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North by Northwest


Reviewed by: Rachel Hughes
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Video: Anamorphic 1.66:1 Widescreen
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Language: English French
Subtitle: English (Captions), French
Length: 136 min
Rating: NR
Release Date: August 29, 2000
Studio: Warner Brothers
Commentary: Features screenwriter Ernest Lehman
Documentaries: "Destination Hitchcock The Making of North By Northwest". Hosted by Eva Marie Saint and Featuring Martin Landau, screenwriter Ernest Lehman, Patricia Hitchcock and others involved in the film. Running time of 40 minutes.
Featurettes: None
Filmography/Biography: They appear for Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason and Alfred Hitchcock. Contains both a brief biography and complete filmography.
Interviews: Not listed separately, but remaining principle actors are featured in the documentary.
Trailers/TV Spots: It has two film trailers, with one being your typical studio trailer and the other with Alfred Hitchcock advertising his movie. The DVD also contains a television commercial for the film.
Alternate/Deleted Scenes: None
Music Video: None
Other: Production Stills Gallery that is made up of 43 stills. Most of these are behind the scene photos of the movie. There are also pictures of movie posters and stills from the Making of Documentary. Also has music only audio track showcasing Bernard Hermann's score.
Cast and Crew: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason and Martin Landau
Screenplay by: Written By: Ernest Lehman
Produced by: NA
Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock
Music: Bernard Hermann
The Review: Hitchcock was a master at creating suspense and fear. Not just fear of the supernatural or the unexplained, but the fear that an ordinary citizen could somehow, through no fault of their own get caught up in an elaborate conspiracy that could cause their downfall or worse yet death. This is never so evident as in North by Northwest. Grant plays Roger Thornhill an advertising executive minding his own business who, through a case of mistaken identity is believed to be an undercover government agent. By the end of the film he is accused of murder, nearly killed half a dozen times, and ends up running halfway across the country in an effort to clear his name and find out exactly what is going on. It has been quite awhile since I last saw this film. My father is a Hitchcock fan so I was first introduced to this movie when I was young. Watching it again I was surprised at how sexually charged this movie was. The two leading actor's chemistry lit up the screen. The dialogue written by Lehman is charged and full of innuendo you are almost surprised they could get away with that in those days. With all the blatant physical sexuality we see in today's movies we tend to forget how sensual word play as opposed to foreplay can be. The witty banter between Grant and Saint implies so much more and does it so much more cleverly than had we seen everything. Despite the serious nature of the film it is quite funny. Grant who has a wonderful sense of comedic timing brings such humor and depth to his character. He is such a human character. He is not a hero out defending the world; he is just an everyday man whose life is suddenly spinning beyond his control. Everyone can identify with his struggle to get his life back. This is what makes such an extraordinary film. We become so caught up in the film that we forget about our own problems. That is the truly the mark of great film.
Image and Sound This film was originally shot in Vistavison Technicolor. The translation to DVD is flawless. There is no grain or flickering images that can be common when transferring older films. Instead the entire picture glows. Eva Marie Saint seems permanently surround by a halo. The films colors are softer and a bit muted compared to the sharpness of today's films. However this just adds to the timelessness of the film. The sound is incredible. The original score is perfect for this film and it comes through like there is a whole orchestra playing in living room.
The Extras The extras packaged with DVD are top notch. The only regrettable thing is that Alfred Hitchcock was not around for the advent of DVD. A man with his vision truly would have added his distinctive touch to the package. As it stands they have done the best with what remains. To begin with they have put together a wonderful menu. At the main menu there are swirling still pictures from the movie. They all have jagged edges and appear like they have been torn from the screen. To add to this there are compass arrows that continually dart across the screen pointing in a north by northwest direction. To select an item you move a yellow compass needle over the various choices. When you select one the screen goes black and there is a spinning arrow that takes you to the next screen. Under the special features is the "Destination Hitchcock The Making Of North By Northwest". This is an extremely entertaining an informative documentary. It is hosted by Eva Marie Saint and features Pat Hitchcock (Alfred Hitchcock's daughter), Martin Landau, and a few others. It takes you from day one, how the concepts was conceived, next how the actors chosen, how the wardrobe and make-up were designed. Then it moves onto the sequences of shots from location to location, then the interior shots, the set designed shots, the stunts, and finally the marketing and publicity designed for the movie. Through all this there are a number of funny stories such as how Hitchcock had to steal a shot of the UN Building after he was denied access, and the controversy over the Mount Rushmore shot. The actors reminiscing on how it was to work with one another gives you a wonderful glimpse at those who have passed away. Through the film you learn how meticulous Hitchcock was in setting up everything. He maintained control over every aspect of the film. There are also a few bloopers that made it on the screen pointed out and you learn that Martin Landau can do a great Hitchcock impersonation. The stills are largely more of an intimate look behind the scenes. There are many shots of Hitchcock as well as the actors between takes. Getting a chance to look at the original poster artwork for the film was a wonderful treat. The DVD also features a music only audio track. This shows how incredible Bernard Hermann's score was. Even with out the dialogue the music fully evokes the mood of the film. The only draw back is that large portions of the movie were not scored. I would recommend that anyone interested in score buy it on CD.
Commentary This is perhaps where we miss Hitchcock's involvement in the DVD the most. It would have been wonderful to hear him talk about everything that went into making this movie. However screenwriter Ernest Lehman does an admirable job. He reminisces a lot about his working with Hitchcock. He describes how they first met and the birth of this project. Learning how much research went into writing this screenplay to make it seem real was fascinating. The commentary is peppered with humorous stories about Hitchcock and Grant. He also provides some real insight on what it was like to work with these two Hollywood icons. Not only does Lehman tell us about the nice things he also tells us about some of difficulties that the production ran into. He also talks about many of the other projects he worked on and how they related to this movie. The only major problem is that toward the end of the film he seemed to have run out of things to says, and there are gaps in commentary. However the gaps are usually timed well so that they occur in the dialogue driven scenes.
Final Words: This Film was so much more than I remembered it. It is as thrilling and exciting today, as it was when it was first released. Anyone slightly interested in Hitchcock films should definatly buy this DVD. The film has never looked so beautiful. The documentary and the commentary add so much to the understanding of this film.


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 June 16, 2001