A Grim Tale of Mistaken Identity

Rating: 9/10 (6 April 2015)

Alfred Hitchcock's "North by Northwest" stars Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill, an advertising executive for a magazine is socializing with his colleagues at the well-renown Plaza Hotel only to be interrupted when by a pageboy wanting a person by the name of George Kaplan. Thornhill eventually gets abducted by two henchmen named Valerian (Adam Williams) and his associate Licht (Robert Ellenstein). They believe that Roger is George Kaplan who is believed to be a secret agent who's trying to stop them from smuggling microfilm which holds to key to various government secrets. Trying to hang on to dear life all the while to clear his innocence, Thornhill goes on an all-over America quest to find the real George Kaplan who's much more harder to find than he could imagine. He eventually gets seduced by a voluptuous diva named Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) as he tries to get away at the cost of being betrayed. It turns out that Miss Kendall is a double agent and Thornhill is an oblivious bystander. A dangerous chase comes his way which takes Thornhill across Mount Rushmore across the visages of the four iconic presidents.
Even though Alfred Hitchcock directed this masterful film of thrill seeking espionage, he wasn't the only main reason this film was beyond remarkable. The very intellectual script by Ernest Lehman makes the dialogue just as equally poignant as the action. What is also a major milestone in the world of film-making comes from the opening title sequences by Saul Bass who for the first time used animated text to keep the viewers intrigued. For this movie like in all his movies, sadly Hitchcock was shut out at the Academy Awards for best direction, but had three nominations well deserved which included Best Script by Lehman, Best Editing by George Tomasini and Best Production Design.
The trials and tribulation that our protagonist faces can really be hard at the nerves at times. I'm not a huge fan of seeing innocent people being framed for mistaken identity, but "North by Northwest" really exhibits this type of film almost flawlessly. From the opening scenes where he's picked up by these felons while eating with his colleagues and the more he struggles, the more our anxiety manifests within our psyche. And the fact that there is no George Kaplan, makes us more upsetting because know Thornhill can't even prove that he's not who they think he is. But the courageous thing about it is that Thornhill will not surrender that easily.
The leading performances by Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint were absolutely stunning. Grant keeps the anguish going while trying to remain as collected as possible. EMS was able to take some risks by jumping hurdles that were pretty unknown at the time. This duo really carried the cargo of the film provocatively, but it took quite some moments before EMS entered the fray, but once she came into the scenes, the film really took off after. James Mason showed ferocity as the leading antagonist, but it was Martin Landau's Leonard that was even more macabre. His dialogue conveys just how homosexuality was treated during the golden age of cinema. Rounding out the smaller supporting roles is Leo G. Carroll who goes by the name of "The Professor" who concocted this whole Kaplan fiasco, but the more endearing moments are when Thornhill is interacting with his mother, Clara (Jessie Royce Landis who was just seven years older than him).
The visuals were really out of this world. such memorable scenes includes the dazzling intoxicating car chase scene to the humorous elevator scene to the auction house scene and the climactic chase across Mount Rushmore.But the real eye-opener is when Thronhill is being chased by a crop duster, the shooting was some of the best ever delivered. For aficionados of the visual arts will truly enjoy this stylistic film.
"North By Northwest" was vintage Hitchcock. The thrills will shock you, frustrate you all the while make your head spin in amazement. It comes with the man on the run, the double-crossing diva and the shady villain. It a vital movie for all Hitchcock impresarios and he would follow up with the even more eerie classic a year later with the iconic "Psycho."