‘I’ve got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me…’
There are no two words in the cinematic lexicon more offputting to me than ‘Spy Thriller’. Well… maybe ‘Tim Burton’. Either way, I’ve never seen a James Bond film all the way through, I fell asleep during Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and I also struggled with Bridge of Spies. I just find these films… dull. The difference is that North by Northwest created most of the archetypes that then informed the rest of the genre and also that Hitchcock’s direction here is so proactive, so bravura that it makes up for the genre trappings that ruin the rest of the spy genre…
Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant), a salesman who just wants to live easy, has his life turned upside down following an unlikely case of mistaken identity. The plot here isn’t really important, however. What makes North by Northwest so compelling is its aesthetic and technical beauty. Many of the most iconic scenes here will be seared into cinema history forever: the cropduster scene, the Mouth Rushmore scene, the scenes at the UN building… and it was this on-location shooting that had the biggest influence on Bond and Bourne et al and in these moments North by Northwest really sings.
While I understand why North by Northwest is so highly thought of, it’s also a film that lacks warmth. It’s chilly. The relationship with Grant and Eva Marie Saint never really rings true And while the famous train-enters-the-tunnel scene at the film’s conclusion is the perfect example of Hitch’s playful genius, there aren’t enough of those moments here.
In the end, unlike many other Hitchcock films that I find wildly entertaining, North by Northwest is a film that I appreciate rather than enjoy. Give me Rear Window every day of the week.
