Monday, May 20, 2013

North by Northwest (1959)

Why it's here:
Another chance to see Cary Grant, here in one of his best known roles, and to show my kids the beyond-iconic moment in cinema when a plane chases down Cary Grant.

Specs:
Over 2 hours, color

Our family's average rating on a scale of 1-10:
7.5

More about the film and our reaction to it:
What struck us most about the film is that it seemed to be recreating "Notorious", yet just wasn't quite as good. Most people to write about this film think it is Hitch's very best work. I'm not a Hitchcock expert, so while I appreciate certain touches in this film enormously and thought that overall it was a really good movie, we weren't blown away.

Even though Cary Grant is the coolest, most appealing character that ever lived on screen, he's starting to seem a bit old for the dashing romantic lead and the age difference between him and Eva Marie Saint is beginning to be too much. His acting is superb and as always he creates the embodiment of something you want to live for and aspire to. He is a golden star - the best that ever lived.

This film contains scenes that would rank among are some of the most incredible in our festival (such as the aforementioned crop duster chasing down Grant, and Grant driving drunk along a windy road, the characters cavorting all over Mt. Rushmore, the scene in the UN where someone gets stabbed with a thrown knife). These elements are profoundly memorable, but somehow, for us, the film as a whole was not. 

Iconic shot:

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