North By Northwest

Who would think that a movie about the game of  "Tag, you're it!" could become such a classic?  This movie has so many facets to it that I had a hard time coming up with just a few things to say about it.  I have a few friends who think this is Hitchcock's most boring film.  I couldn't disagree more.  Ok, I've got a lot to say, so here goes...

Cary Grant
 

Grant started a craze for this drink from this scene alone.  Its a Gibson, its 6 parts gin, 1 part dry vermouth, and garnished with a pickled onion.

Now, you may have noticed a bit of a pattern with me, always featuring the actors or actresses as the best parts of Hitchcock's movies.  Well, then, this is no exception.  I'm a massive fan of Jimmy Stewart in Vertigo, Rope, and Rear Window.  But, Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill is my favorite leading man in any role of any movie I've ever seen.  (I realize how bold of a statement that is).  He's charming, dashing, so funny, witty....Men want to be him, and women want to be with him.  He's not just a handsome man (even though he felt at 55 he was too old for this film and almost turned it down), he has the ability to turn this movie from suspense, murder, and intrigue, to a comedy in just one line, or in just one expression. 

"I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don't intend to disappoint them all by getting myself 'slightly' killed."

A conversation between Grant (Roger) and his leading lady, Eva Marie Saint (Eve):
Roger: Oh, you're that type. 
Eve: What type? 
Roger: Honest. 
Eve: Not really. 
Roger: Good, because honest women frighten me. 
Eve: Why? 
Roger: I don't know. Somehow they seem to put me at a disadvantage. 
Eve: Because you're not honest with them? 
Roger: Exactly.

While filming Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock described some of the plot of this project to frequent Hitchcock leading man and "Vertigo" star James Stewart, who naturally assumed that Hitchcock meant to cast him in the Roger Thornhill role, and was eager to play it. Actually, Hitchcock wanted Cary Grant to play the role. By the time Hitchcock realized the misunderstanding, Stewart was so anxious to play Thornhill that rejecting him would have caused a great deal of disappointment. So Hitchcock delayed production on this film until Stewart was already safely committed to filming another movie before "officially" offering him the North By Northwest  role. Stewart had no choice; he had to turn down the offer, allowing Hitchcock to cast Grant, the actor he had wanted all along.


The Scenery

Rather than go to the expense of shooting in a South Dakota woodland, Hitchcock planted 100
ponderosa pines on an MGM soundstage.  Evidently, this was cheaper.

Also, during filming, the Department of Interior disagreed with Hitchcock’s decision to show a killing on top of Mount Rushmore. The director compromised by showing no fighting on the presidents’ faces.


Being Dapper In this Film Was No Coincidence

Hitchcock was also quite obsessive with his leading lady in this film as well.  When he saw the dresses the studio and costume designer had made for her, he marched her to Bergdorf Goodman and personally picked out clothes for her to wear. 

Also, Martin Landau, insisted that all of his suits in the film be tailored by Cary Grant's personal tailor.  In a bit of a smirk, Hitchcock made certain Landau's first line in the movie when speaking to Grant was, "He's a well-tailored one."

That's it for now....

Up next, I received a request for something a bit more...obscure?  Rope is on the way!