North by Northwest Review
By: T.J. “the moment I meet an attractive woman I have to start pretending I have no desire to make love to her” Mulligan
Mistaken identity is a formula that’s been at use in Hollywood filmmaking for generations. Along with amnesia (itself a form of identity disassociation), this formula represents an easy way to take an everyday person out of their routine and thrust them into a world they know little to nothing about. Thriller, suspense and a little detective work generally ensue as the person at the center of the mix-up works to clear their name and get to the bottom of why there was an issue in the first place. This formula, then, fits the mold of the man many claim to be the best thriller and suspense filmmaker of all time, Alfred Hitchcock. Throw in some political espionage, a cross-country manhunt and a love story wrought with lies and it’s easy to see how North by Northwest became an instant classic.
North by Northwest tells the story of Roger Thornhill, an advertising executive in New York City. When he is mistaken one day by hired henchmen as a government spy by the name of George Kaplan, he is taken to the estate of Lester Townsend. There he is threatened and interrogated by a man claiming to be Townsend. After repeatedly denying to be Kaplan, Thornhill is forced to drink a copious amount of bourbon. Set behind the wheel of a car in an attempt to not only kill Thornhill but make it look like an accident, Thornhill fights and drives away from his captors and into police custody. After sobering up and describing his situation to the police and his mother, Thornhill leads them back to the estate of Townsend. There a woman answers the door and proclaims that Thornhill had been there for a dinner party at which he drank too much and attempted to drive home. When Thornhill asks about Townsend he is told that Townsend is set to address the U.N. that afternoon. Thornhill ventures to the General Assembly building to confront Townsend but finds a man different than the one who had questioned him. Before he can gather too much information, a henchman throws a knife into Townsends back. As Thornhill holds the dying man and grabs the knife from his back those in the building see him and assume Thornhill is the assassin. Now, mistaken for another man and wanted for murder, Thornhill must skip town to avoid capture, all the while trying to get to the bottom of who George Kaplan really is and why these people want him dead.
Where this film shines is in its tandem of writer and director, Ernest Lehman and Hitchcock, respectively. The cool and quotable dialogue and fluid movement of the script is brought to life with stellar performances and a sleek look compliments of a skillful man at the helm. Add in a wonderful score by Bernard Herman that heightens suspense at just the right moments and what you have is exactly the classic the film was shaping up to be.
So maybe I just don’t like Hitchcock so much.
Don’t get me wrong, I have a massive amount of respect for the guy and stand by everything written above. If it wasn’t for his attention to subtleties, experimenting with how they can be used to play on an audience’s emotions, the thriller genre could have easily fallen by the side of the road, a forgotten relic of a time in cinema past. I just can’t help but be bored most of the time while watching his movies. Of the Hitchcock films I’ve seen (Strangers on a Train, Vertigo, Shadow of a Doubt and this) not one has made a lasting impression on me as a film I’d like to see again. I’ve enjoyed them all to a point, but they have not been the cinematic gems I hoped to find them as. The technique and style have always been a pleasure to admire, but the movies themselves have just continually left me dissatisfied, keeping one eye on the run-time as it dwindles down to the end.
But there are still dozens of Hitchcock films I haven’t seen, so there’s still a chance at least one will catch my fancy on a substantial level… just not North by Northwest.
I give North by Northwest 3 large glasses of bourbon out of 5.
