North by Northwest (1959)

Watching this movie last night I realized that I was witnessing a very "cool" movie. Like a modern day "Inception" or anything using Hollywood's elite, this played like a grand day at the cinema on a rainy afternoon ... BUT (because there always has to be a BUT), is it truly one of Hitchcock's best films out of his catalogue? As I continued to watch, I found myself questioning Grant's appeal, the elongated Mt. Rushmore scene, and the true "hows" of Hitch getting us from scene A to scene B. This is not to say that I wouldn't watch this movie again, but as it is currently ranked at #34 at IMDb's Top 250 Greatest Movies, I couldn't help but wonder if it has held up over these past 51 years. My answer, a hesitative "yes". While Grant proves that he can swap lines with the blondest of ladies, my concern arrives when his continual candor deviates from the overall darkness of the plot. Reading somewhere that Jimmy Stewart was interested in playing the role, I wonder if his portrayal of a man with mistaken identity wouldn't have brought a sense of darkness to "North by Northwest". This is a dark story, it is about a man mistaken for a spy and tortured for it, nare to be stopped by either the police or by the CIA themselves. He is on the run, from NYC to Chicago to Dakota, in most of the iconic scenes ever put on film, but Hitch uses comedy to fill those eerie moments where tension should have been. Again, Grant was a strong choice, I am a fan of his work, but was he the BEST choice for this film?

Length also seems to be against Hitch on this film. Running at a bit over two hours, there are parts that just don't work in this decade, specifically the Mt. Rushmore scenes near the end. They just felt overdrawn and misused to push even more fabricated tension onto the viewers. My favorite scene still had to be that crop duster moment, not just for that one instance itself, but because of what Hitch surrounded it with. I loved the meeting of the guy, the passing of cars, and that looming line, "That's odd, that plane isn't dusting any crops" - you know something big is about to happen. "North by Northwest" is a cult film. It is a classic film. It is a film that I would watch again and perhaps again, but it is not Hitch's best film. There was no sense of reality in this movie. Grant walks around with an endless supply of money and time, while the threat of nothing continues to persue him. Unlike "The Lady Vanishes" or even "Frenzy", Hitch suspends belief for commericialism, and this film suffers for it. Sure, it's dated - but what lies behind Grant and Hitch's wordplay is a film surrounded by intregue and mayhem. I just wish we could have watched that for a bit more.

Overall, I am happy. It was my first time watching this film, and I am seemingly happy. It could have been darker, or Hitch could have made a comedy. Found in my "99 Classic Movies for People in a Hurry" - I am taking a quick break from the "B" section due to the length of "The Big Blue", but don't worry - I am nearly done! Thinking about this film, I liked it enough to give it a green mark with blue stars - to watch again and again when the time allows, but heed these words: I don't love "North by Northwest", but that crop duster scene left me in complete awe - and for that - green mark, blue stars.