North by Northwest Details

The Master at Work

Hitchcock had already made most of his classic Paramount films (Vertigo, Rear Window) earlier in the 50s before creating North by Northwest. The result is one of the most pure Hitchcock films - concentrated storytelling with engaging characters. The film's final screen minute contains more plot than many directors manage to cram into ten.

Cary Grant is back after Jimmy Stewart was pensioned off as Hitch's leading man. He is completly at home as the smooth, charming advertising executive, caught up in events way beyond his control.

The Hitchcock obsession with stunning blonde actresses finds a home in Eva Marie Saint - introduced to us in one of cinema's most alluring seduction scenes. Confident, sexy and yet tantalisingly unavailable.

If you like film, and enjoy watching first class actors under the direction of a master story-teller, then this is for you.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Tense

Taut and tense, although I'm not sure I'm a fan of Hitchcock who knows how to get the most tension out of a scene but there's something about his films that I don't find engaging. The scene at the bus stop was nothing short of a masterpiece with pretty much nothing happening for about ten minutes, even though you know something is going to happen. It's about the third time I've seen this film and although it is enjoyable I'm not pulled in to the film enough to rate it as a great.