Hitch #48 - North by Northwest (1959)

So we continue our slow, slow, crawl through Hitchock’s filmography. North by Northwest has always been one of my favourite US Hitch films even though so much about It is utterly ridiculous. Or maybe because so much of it is ridiculous. But more likely because the cast is so perfect that all the holes in the plot don’t matter.

North by Northwest (1959)

It gets off on the perfect foot with the fantastic Saul Bass title sequence and Hermann’s theme, a better opening even than the one for Vertigo.

North by Northwest Titles (play on YouTube)

It is also of course packed with so many beautiful set-pieces, most notably the UN murder, the crop-duster scene, and the fake by Eve in the Mount Rushmore cafe - all in such wonderful VistaVision and glorious lush colour (altough Cary Grant’s over the top tan is a little too lush). Maybe more than any Hitch film so far a sizeable nod needs to given to Robert Burks.

It is probably the Hitch film I’ve seen more than any other (except maybe The 39 Steps) since it’s a film I can’t really turn off, a film that doesn’t get any worse becasue you know everything. Plus, it’s on the telly more often than the British Hitch films I love more.

• Source: BD
• Rating: 8/10
• Hitchcock Zone: North by Northwest (1959)