North by Northwest (1959)

      "...two of the very slickest operators before and behind the Hollywood cameras."

With Eva Marie Saint.

North by Northwest - Review is taken from 'The Films of Cary Grant' by Donald Deschner (1973):

"If it does nothing else (but it does, it does), North by Northwest resoundingly reaffirms the fact that Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock are two of the very slickest operators before and behind the Hollywood cameras.  Together they can be unbeatable.  Each has his own special, career-tested formula.  Actor Grant's is a sartorial spiffiness and mannered charm; producer-director Hitchcock's is an outrageously simple yet effective blend of mayhem and humor at mayhem's expense, the whole usually framed by a famous piece of scenery that no one else had ever considered a suitable backdrop for melodramatic shenanigans.  The present shiny and colorful collaboration offers Grant as a dapper Madison Avenue advertising executive being chased by foreign agents over the slippery precipices of the Presidential faces carved into Mount Rushmore - a most unlikely bit of contrived suspense, but one that is hypnotizing while it jangles the nerves." 

- Newsweek

New Artwork by Rebekah Hawley at Studio36 -
Number 66 - North by Northwest (Lobby Card Style)

Part Of

For more, see also:

On This Day 17 July 2020

On This Day 16 July 2021

Quote From Today 17 July 2022

Quote From Today... North By Northwest (1959)

  "My name is Thornhill - Roger Thornhill"

North By Northwest was Cary Grant's 66th full length feature film.

[Thornhill and Vandamm meeting each other for the first time in Townsend's office, where Vandamm has stolen his identity; they both size each other up silently]

Phillip Vandamm: Good evening.

[beat]

Phillip Vandamm: Not what I expected. A little taller, a little more polished than the others...

Roger Thornhill: Well, I'm so glad you're pleased, Mr. Townsend!

Phillip Vandamm: But I'm afraid just as obvious.

Leonard: What the devil is all this about? Why was I brought here?

Phillip Vandamm: Games? Must we?

Roger Thornhill: Not that I mind a slight case of abduction now and then, but I do have tickets to the theatre tonight, and a show I was looking forward to and I get, well, *unreasonable* about things like that.

Phillip Vandamm: With such play-acting, you make this very room a theatre.

[Leonard, Vandamm's co-conspirator, enters]

Phillip Vandamm: Ah, Leonard. Have you met our distinguished guest?

Leonard: He's a well-tailored one, isn't he?

Phillip Vandamm: My secretary is a great admirer of your methods, Mr. Kaplan. Elusive, however misguided...

Roger Thornhill: Wait a minute. Did you call me "Kaplan"?

Phillip Vandamm: Oh, I know you're a man of many names, but I'm perfectly willing to accept your current choice.

Roger Thornhill: "Current choice"? My name is Thornhill - Roger Thornhill! It's never been anything else!

On This Day...North By Northwest (1959)

North By Northwest was Cary Grant's 66th full length feature film and for me the best!

Cary Grant plays a business executive, Roger Thornhill, who is mistaken for a secret agent and kidnapped. 

And what more can I say ...action and thrills from the UN Plaza, Grand Central Station, Mount Rushmore and crop dusters.

Production picture.

This film has everything!! From the opening titles by Saul Bass and Bernard Herrmann's score to the film's final scene on Mount Rushmore.

So hopefully the selection of pictures will convey what my words can not!!

With Eva Marie Saint as Eve Kendall.

With Adam Williams and Robert Ellenstein.

"Cary Grant performs with the polish that movie-goers have for long come to expect of him." - Look Magazine

With Jessie Royce Landis, Robert Ellenstien and Adam Williams.

"If it does nothing else (but it does, it does), North By Northwest resoundingly reaffirms the fact the Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock are two of the very slickest operators before and behind the cameras. Together they can be unbeatable." - Newsweek

With James Mason, Eva Marie Saint and Martin Landau.

With Philip Ober.

"Mr. Lehman not only provided Hitchcock with exactly the right kind of story to take advantage of his skills, but he has written that rare thing these days - a screen original." - Saturday Review

On Location.

With the crop duster....classic scene!

The scene was a combination of on-set back projections and on location shots. 

With Leo G. Carroll

Mount Rushmore: On set.

Grand Central Station: Behind the scenes.

Final destination:

With Eva Marie Saint.

Cast:

Roger Thornhill                    Cary Grant

Eve Kendall                          Eva Marie Saint

Philip Vandamm                   James Mason

Clara Thornhill                     Jessie Royce Landis

Professor                              Leo G. Carroll

Lester Townsend                  Philip Ober

Handsome Woman                Josephine Hutchinson

Leonard                                Martin Landau

Valerain                                Adam Williams

Victor Larrabee                     Edward Platt

Licht                                     Robert Ellenstein

Auctioneer                            Les Tremayne

Dr. Cross                               Philip Coolidge

Chicago Policeman                Patrick McVey

Capt. Junket                         Edward Binns

Chicago Policeman                Ken Lynch

Behind the scenes with James Mason and Eva Marie Saint.

Publicity shot with Eva Marie Saint.

With Eva Marie Saint, Alfred Hitchcock and James Mason.

Lobby Cards:

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Running time: 136 minutes.

And finally...check out my other North By Northwest related posts, "My Favourite Film of the 1950's", "He's a Well Tailored One, Isn't He, by clicking on the labels below!

"Lights, Camera...Action!" - The Directors - Part 2

After Howard Hawks' five films with Cary Grant, there were two directors who completed four films each with Grant...Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Donen.

Alfred Hitchcock:

13th August 1899 - 29th April 1990

"Hitch and I had a rapport and understanding deeper than words. He was a very agreeable human being, and we were very compatible. I always went to work whistling when I worked with him because everything on the set was just as you envisioned it would be. Nothing ever went wrong. He was so incredibly well prepared. I never knew anyone as capable. He was a tasteful, intelligent, decent, and patient man who knew the actor's business as well as he knew his own." 

- Grant on Hitchcock

Suspicion (1941)

On set with Joan Fontaine.

His appearance in the film.

Notorious (1946)

Hitchcock's appearance in a scene with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman.

To Catch A Thief (1955)

 

On film with Grant.

On set with Grace Kelly and Cary Grant.

North By Northwest (1959)

An early appearance in the film.

                                                           

On set and behind the scenes with Cary Grant, Eve Marie Saint and James Mason.

"Cary is marvelous, you see. One doesn't direct Cary Grant, one simply puts him in front of a camera. 

And, you see, he enables the audience to identify with the main character. I mean by that, Cary Grant represents a man we know. He's not a stranger."

- Hitchcock on Grant

To be continued...The Directors - Part 3 - Stanley Donen.

Old and New...Inspirations!

There is nothing new under the sun!...Just variations or adaptations.

Because it's May 4th, I thought I would add this contibution.

A Classic film (my favourite Cary Grant film) and the final chapter of the saga i was raised on. A full 60 years apart, but a timeless chase between man and machine.

Cary Grant in North by Northwest (1959) and Daisy Ridley, striking a familiar pose, in The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Spot the difference?

More digital enhancing!

"May the 4th...Be with you!"

My Favourite Film of the 1950's...North By Northwest (1959)

Not only is North By Northwest, my favourite film of the 1950's, but it is my favourite Cary Grant film...ever!

It has everything!

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, for the fourth and last time, Cary Grant set the tempo for stylish thrillers to follow, including James Bond.
(See:  "He's A Well Tailored One, Isn't He? Blog)

It took me numerous viewings to realise the point at which Roger Thornhill gets mistaken for George Kaplan.

The film is littered with classic scenes..the UN stabbing, Grand Central Station, drunk driving Lara's mercedes, climbing Mount Rushmore and one of the most memorable scenes..the crop duster chase.

With a great cast too....
James Mason, Eva Marie Saint, Martin Landau and Jessie Royce Landis.

"Calling Mr. Kaplan!"...so the drama begins! 

"You're a bit taller than I expected. A little more polished..."

"Something wrong with your eyes?"......"Yes, they're sensitive to questions!"

"Roger O. Thornhill. What does the O stand for?"......"Nothing!"

"That fella's dustin' crops, where there ain't no crops!"

The are a few interesting things that happened whilst filming.

In the scene where Cary Grant goes to find the real Mr. Townsend, at the United Nations, Hitchcock couldn't get permission to film on the Plaza. So he filmed Cary crossing the road from the back of a van parked opposite!

In the scene below, where Eva Marie Saint and Cary Grant's characters stage a shooting, notice the young boy, to the right of Eva Marie Saint, put his fingers in his ears, anticipating the noise of the gun.

Behind the Scenes:

Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint.

Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock.

James Mason, Eva Marie Saint, Cary Grant and the Presidents!