Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant. Okay, I could stop right here and you'd have all the explanation you need as to why this film is on the list.
North by Northwest is two pros at the top of their game. The perfect Hitchcock mix of mystery and wit, with the perfect leading man for the material. Jimmy Stewart, while great in the films he did with Hitchcock, always seemed to keep both feet firmly planted on the dark side of those roles, Grant, on the other hand, dances between the cross country thrill ride, urbane comedy and romantic road picture so effortlessly that we often forget just what genre of film we're lost in.
This was one of the first films I remember deconstructing in a college film appreciation class, specifically the iconic attempted murder via crop duster in the corn field scene, but even while I was studying Hitchcock's shot selection, I kept coming back to the twisting, keep you guessing, plot and the first-rate performances. Grant plays Roger Thornhill, the stylish Manhattan advertising exec, with just enough hapless everyman to keep us connected. Mysterious and beautiful, Eva Maria Saint is cool and seductive as the woman on the train and of course James Mason and Martin Landau are great as the evil sophisticates.
If you haven't seen
North By Northwest in a while, or God forbid, you've never seen it, drop it onto your Netfilx list and when it arrives, throw in some microwave popcorn and sit back and remind yourself what going to the movies is all about.
