North by Northwest (1959)
“I’m a big girl.”
“Yeah…in all the right places.”
also
“That’s funny…that plane’s dustin’ crops where there ain’t no crops.”
Over the top sexist, often funny, only mildly suspenseful, and acted by some of the hippest stars to ever hit Hollywood, North by Northwest is Madmen before Jon Hamn poured his first vodka martini.
There isn’t a lot of fat in this film.
Cary Grant, the lead, plays a Madison Avenue advertising agent named Roger Thorndale. In the midst of a Don Draperesque three martini lunch, he is kidnapped by a pair of Boris Badanov looking hoods, who whisk him away to a meeting with the always charming (and creepy) James Mason (Salem’s Lot).
In what is a clear case of mistaken identity (well, at least to Grant and us), Mason and his henchman - a super young Martin Landau - attempt to bribe and later drug Grant (who they believe is a 1959 version of Austin Powers) in the hope of bringing him to their side or eliminating him as a threat.
Yeah, yeah…ok…Spoilers…but this all happens in the first ten minutes of the movie, so cut us some slack.
We won’t ruin the rest, but Grant gets away, is framed for a crime, gets away again, meets femme fatale Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint - On the Waterfront), gets away again, gets chased by a crop duster, takes a cold shower, and goes rock climbing.
And it’s a blast.
Grant, 55 at the time, is at the top of his game, Eva M.S. is smart and sexy, and Mason and Landau (who seems to have a quietly desperate crush on his boss) are suitably slithery. And the director, a minor Anglo talent named Alfred Hitchcock (The Birds), does a competent job of driving the train.
While this is a really good flick there are a couple oddities and annoyances in it.
Hitchcock has a tough time portraying women in film and NBNW is no exception. Saint’s character is all over the board: seductress, good girl, hard-boiled femme fatale, and gushing school girl. She is great in all of those roles and Hitchcockista might say the Master was trying to show the complexity of her nature, but it just comes off confused.
Grant’s relationship with his on-screen mother is also a little weird. Jessie Royce Landis is only ten years older than him in the film and the patter between her and Grant is more like a Girl Friday and her beau than a parent and child. It makes me wonder if she might not have actually been one of his ex-wives.
Less confusing, but a little annoying, the pacing felt a bit off. The first thirty minutes is interesting, confusing, and fun, introducing a cool mystery…then in 60 seconds of forced exposition the entire movie is explained…with most of the story still unplayed.
A pair of non critical but interesting curiosities:
At one point, Grant is charged with drunk driving. The effort the police, judge, and local doctor go through to ensure he has every possible opportunity to exonerate himself is likely to be jarring to a 21st century viewer…particularly since the fine for driving under the influence at the time was only $2.
The Landau and Mason relationship also left me wondering what its contours really were. Mason seems pretty straight…errr…forward in his portrayal…but Landau, particularly in the last twenty of the minutes, gives acid jilted lover vibes when Mason seems to pick Eva as the object of his affection. Nothing is explicit - as one might expect in 1959 - but you get the feeling that a lot is being left unsaid.
So what do we say?
NBNW gets a lot of praise and deserves much of it. It is a solid film with some classic lines and scenes. Best film ever? Nah. But really good and worth of watch, whatever your movie tastes.
You can catch a ride HERE.
Four out of Five Confused Crop Dusters.
🛫🛫🛫🛫
Have a favorite Hitchcock film? Let us know and we’ll give it a whirl.
Dig Grant and NBNW? One of these might shake your martini!
