''North by Northwest'' (1959 movie)- Review

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Released: 1959
Country: United States

Genres: Adventure, Thriller, Action

Main cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, Leo G. Carroll, James Mason, Martin Landau, Philip Ober, Jessie Royce Landis, Adam Williams

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Review

''North by Northwest'' is another example of a great movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This suspenseful thriller film is a classic, and is excellently made. ''North by Northwest'' is full of thrills, adventure, suspense, and also, some comedic and romantic elements as well. It is in fact, a brilliant masterpiece.

The film's protagonist is Roger Thornhill, an advertising excecutive. Played by Cary Grant, Thornhill is a cool-minded, witty, and hardworking man. He is kidnapped by two men and is taken to a house, where in the library, Lester Townsend confronts him. They have mistaken Roger Thornhill for a government agent named George Kaplan. Thornhill says he isn't Kaplan, but the friends of Townsend forcibly makes him drink Bourbon, making him intoxicated. They are then taking him to some place.

Thornhill, however, pushes one of Townsend's thugs out of the car. He drives fast and policeman arrests him for driving at such a high speed in an intoxicated condition. After his mother bails him, and since nobody believes him Roger tries hard to find everything out.

But on his attempt to find out the fact, Roger gets framed for murder. He runs away, gets on a train to Chicago, and is helped by a beautiful woman, Eve Kendell.

Many suspense, thrills, and twist follow after this. And presented so wonderfully and made so excellently, this amazing movie remains very memorable to us.

Like many of Hitchcock's films, North by Northwest has comic elements. At the early scenes, much of this comedy is provided by Roger Thornhill's mother, an easygoing woman. While she and Roger are at George Kaplan's hotel room, she comments that she is feeling nervous because she might get late for the bridge club! Not only this, many of her other dialogues make us laugh out loud. This character remained a small supporting character, and appears only in a few scenes. That was an interesting character, and I expected to see more of her. Anyways, in the later part of the movie, there is some humor provided by Thornhill, Eve, and some others. 

The film has got a lot of thrills and memorable moments. It is basically an adventure-thriller movie, but the humor and romance make it more wonderful.

Cary Grant, who had starred in many Hitchcock movies, gives a brilliant performance. Eva Marie Saint plays the beautiful Eve Kendell, a memorable character, and gives a marvelous performance. James Mason as the villain Vandamm is pretty amazing. Martin Landau is okay as his sidekick Leonard. Jessie Royce Landis is marvelous as Roger Thornhill's easygoing mother. A remarkable performance is given by Leo G. Carroll.

Cinematography was praiseworthy and the musical effects were quite good. Alfred Hitchcock directs this film brilliantly and almost everything of this film is good. As a result, despite of the movie being a bit long, you will never feel boring. It's very interesting and highly entertaining with thrills, adventure, romance and comedic elements.

North by Northwest is a masterpiece by Alfred Hitchcock, full of thrills and entertainment. Great movie, in fact!

4.5 out of 5