Classic 'wrong man' film by Hitch at the height of his powers

Rating: 9/10 (30 March 2016)

Classic Hitchcock tale of the 'wrong man'; a mild-mannered businessman (ultra-suave Cary Grant) is mistaken for a spy and kidnapped at the very beginning, and it's away we go from then on. There are so many great and iconic scenes in this film – the crop duster chase of course, and also those at the United Nations and Mount Rushmore. Hitchcock is brilliant and puts tension in scenes at each and every opportunity, as opposed to devolving a great script into silly chase scenes which lesser directors may have done. It feels like a more masterful 007 movie, and James Mason and Martin Landau are both outstanding as villains. I'm not wild about Eva Marie Saint and only feel real chemistry between her and Grant in the line "Shall I climb up and tell you why?" in response to his wondering why she's so good to him, but the final shot of the train speeding into a tunnel was a nice bit of tongue in cheek symbolism from Hitchcock. Despite a long career he was still at the height of his powers, and in the following year would make Psycho.