Cary Grant running for his life

Tuesday night, the film gods bestowed upon me one of the most exciting screening opportunities I think I may have ever had. Here’s the set-up: Turner Classic Movies is putting on a Classic Film Festival in Hollywood that sounds amazing. In anticipation of it, they’re heading to select cities across the country, showing a film (for free), that has a connection to the respective city they are in at the time.

And for Chicago they picked one of my favorite films, Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. The opportunity to see the film on the big screen, played on the actual film print, for free, had me in a complete tizzy. Then, if this were not enough, to cap it off they brought in Eva Marie Saint (the lead actress in the film) for an interview and question and answer session with the audience, hosted by TCM’s Robert Osborne.

After downloading two free tickets from TCM’s website, myself and a friend headed to the fantastic Music Box Theater, an old-style movie house that is one of the true gems of Chicago. Arriving over an hour before the screening, the line for this “sold-out” event had already weaved down the street and around the block, and needless to say, the large theater was packed for the event.

Eva Marie Saint was as charming, entertaining, smart, and funny as you could hope her to be. She entertained the audience with stories both about her long, celebrated career, and about North by Northwest itself. Hitchcock, who was a notoriously controlling director, brought a confidence to the set that, in her opinion, gave her ease in her performance- she knew exactly what the director wanted, no doubt. There was no improvisation, no opportunity to spread the wings of an actor far, but in handing herself over to Hitchcock’s direction, a great performance emerged.

North by Northwest is my favorite Hitchcock film because not only does it have the hallmarks of all the great Hitchcock films, it also happens to be wildly entertaining and very funny. Starring Cary Grant as a New York advertising man who is mistaken for a man of international espionage, the film follows Grant’s escapades as he flees from New York to Mount Rushmore- with a stop in Chicago along the way- trying to clear his name. During the trip he meets the beautiful and mysterious Eve Kendall on a train from New York to Chicago, who may have either fallen for him upon first sight or is out to set him up for something not nearly as pleasant.

The film's title sequence

The opening title sequence of the film brings me such joy, I’m not even sure where to begin. The great music of Bernard Herrmann slowly builds with urgency as vertical and horizontal lines come darting across a green screen to slowly reveal a high-rise building whose windows reflect on the city below. And to end the sequence is, what I think, Hitchcock’s best cameo. If you don’t know, Hitchcock makes a brief cameo in all of his films, a “Where’s Waldo?” moment, if you will. By the time North by Northwest was released in 1959, Hitchcock was so popular, and the cameo gimmick so well known, that he began adding them as close to the beginning of the film as possible, so as to not be a distraction as audiences tried to look for him.

I should tell you that I hate nothing more than running for the bus or the train, I just refuse to put myself through the same humiliation countless of my fellow urbanites are willing as they go running, just to have the bus shut its door in their face and drive away. There’s the set-up, now watch for the impossible-to-miss Hitchcock cameo at the top of the film.

North by Northwest contains some of Hitchcock’s most famous scenes, which are really some of the best of his career. The crop-duster sequence, where Cary Grant desperately tries to outrun a crop-duster propeller plane that is shooting at him down highway 41 in Indiana farm country is as iconic an image ever placed on film. And the final chase sequence across Mt. Rushmore is something to behold- just to watch Eva Marie Saint crawl around the mountain in high heels and a sensible suit is greatly entertaining (talk about fashion over comfort and practicality).

To give it to you straight up, I just think everything about this film is perfect. It not only employs Hitchcock’s expert sense of direction, but also puts his sense of humor fully on display- something that while apparent in some of his films, is never employed as well as it is in North by Northwest. It really is difficult to not be enthralled from start to finish.

Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint braving Mt. Rushmore

I love Hitchcock, as so many do, and could nearly recommend his entire collection of films. Since he made so many, I’m going to just give you my personal top 5 favorites and let you take it from there. And relax, the guy made a large amount of great movies, so don’t stab me to death in the shower if your favorite isn’t here.  My top 5 favorite Hitchcock films are:

1. North by Northwest (1959)
2. Notorious (1946)
3. Vertigo (1958)
4. Rear Window (1954)
5. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

If you are more interested in learning about Hitchcock, I highly recommend the great long-form interview, sold as the book Hitchcock by François Truffaut, the great director of French New Wave Cinema. Contained in it is a thorough interview on the craft of filmmaking, covering Hitchcock’s entire career. It is a must for film buffs and Hitchcock fans alike.

For more information on TCM’s Classic Film Festival, visit www.tcm.com.