Run Cary, Run!

If there was ever a film that keeps me glued to my seat while bringing a grin to my face, it's Alfred Hitchcock's "North by Northwest". Coming at the tail end of one of the Master's most productive decades, the film combines all the best elements of Hitchcock's previous man-on-the-run pictures (eg. innocent man accused, fancy locales, assassination attempts, femme fatales) with high production values and Hitchcock's trademark tongue-in-cheek sense of humour. The film's whole story and situations are so absurdly over-the-top that it's all great fun.

Cary Grant stars as Roger O. Thornhill, a fish out of water if there ever was one. As portrayed by Grant, Thornhill comes across as a charming, slightly amoral NYC businessman. Thornhill is in the process of enjoying his lunch break when, in one of those VERY unlikely series of coincidences Hitchcock loves to throw at us, he is mistaken for suave double-agent George Kaplan by a group of spies. Yes, you read that right. Don't ask me how. Just watch and see for yourself.

To make a long story short, Thornhill is abducted at gunpoint, interrogated, and then when unable to come up with anything, pumped full of bourbon, dumped in a stolen car and nearly pushed off a cliff, chased by bad guys, and arrested for drunk driving. And that's just the beginning. Before the next day is out, Thornhill will find himself on the run not only from the bad guys, but also from the police when he is wrongly accused of murder at the UN building. And you thought you had a bad day!

Now on the run from both the police and the bad guys, Thornhill finds himself engaged in a cross-country chase as he attempts to track down the real George Kaplan and clear his name. Along the way she finds herself abetted by a beautiful, but mysterious young blonde, (Eva Marie Saint) but what are her motives? And who are the people trying to kill him? And just who is the elusive Mr. Kaplan?

Many films require a willing suspension of disbelief. North by Northwest ranks high in this regard. Think about it, what the hell are the chances of getting mistaken for a spy? One in a trillion? Hitchcock seems aware of this, as the police themselves don't believe Thornhill's story. Even Roger's own mother seems to think her son is up himself. But hey, can you blame them? Would you believe some rambling drunk driver ranting about assassins? The scene in the police station ranks high in my opinion in terms of comic value.

The film just gets sillier and sillier as it goes along. Take how Thornhill explains to Eve why the police are after him, ("Seven parking tickets."). Or the exchange in the elevator between Thornhill's mother and his would-be killers. Or how Thornhill finds himself falsely accused of murder. Perhaps the silliest (but still entertaining) scene for me was the now infamous scene with Cary Grant fighting for his life amidst the crop field. I won't give away what happens, but I will say it must be one of the most absurd ways of trying to kill someone ever devised. Why don't the bad guys walk up and shoot our hero dead? Because then we'd miss one of the most exciting set pieces ever devised on film.

Perhaps the silliest and most exciting scene however is the climatic chase across Mount Rushmore. It's a harrowing sequence for anyone with acrophobia (like me), yet also pretty funny when you think about it. Am I the only one who thinks the Mount Rushmore monument is pretty hideous? Hitchcock seems to thinks so too, perhaps explaining why he chose to film Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint climbing over the likes of George Washington and Teddy Roosevelt. Needless to say, this didn't make him very popular with some so-called patriots of the time, who protested the filming. Watch the NBNW documentary and you'll see how Hitchcock got his revenge.

As Thornhill, Cary Grant is very much in his element here. He is funny, sophisticated, and charming, with just the right amount of roguishness. Even though I know Jimmy Stewart wanted the role, I can picture no one else but Grant in this part. It's easy to see why Ian Flemming wanted Grant for the role of Bond. Grant also allows his character to show real dramatic growth. By the end of the film, Thornhill is no longer pretending to be Kaplan, he simply is Kaplan.

Grant also gets to utter some truly memorable lines here. Among them;

"In the world of advertising, there's no such thing as a lie. There's only expedient exaggeration."

"The moment I meet an attractive woman, I have to start pretending I have no desire ot make love to her."

"No, Mother, I have not been drinking." (After being arrested for being DUI.)

"Now you listen to me. I'm an advertising man, not a red herring. I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don't intend to disappoint them all by getting myself slightly killed." (Grant was himself thrice married at the time.)

As comic thrillers go, Hitchcock's "North by Northwest" must rank very high indeed. Sure, it doesn't have the fancy camera setup of "Rear Window", or the scare factor of "Psycho", nor the emotional depth of "Vertigo". It's just a fast-paced, funny, and incredibly funny piece of entertainment. Just park your butt, put your brain in neutral, and enjoy.