sees a man kidnapped by a group of gangsters; on the mistake the he is someone else. After narrowly escaping, our hero goes on the run; from both the gangsters and the law. As he is drawn deeper and deeper into unfolding events, he finds himself more and more unable to stop them unfolding.
By today's standards, North by Northwest could be seen as clichéd. Hitchcock has thrown in all the common spy thriller elements; from femme fatales and a British villain, to car chases and even an overblown finale; but Hitchcock implements all these elements in such a way that the film never feels old hat and, even now, nearly five decades on; North by Northwest is still an entertaining thriller, and that is testament to Hitchcock's endearing talent, as many of the recent films that are entertaining now, probably wont be fifty years down the line. Every set piece in the movie is beautifully engineered, and as the plot is perfectly paced; nothing ever seems like it shouldn't be there, and North by Northwest flows excellently. The film is best remembered for stand-out sequences including the famous bi-plane scene, but even those scenes, that have been seen separate from the movie many times, don't feel like they've been tacked on when viewing the movie in it's entirety. Many movies these days have instances that are there merely to be in the trailer and such; but here, Hitchcock is as restrained as ever, yet he still manages to insert scenes like this into the film.
To be honest, I think Cary Grant got the short end of the stick with Hitchcock's films. While James Stewart got Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much and Rear Window, Grant only got gifted with Suspicion, To Catch a Thief, Notorious and this film; and while this one is very good, the rest of the Grant-Hitchcock collaborations are not among either man's best work. However, fans of both of these cinema legends can be thankful for North by Northwest, as both are on top of their game and in that instance; only a fine film can ensue. This isn't Cary Grant's best performance; sometimes he looks a bit out of place, and he's definitely spent too long on the sun beds - but his charm and charisma lifts even his most disappointing performances, and the one here certainly isn't one of those. Hitchcock's direction is flawless, and the film never feels clumsy or gets boring at any stage. If I was going to nit-pick, I would perhaps say that the film could have been streamlined a little bit more; but overall, North by Northwest is an entertaining classic that all fans of cinema need to see!