Alfred Hitchcock is one of the greatest directors in the history of the film business, and his credits are part of the curriculum of every decent film course in the known universe.  Among his masterpieces:

    Rear Window, Dial M For Murder, Vertigo, The Birds, Marnie, Frenzy, Psycho and of course North by Northwest, a 50th anniversary edition of which was just released in DVD and Blu-ray.

    North by Northwest was released in 1959, when Bill Gates was just four years old, the computers that existed were just glorified adding machines and the idea of CGI special effects wasn’t even a gleam in a software engineer’s eye.

    Still, using just a camera and properly directed actors, Hitchcock was consistently able to manipulate movie goers, induce fear and suspense in greater quantities than virtually all of today’s so-called horror masters.

    Here, he  turned a simple case of mistaken identity into one of his grandest and greatest films.  Madison Avenue ad executive Roger Thornhill (the always debonair Grant) is mistaken for a federal intelligence agent and is caught, escapes from, is chased by the evil Phillip Vandamm (Mason).

    He is then arrested for drunken driving, is subsequently accused of murder, is seduced by Eve Kendall (Saint) who is secretly working for Vandamm, but eventually falls in love with Thornhill (I bet you never saw that coming) and helps him avoid recapture.

    It’s a lot of film to balance and Hitchcock does so with great aplomb and panache.  In fact, North by Northwest contains two iconic scenes: in one, Saint is dangling just a handgrip away from sure death at the top of Mount Rushmore; in the other, a crop duster seemingly flying at eye level chases Thornhill through a cornfield.

    Sometimes, I think, people watch certain movies just so they can feel intellectually superior and smug.  They don’t want to be the folks who say “Bergman?  Didn’t he play second base for the ’54 Yankees?”

    Hitchcock films, on the other hand, are known not only for their techniques, but for their entertainment value, as well.  Sure, there are a couple of situations that strain belief.  But overall, you’ll be sitting at the edge of your seat for the entire film. ★★★★☆ -- Curt Schleier

    North By Northwest is available in DVD ($24.82 SRP) and Blue-Ray ($34 SRP) formats.

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