North By Northwest (1959)
Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason; d. Alfred Hitchcock; A+

Why oh why is North By Northwest above the great Vertigo in the AFI 100 list? Why is it above Vertigo in any list? Sure, if we were to talk about which film is more crowd pleasing, North By Northwest would win with flying colors. But as to which one is a better film? Obviously, Vertigo. While North By Northwest may be a good film, it fails to go beyond fun, exciting entertainment. And because of that it's easy to understand why people would feel it's "overrated". Easy because people make North By Northwest sound like some artistic acheivment worthy of being among Vertigo or even Psycho. But, as the bus passanger says to Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant), can't say it is cuz it ain't.

Following in the tracks of Hitchcock espionage thrillers such as The 39 Steps and Sabateur, North By Northwest is the ultimate Hitchcock espionage thriller about an advertising executive named Roger O. Thornhill (Grant), who goes on a cross-country persuit when he is mistaken for non-existant FBI agent George Kaplan. Thornhill is persued by Philipp Vandamm (James Mason), a man of no particular nationality after government secrets. Little does Vandamm know that George Kaplan is a cover-up for the real FBI agent working underneith his own nose: Vandamm's girlfriend Eve Kendal (Eva Marie Saint). Things get even more mixed up when the faux-agent, Thornhill, falls in love the real agent Kendal, and vice versa. What happens afterwards is a wild ride of drunken car chases, murders, train rides, and one grand finale on Mount Rushmore.

Do not get the impression that North By Northwest is an awful film. By no means is it terrible, in fact you may find yourself watching it over and over again like I have. North By Northwest has to have one of the best scripts ever in a Hitchcock film, especially with its dialouge that sizzles more than the matches in Roger's matchbox. The humor is great, and especially comes off well in the hillarious car chase scene with a forcefully intoxicated Cary Grant. The chemistry between Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint is perfect, and both fit well in their roles. James Mason does an ecellent job as well as Vandamm, whose character is that of a more distant Claude Rains in Notorious. Also noticable are secondary characters played by Leo G. Caroll and Martin Landau, as the nameless FBI "professor" and one of Vandamm's men. The film is full of classic scenes, including the aforementioned car chase and Mount Rushmore finale, and the famous crop dusting scene with Cary Grant being persued by a killer crop duster. Probably the best thing about the movie is its vibrant Bernard Herrmann score, which adds to the element of excitment and thrills. The DVD features a music-only audio track and I would highly suggest it.

All I would say to you is not to expect a masterpeice out of this. A great, entertianing film, but nowhere near the brilliant movies it's ranked up with.

© Vert A Go Go Reviews 2001