Joining Hitchcock's fan club

Rating: 10/10 (25 March 2010)

Until a couple years ago I didn't see what the big deal was with British/American director Alfred Hitchcock. I had seen his '60s movies Psycho and The Birds and thought they were overrated. However, my curiosity was sparked when the American Film Institute put Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) in its top ten American movies of all time. Having seen it and more recently Rear Window and North by Northwest (also on AFI's list), I can say I now see why Hitchcock is considered one of the greats.
North by Northwest is about spies and the Cold War, and for this reason has been compared to the later James Bond movies. Yet this movie still feels like it was made for Hitchcock- the suspense, the mystery, the thrills and murder are all here. There's also some humour thrown in for good measure. This movie centres around a case of mistaken identity as an ordinary guy (he says at the end of the movie that his wives divorced him because he was dull) finds himself in a dangerous game. There's also a woman he meets. Critic Danny Peary is quoted on the DVD back cover as saying there's "a great deal of sex," but really there's none, just sexual innuendo. Still, it enriches the plot. With generally believable dialogue and acting, North by Northwest is a winner.