yes, 1000 times yes! Watch Charade next. The witty dialogue, the story, the suspense, and of course you have the incredible pairing of Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, who play off of each other so well.
I'll give 100 votes for Charade! It's a perfect movie - it blends action, mystery, suspense, comedy and a love story, and it hits each element perfectly!
This *may* be my fave Hitchcock film. I absolutely love it. The mystery, the action, the humor… Doesn’t hurt that Cary Grant is also one of my favorite actors. A pairing that was simply perfect.
There’s loads of good Hitchcock movies - Rear Window, Dial M for murder, To catch a thief (when Grace Kelly met her future husband Prince Rainier of Monaco), Marnie, The 39 Steps, Notorious. Usually featuring a blonde lead actress and older leading man like Jimmy Stewart or Cary Grant.
Did you notice the little boy at the table behind Grant, he covers his ears BEFORE the loud (fake) gun is fired! CLASSIC giveaway and one of Hollywood's all time mistakes that most people never notice!!
Thanks for this reaction to one of my favorite films. Yes, Cary Grant is GREAT! Please see him in the Hitchcock film "To Catch a Thief" with the beautiful Grace Kelly . Also react to "Charade" with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in a very "Hitchcock like" Suspense story. thanks again
Funny trivia facts 1) Martin Landau played Leonard, Vandam´s righ-hand man. Few years laters he played one of the main characters on the spy tv show "Mission Impossible", that inspired many decades later the Tom Cruise´s movie saga. 2) On the late 1950´s Ian Fleming and british producer Kevin McClory were producing a James Bond film so they wrote a script called "Thunderball" that years laters, with the project cancelled, Flemin turned into the novel of the same title(And McClory´s answer was sueing a lawsuit, he won and he gained the book righs ant being credited as the book co-author). Whe McClory´s and Fleming still working on his 007 movie projct they offered the director´s chair to Alfred Hitchcock but his answer was "I have already made this kind of movie, it´s called North by northwest". About other Hitchcock´s films, I would recomend "Vertigo", "Strangers on a train" and "Frenzy".
You might want to consider Hitchcock’s “Stranger on a Train”. A national historic site akin to Mount Rushmore in it, too. A reel merry go round story of suspense and thrills.
This has always been my favorite Hitchcock film - a true Hollywood classic! To me - it really was Hitchcock at his very best. It was also incredibly influential on the early James Bond films. The charm of its British Hero, the tone, the action , the main villain, his henchmen, the “ Bond girl” ,the larger than life characters, the humor…etc etc All of it played a big part of the entire feel of the first couple of Bond films and was instrumental in the crafting of the entire series thereafter. In fact - From Russia with Love basically swiped that entire iconic scene of Cary Grant running from the Crop duster Plane - they just added Spectre and some weapons! lol Cary Grant was even offered the part of James Bond based on this movie - but he only wanted to do one film so,of course that did not work out! But it’s very easy to see how much The filmmakers adapted much of the style and panache he brought to this role and incorporated that into the James Bond character we’ve seen in so many films all these years later. So in many ways Cary Grants classic Hollywood persona is still being seen and felt by audiences of today!
Shan, you picked a great movie to review! These are the types of movies that never grow old. As others have suggested "Rope" is unique. The film Rope was entirely shot in one location and in real time.
YES! One of my favorites! Thanks! Also, when Roger's mother laughs in the elevator at 7:19 she looks EXACTLY like my grandmother. Just needed to mention that.
The title sequence was done by Saul Bass who famous for his title designs. He also did Psycho and Vertigo. There's a RUclips video of his work in title designs
North by Northwest had an impact on the James Bond films. When Fleming was trying to get his Thunderball script produced, Hitchcock was his choice to direct after seeing North by Northwest. Later, the Bond series producers asked Cary Grant to play Bond, also based on his performance in this film. But Grant didn't want to commit to multiple films. After From Russia with Love, Hitchcock commented about the similarities between his scene of Grant being chased by a crop duster and Bond being chased by a helicopter. It's fun to spot actors who would go on to play roles in 60s spy TV series. Leo G Carroll played Mr. Waverly on The Man from UNCLE and Martin Landau starred in Mission: Impossible.
A real Hitchcockian thriller is "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962), directed by John Frankenheimer, with masterful performances by Angela Lansbury and Laurence Harvey, and also staring Frank Sinatra. I think you will be in awe at the end. Look forward to seeing your reaction.
Wow...it is a very strange thing. For some reason, I have the ability to recognize the soil of the county I live in. As soon as the crop duster scene appeared, I knew it was somewhere local, so I looked it up. It is!
The crop duster scene is probably one of the most famous in movie history. There is at least one video explaining the complexities of shooting that scene. Cary Grant's major comedic skills kept the mood of the film light, allowing it almost to make fun of itself. Hermann's helter skelter music played a major role as well. Great, original flick!
If you're in for another scifi classic and one with more of Bernard Hermann's music do "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) where Hermann's music really makes the film cool. His brassy orchestration and using a theremin too... it was the '50s man! LOL! But it's a required movie for those studying the classic scifis of the 1950s, in fact it's one of its best.... and has good messaging given it came out shortly after WWII with a small but growing Cold War vibe at the time. 🖖😎
You already have received several recommendations for other Cary Grant classics - and they are all worth taking. I'd also add "His Girl Friday," which in my opinion is the funniest comedy in movie history.
The innocent man framed by circumstantial evidence attempting to clear his name while eluding the authorities-this is a story that Hitchcock really specialized in, and more than a few of his films relate variations of it. “North by Northwest” is my personal favorite among his films for sheer entertainment value. I’m glad to see new people discover this great classic.
Love this movie , the chemistry between Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint is amazing. Eva Marie Saint is still alive and well at 97. Her mind and memory are still amazing.
I dig the Cary Grant / Hitchcock films more than the Jimmy Stewart collaborations. Hot take? No. I just think Grant was more comfortable with the comedy and the action. Notorious (1946) is also excellent.
Yes. "Dial M for Murder" is wonderful! It's never boring despite being Set bound in the one Apartment, other than when Ray Milland & Bob Cummings go out to the stag party.
Bernard Herrmann is the composer most associated with Hitchcock, with whom he had a decade long relationship. The Trouble with Harry (1955) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) The Wrong Man (1956) Vertigo (1958) North by Northwest (1959) Psycho (1960) The Birds (1963) The movie had no score, but Herrmann was a "sound consultant." Marnie (1964) Torn Curtain (1966) Herrmann's score was rejected by Hitchcock, ending their relationship.
One of the best score composers ever... quite forgotten, sadly. Herrman had that special gift old score composers had: making everything more interesting without overwhelming people with noise, cheap hooks or tons of absurd percussions and the louder bass possible... Hans Zimmer I accuse you. I miss freaking music silence in movies nowadays
@@JulioLeonFandinho Herrmann is hardly forgotten. He has legions of fans, even amongst the Hollywood elite. Though few of his scores were released when the movie was new, nearly all have been re-recorded (in whole, or in part) in the years since his death. He even got the ball rolling by releasing a series of albums (in the early '70s) of suites of his scores, including one of Hitchcock's films.
Still plenty of more Hitchcock to see. I'd recommend The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes, Foreign Correspondent, Shadow of a Doubt, Lifeboat, Strangers on a Train, The Wrong Man and Frenzy. You may also want to check out some of his acolytes. You've already done some DePalma, maybe try some Claude Chabrol.
My favorite thanks Shan, maybe not his best but it’s my favorite, I got to see Cary Grant in person at a actors studio type event at SMU in Dallas way back in the 80s and always a big fan , one thing I love about Hitchcock films are how colorful and well everyone is dressed, you can just look at all the beautiful scenery in the background the cars etc , thanks again Shan your videos are such great treasures
Great reaction! I don’t know if this has been mentioned but for me, when I watch this, I always think of “Silver Streak”, with gene wilder, Richard Pryor and Ned Beatty. Another great train thriller/comedy. Hope you can check it out one of these days.
Please just for your own pleasure check out 'Foreign Correspondent ' with Joel McCrae from the 40's , also Hitchcocks favorite film " Shadow of a Doubt " with Joseph Cotton & Teresa Wright. Smaller Hitchcock films that became major favorites after repeated viewings.
@@sherigrow6480 Cotton is the early epitome of evil in Shadow of a Doubt . His speech at the dinner table about useless old. women ranks up there with anything by Hannibal Lecter.
So glad you enjoyed this one! If you want to see the other film that inspired the original 007 producers to create their now-iconic spy, I'd recommend watching The Guns of Navarone, with Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn. North by Northwest CLEARLY inspired the style of the early Bond films, but Navarone set the tone in terms of ACTION. Stylistically its more comparable to later Mission: Impossible movies - with an ensemble setting out to complete a given assignment - but in terms of BIG sets and set pieces, BIG twists, BIG turns, and BIG drama, plus more pulse-pounding ACTION than any film of its time, and you can CLEARLY see the inspiration for the later 007 productions like Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice, or The Spy Who Loved Me. It may seem a bit quaint these days, but at the time, it set the bar pretty high for what an action-adventure film could do in 2 1/2 hours (war movie or otherwise), and Broccoli and Saltzman clearly watched both films and said, "If we take these Flemming novels and turn them into something like THAT, we might have something here." At a time when most studios and producers either took pride in avoiding sequels altogether or tried to maximize profits by slashing the budgets and milking diminishing returns for all they were worth, those two gentlemen doubled down for almost every subsequent Bond film up to Moonraker, and were so successful that almost every studio in Hollywood now emulates their golden formula. SO glad you didn't leave out North by Northwest as you've gone on your own 007 marathon adventure. As for what Hitchcock film to watch next, you've seen MOST of his best - although there's a LONG list between 1935 and 1963 where he pretty much never failed to deliver SOMETHING watchable, along with a handful of perfectly satisfying "little" thrillers like Dial M for Murder, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Notorious, and The Birds that are classics unto themselves - but for me the one you need to watch is another Cary Grant film called To Catch a Thief, in which he co-stars with the unbelievably gorgeous Grace Kelly. It's more of a comedy than a suspense picture, but those seeing those two "beautiful people" trading wits, romance, and witty banter on the French Riviera remains one of the highlights of Hitch's career (for me anyway, some deride the fact that it isn't a straight-up suspense thriller, but it's just pure, Hitchcockian eye-candy and a lot of fun to boot). I've heard Gal Gadot is doing a remake in the near future, but even with her looks it would be hard to top that one for pure, old fashioned, Hollywood GLAMOUR. Finally, should you find yourself jones-ing for more FANTASTIC spy pictures, I'd recommend these three CLASSICS from the 1970's: The Day of the Jackal (with Moonraker's Michael Lonsdale and Edward Fox, 1973) Marathon Man (with Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider, and Sir Lawrence Olivier, 1974; it inspired one of the fights from The Bourne Identity), and... Three Days of the Condor (with Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, and Max Von Sydow, 1975, which inspired Tom Cruise's first Mission: Impossible film to some degree, as well as a host of others including Captain America Winter Soldier - at least in terms of tone - which is one reason they asked Robert Redford to come back and play a part) Obviously I'm looking forward to WHATEVER sinister scheme you'll be hatching next to steal away some more of my time, but like many of your subscribers, I'm a lifelong movie junkie, and eternally grateful whenever I get to share some of that feeling with others. Can't wait to see whatever's next, sorry to prattle on, and thanks for another great reaction/ review!!!
I love this movie and music soundtrack music as well. It is so well done. Just to let you know, it's 2022 and Eva Marie Saint is still with us. She's 97 now.
The movie’s title: he’s not only traveling across the country in a north by northwest direction, he flies on Northwest Airlines which eventually merged with Delta Airlines. North by Delta doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
On first viewing you don't notice this: When he is at the hotel, the bell boy is paging Kaplan. Just then he calls the boy because he wants to sent the telegram. The bad guys (obviously paged Kaplan to see who answers), and he waves to the bellboy at that moment - thus they think he is Kaplan.
The VistaVision camera used to photograph this movie was about the size of a small refrigerator and weighed about 300 lb. There was no way for it to shake because it was always either on a tripod or on some kind of dolly or crane.
The parks department did not allow them to actually shoot on the faces of Mount Rushmore, so Mount Rushmore was built as a set in the studio and augmented with matte paintings.
If you loved James Mason as a bad guy in this check him out as a great good guy in 1959 journey to the center of the earth movie..great fun movie..north by north west and man who knew to much are my fave hitchcock films
My mother is a huge Cary Grant fan and therefore I grew up with him on Tv and a fan by default. Another couple great thrillers with him is Charade and Hitchcock directed To Catch A Thief. One of my favorite comedies that is naughty is That Touch of Mink. So many of his movies I enjoy.
Sadly, most of the Rushmore scenes were sets, but I think they did a few shots on site. I was at Rushmore a couple of summers ago, and I was delighted to see how similar everything looked. The binoculars there today could have been the ones Cary Grant looked through.
You did another one of my favorite Hitchcock movies!! Try Rope, which takes place in one room; The Man That Knew Too Much, a great Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day movie, and A Shadow Of Doubt
2 года назад
Only thing I didn't like in Shadow Of Doubt was the conclusion.
11:27 'I wonder why this movie is called North by Northwest?' A moment earlier we saw an image that might give a clue 11:00 (one of many similar throughout the movie)
Fun Hitchcock. He wanted to do something light and commercial after "Vertigo". He followed it up with "Psycho". If you really want some textbook hardboiled Hitchcock that goes down easy, delivering everything you want: "Strangers On A Train". By all means, try all the rest. And then try one of the very best. And for a late period surprise, try "Frenzy". "Shadow Of A Doubt" was his own personal favorite and it's easy to see why, it's one of mine as well. (And for off the channel, if you want to be dazzled and surprised, watch his silent movie "The Ring").
One funny part is when Eva pulls out the gun to shot Cary you can see a little kid behind them cover his ears because he knew from a previous take that she was going to shot the gun.
Very entertaining Hitchcock movie. Hitchcock owed MGM a film and they wanted him to make a shipwreck movie called Wreck of the Mary Deare. His screenwriter Ernest Lehman couldn’t get into that movie. Hitchcock liked Lehman and told him we will give them something else. They were both immediately inspired Lehman wanted to make the ultimate Hitchcock movie and Hitchcock responded with “I’ve always wanted to film a chase across the faces of Mount Rushmore”. The story evolved from theie. Other great movies… To Catch a Thief Strangers on a Train Rope Notorious (Cary Grant as a spy) Shadow of a Doubt Rebecca
I saw this and Vertigo ran off a dye transfer technicolor print some years ago at the Eastman House Dryden theater. It was a revelation. I NEVER saw color as vivid on a film print and even these great HD restorations and transfers don't do it justice.
excellent job of catching the small details and That great music score. NO they were not allowed to film on the South DAKOTA scene and the mountain, Thats what makes this pretty impressive, Its def in my top 3 of suspense, drama and of course the spy ideas
Other great Hitchcock films to check out (well, my favorites other than those you've already watched): Shadow of a Doubt (1943), The Lady Vanishes (1938), The 39 Steps (1935), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Rebecca (1940), Saboteur (1942), Rope (1948), Strangers on a Train (1951), Lifeboat (1944). But you really can't go wrong with Hitchcock. He has at least 25 films worth watching. Hitchcock was the king of the McGuffin. Many of his stories have one, because to him, it didn't matter what everyone was chasing, as long as we knew they all wanted it badly. He cared about the emotion of the situation, putting the audience in the place of the protagonist to create the suspense and be thinking, "how are they going to get out of this one?" The item itself was secondary. And that is true for a lot of story. Think of "The Maltese Falcon." We get a very brief history of the falcon (maybe a minute or two of screen time), but otherwise, the story is about how badly everyone wants it and what they are willing to do or not willing to do to get it (and then figuring it all out). That's the story. Character is revealed through conflict.That is the emotional connection/cathartic moments that we go to story for. You could change the actual object "Tha Maltese Falcon" and make it "The Tunisian Elephant" and with a very minor rewrite, have the same film. And yes, it was very common for older films to end much more abruptly than today. In the old days, as soon as the story was resolved, you rolled the credits. No long pans away with music, no final montage, no day after scenes. Story done...roll credits. Sometimes these days it goes too far the other way. "Gladiator" and "The Sixth Sense" come to mind for me in that regard. At the end of both of those films, I said, why are we still sitting here, the story ended like 10 minutes ago and yet the movie is still going. There is obviously a good balance, somewhere in between. But, it is interesting to see how film has changed by watching younger people review/react to older films. Like with opening credits. Most young viewers (not you Shan...you obviously enjoyed this title sequence and in the Bond films, etc.) are annoyed/bored by opening title sequences. As older film viewers, that was just the way it was, so you didn't think twice about it. And you always appreciated the filmmakers who were creative with their opening titles. A superb opening credit sequence and another great (non-Hitchcock) film you should watch if you haven't seen it is "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1952) with Gregory Peck. Anyhow, I love your reactions/reviews Shan and your choices of which films to watch/review. Keep it up!
"The Trouble with Harry" is overlooked but is another great one to add, along with "Rope". Also want to mention that Cary Grant films, I highly recommend.
If you ever get a fancy for old-school fantasy or stop-motion animation, Bernard Herrmann composed phenomenal scores for the Ray Harryhausen classics _Jason and the Argonauts, Mysterious Island_ and _The 7th Voyage of Sinbad._
2 года назад
These are the STOP ANIMATION ! And for me it was my first time watching “horror” enough sequences to lose sleep back then. 😂🤣
A few superb Hitchcock movies which have never been watched by RUclips reactors, because everybody's too busy copying each other, are: Lifeboat (1944) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 not the older version) The Wrong Man (1956) The Lady Vanishes (1938) Suspicion (1941)
...also "Saboteur", which utilizes another National Monument (Statue of Liberty)in a fantastic set piece ...and "Foreign Correspondent", Joel McCrea, George Sanders.
Cary Grant was already in his mid-50s when he made this film and was still able to play a very physical lead. A considerably younger Grant also starred in one of Hitchcock's best films "Notorious" (1946). That's well worth seeing, as is the slightly lesser Grant/Hitchcock film "Spellbound" (1945). As for other non-Grant Hitchcock films worth seeing, "Shadow of a Doubt" (1943) and "Strangers on a Train" (1951) are must-sees, as is the more modern thriller "Frenzy" (1972).
My List of Recommended Hitchcock Films (and it ain't typical): Notorious (my fifth favourite film ever; Cary Grant again, more Spy stuff but a decidedly different feel than North By Northwest) Family Plot (okay, now, this is not normal, but...I'm a junkie for Hitch's light-hearted last film; the four principal actors are all wonderful, and I love the dual plot threads that collide. Bruce Dern fans, don't ignore this one) Frenzy (I might as well trumpet another very late film by this Director; I think it would have been very interesting if Hitchcock had made films into the late 70s and early 80s, based on what goes on in Frenzy, and Family Plot; note: Frenzy is NOT light-hearted, and more for Psycho fans) The Wrong Man (hey, you got to know Henry Fonda in Twelve Angry Men...why not see Fonda again, in this oft-overlooked gem) Blackmail (early! 1929! was planned as a silent film, and you can tell that, especially at the start. but the talkie onslaught was underway, and Hitch decided this would be a talkie too; Shan, if you are ever back doing films from the 1920s, do not skip this film; some real ahead-of-its-time stuff - especially concerning a shocking scene involving a woman, a potential attacker, and a kitchen knife...) also: Sabotage (spy stuff; I absolutely love Sylvia Sidney, even though she hated working with Hitchock, "To him, actors are robots.") The Man Who Knew Too Much (it has grown on me; I became a Doris Day fan, which is one thing that happened - and re-watches of this one - I'm talking about Hitch's later, Jimmy Stewart version of this film - has gained ground with me, with each viewing) The Thirty-Nine Steps Saboteur Foreign Correspondent Torn Curtain (I'm a spy movie fanatic, so a lot of this Director's canon is of course very appealing to me)
Nice to see some love for Family Plot. One of Hitchcock's few comedies (along with The Trouble With Harry) and notable for its John Williams score done the same year he did both Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
You are also correct, I think, in saying that the government/national stakes are intentionally left vague, because they *aren't* the stakes. The stakes are Thornhill's integrity and Kendall's life. The real through-line of action of this film is the transformation of Roger Thornhill from a completely self-centered, manipulative jerk (early on, we see him essentially steal a taxicab from another patron, and it's pretty clear why his wives left him) to someone who takes his responsibilities to other people (and even to his country) seriously. He becomes a whole person.
What an excellent choice! The other day I said to myself that this movie should be on the watch list and here it is. One of my many favourites from this film is the scene when Thornhill meets Vandamm in the living room of the mansion. Two great English actors directed by another Englishman, in a very Hollywood movie. :-)
Grant was an American by then. He became an American citizen in 1942, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Very patriotic man, who visited wounded servicemen, donated his salary to the American Red Cross, performed to raise funds for USO entertainment for the troops... he tried to enlist in the Army Air Corp., but was too old. He also loved baseball.
Hitchcock stated that N by NW is a 'fantasy film', that it's a1950s political dreamscape experienced by a naive romantic trying to get home so that seemingly abrupt ending feels perfect to me. The film is full of imagery that is dreamlike: the super-fast tracking in, descending high angles and geometrical images as in the vertical cityscapes and the horizontal cornfield and the train crossing the country, the whole Mt. Rushmore sequence... The essential Hitchcoks other than the ones you've seen, all of which were indeed essential, are IMO: The 39 Steps (1939) Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Notorious (1946) Strangers on a Train (1951) The Birds (1961) Marnie (1963) Frenzy(1972) Plus some excellent options I think should be elevated in the academic world: Secret Agent (1936) Young and Innocent (1937) To Catch a Thief (1955) The Wrong Man (1957) And BTW, my good friend Dorothy's father wrote the score to N by NW. She's a wonderful person and her father was a supreme genius if rather cantankerous fellow, but a really sweet man in the long run. Take a look at his filmography and you'll be stunned. Fantastic reaction!
If you liked Cary Grant, you should watch _Arsenic and Old Lace_ . Very funny. Based on a play, so the sets are limited, but it makes excellent use of the set. Not a Hitchcock film, but rather a Frank Capra film - who directed _It's a Wonderful Life_ . Cary Grant is so good. Also stars Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre - who you'll remember from _Casablanca_ .
Great reaction as usual. If you liked Cary Grant in this movie, you should really check out Charade (1963) with him, Audrey Hepburn and Water Matthau. A very clever thriller with great comedy elements to it.
The next best film that follows with the development of Agent films is Charade ,,, It often refered to the most Hitchcock-ian flim that he didn't direct Fabulious with Grant and Audry Hepbern
Once again, my friend, I must reiterate you have impeccable taste in movies. As for Hitchcock recommendations, "Rope" and "The Birds" would be at the top of the list
Hey Shan. As you saw Cary Grant was mostly a gifted comedic actor. But he did do some serious roles too like Hitchcock's "Notorious" a WWII story, and a Hitchcock film you will enjoy too. And Hitch does a cameo as well so keep your eyes open! ✌😎
Some of my favorite movies of Cary Grant To Catch a Thief, Father Goose, and Operation Petticoat. The last two are more comedic that dramatic. Glad you have seen this movie and enjoyed it.
Here's some Hitchcock movies. Rebecca (Laurence Oliver and Joan Fontaine) and To Catch a Thief (Cary and Grace). As far as the movie's title, I think Hitch acquired it from a line in Shakespeare. A crazy person has a N by NW mindset. Something about the wind from that direction.
“In 1997, Technicolor reintroduced the dye transfer process to general film printing. A refined version of the printing process of the 1960s and 1970s, it was used on a limited basis in the restorations of films such as The Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Rear Window, Funny Girl, and Apocalypse Now Redux.[35] After its reintroduction, the dye transfer process was used in several big-budget, modern Hollywood productions. These included Bulworth, The Thin Red Line, Godzilla, Toy Story 2, and Pearl Harbor.[34][35] The dye-transfer process was discontinued by Technicolor in 2002 after the company was purchased by Thomson.[35]”
I watched a good number of Hitchcock movies as a child in the 80s and 90s but I didn't see this until I was much older. I do remember the plane scene as a kid so maybe I caught part of it on tv. Anyways, I see its influence on so many movies I feel robbed I didn't see this before all of those.
You nailed you comment about the microfilm being a classic Hitchcock McGuffin! Hitch's definition of a McGuffin is a something that helps drive the plot, a thing that the characters care about, but the audience really doesn't care about it at all. Thank you for this reaction to another Hitchcock classic. On to The Birds? Dial M for Murder is a classic mystery with a twist, with Grace Kelley.
Shan, love your reactions and reviews. Always on point. The North by Northwest reference pertains to the location of New York to Mount Rushmore. I would love you to react to Hitchcock's Lifeboat. So ingenious with Hitchcock's cameo.
@@mythoriker Maybe. "The title _North by Northwest_ is a subject of debate. ... Lehman states that he used a working title for the film of "In a Northwesterly Direction", because the film's action was to begin in New York and climax in Alaska. Then the head of the story department at MGM suggested "North by Northwest", but this was still to be a working title. ... according to Lehman, "We never did find a [better] title."[17]" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_by_Northwest#Themes_and_motifs
Great reaction! Looking forward to Notorious! The title is a reference to Hamlet where he says to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern "I am but mad north-northwest. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a hand saw". In other words, he might be crazy, but he still sees that there's a grand conspiracy against him.
I hope you watch THE BIRDS soon. Hitchcock made the movie with no music. Someone had told him that his movies were only scary/suspenseful because of the music, so Hitchcock proved that person wrong with THE BIRDS.
Opening credits by Saul Bass - the high master of title sequences. Worth looking up Phase IV - the one film he directed. It's very weird and wonderful.
When I was in elementary school (probably in eighth grade, just before high school - i am born 1972), I read a book of Hitchcock's conversations with Truffaut, and in it Hitchcock mentioned that he wanted to have a scene in the movie where Grant was debating in a car assembly plant with someone, and as one of the cars came on the assembly line, a door opened on it, and there was supposed to be a dead body in the just-finished car - he just felt it was too far-fetched, so he didn't put it in there (but who knows, maybe he was just trolling Truffaut in that conversation, after all, that's was his style, if I'm not mistaken). Yea, this was my first Hitchcock movie, saw it when i was maybe 11 year old in TV, and immediately i loved it.
Essays have been written about Cary Grant's immaculately tailored suit in this film, probably a precursor to James Bond's elegant wardrobe. Cary Grant is also great in Hitchcock's Notorious and To Catch A Thief. Hitchcock's career spans almost the entire history of cinema, from silent films to the modern era. His early British films include masterpieces such as The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes.
Many critics believe that Hitchcock's greatest film was Vertigo. It is one of those films that was not commercially successful but grew in reputation as the years went by. Now it is considered his greatest masterpiece.
“To Catch A Thief” - Hitchcock + Grant + Kelly = Perfection + Underrated
You've gotta watch "Charade", starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. It's got a reputation as the best Hitchcock film Hitchcock never made.
Diabolique and Wait Until Dark also fall into that category with Charade.
yes, 1000 times yes! Watch Charade next. The witty dialogue, the story, the suspense, and of course you have the incredible pairing of Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, who play off of each other so well.
Love "Charade" Bright, Funny, intriguing, and with a great Hitchcock twist.
Directed by Stanley Donen. Very good movie.
I'll give 100 votes for Charade! It's a perfect movie - it blends action, mystery, suspense, comedy and a love story, and it hits each element perfectly!
This *may* be my fave Hitchcock film. I absolutely love it. The mystery, the action, the humor… Doesn’t hurt that Cary Grant is also one of my favorite actors. A pairing that was simply perfect.
There’s loads of good Hitchcock movies - Rear Window, Dial M for murder, To catch a thief (when Grace Kelly met her future husband Prince Rainier of Monaco), Marnie, The 39 Steps, Notorious. Usually featuring a blonde lead actress and older leading man like Jimmy Stewart or Cary Grant.
Did you notice the little boy at the table behind Grant, he covers his ears BEFORE the loud (fake) gun is fired! CLASSIC giveaway and one of Hollywood's all time mistakes that most people never notice!!
great era for movies ( Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace is one of the funniest comedies of all time) He did a ton of good movies
Thanks for this reaction to one of my favorite films. Yes, Cary Grant is GREAT! Please see him in the Hitchcock film "To Catch a Thief" with the beautiful Grace Kelly . Also react to "Charade" with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in a very "Hitchcock like" Suspense story. thanks again
Funny trivia facts
1) Martin Landau played Leonard, Vandam´s righ-hand man. Few years laters he played one of the main characters on the spy tv show "Mission Impossible", that inspired many decades later the Tom Cruise´s movie saga.
2) On the late 1950´s Ian Fleming and british producer Kevin McClory were producing a James Bond film so they wrote a script called "Thunderball" that years laters, with the project cancelled, Flemin turned into the novel of the same title(And McClory´s answer was sueing a lawsuit, he won and he gained the book righs ant being credited as the book co-author). Whe McClory´s and Fleming still working on his 007 movie projct they offered the director´s chair to Alfred Hitchcock but his answer was "I have already made this kind of movie, it´s called North by northwest".
About other Hitchcock´s films, I would recomend "Vertigo", "Strangers on a train" and "Frenzy".
You might want to consider Hitchcock’s “Stranger on a Train”. A national historic site akin to Mount Rushmore in it, too. A reel merry go round story of suspense and thrills.
Overlooked early films, The 39 steps, The lady vanishes, Rebecca. The first 2 are pre-Hollywood.
"Rebecca' was Hitchcock's first real masterpiece. Strongly recommended.
The escape over Mt. Rushmore scenes were shot on large sets combined with matt paintings.
This has always been my favorite Hitchcock film - a true Hollywood classic!
To me - it really was Hitchcock at his very best.
It was also incredibly influential on the early James Bond films.
The charm of its British Hero, the tone, the action , the main villain, his henchmen, the “ Bond girl” ,the larger than life characters, the humor…etc etc
All of it played a big part of the entire feel of the first couple of Bond films and was instrumental in the crafting of the entire series thereafter.
In fact -
From Russia with Love basically swiped that entire iconic scene of Cary Grant running from the Crop duster Plane - they just added Spectre and some weapons! lol
Cary Grant was even offered the part of James Bond based on this movie - but he only wanted to do one film so,of course that did not work out!
But it’s very easy to see how much The filmmakers adapted much of the style and panache he brought to this role and incorporated that into the James Bond character we’ve seen in so many films all these years later.
So in many ways Cary Grants classic Hollywood persona is still being seen and felt by audiences of today!
The Man Who Knew Too Much 1956 has always been my favorite Hitchcock film.
Shan, you picked a great movie to review! These are the types of movies that never grow old. As others have suggested "Rope" is unique. The film Rope was entirely shot in one location and in real time.
I love the comedic lift Grant gave to such a heavy movie. It was refreshing.
"I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders dependent upon me."
YES! One of my favorites! Thanks! Also, when Roger's mother laughs in the elevator at 7:19 she looks EXACTLY like my grandmother. Just needed to mention that.
The title sequence was done by Saul Bass who famous for his title designs. He also did Psycho and Vertigo. There's a RUclips video of his work in title designs
When you watched the crop dusting scene, you looked like a kid with that huge smile on your face. Your smile made me smile!
North by Northwest had an impact on the James Bond films. When Fleming was trying to get his Thunderball script produced, Hitchcock was his choice to direct after seeing North by Northwest. Later, the Bond series producers asked Cary Grant to play Bond, also based on his performance in this film. But Grant didn't want to commit to multiple films. After From Russia with Love, Hitchcock commented about the similarities between his scene of Grant being chased by a crop duster and Bond being chased by a helicopter.
It's fun to spot actors who would go on to play roles in 60s spy TV series. Leo G Carroll played Mr. Waverly on The Man from UNCLE and Martin Landau starred in Mission: Impossible.
Apparently Hitchcock loved the Grandma with machine gun in 'Goldfinger'
A real Hitchcockian thriller is "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962), directed by John Frankenheimer, with masterful performances by Angela Lansbury and Laurence Harvey, and also staring Frank Sinatra. I think you will be in awe at the end. Look forward to seeing your reaction.
Wow...it is a very strange thing. For some reason, I have the ability to recognize the soil of the county I live in. As soon as the crop duster scene appeared, I knew it was somewhere local, so I looked it up. It is!
The crop duster scene is probably one of the most famous in movie history. There is at least one video explaining the complexities of shooting that scene. Cary Grant's major comedic skills kept the mood of the film light, allowing it almost to make fun of itself. Hermann's helter skelter music played a major role as well. Great, original flick!
Definitely check out Notorious, Shadow of a Doubt, and Strangers on a Train.
If you're in for another scifi classic and one with more of Bernard Hermann's music do "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) where Hermann's music really makes the film cool. His brassy orchestration and using a theremin too... it was the '50s man! LOL! But it's a required movie for those studying the classic scifis of the 1950s, in fact it's one of its best.... and has good messaging given it came out shortly after WWII with a small but growing Cold War vibe at the time. 🖖😎
Hitchcock's, spies, chases: The39 Steps. Old, but gold.
You already have received several recommendations for other Cary Grant classics - and they are all worth taking. I'd also add "His Girl Friday," which in my opinion is the funniest comedy in movie history.
The innocent man framed by circumstantial evidence attempting to clear his name while eluding the authorities-this is a story that Hitchcock really specialized in, and more than a few of his films relate variations of it. “North by Northwest” is my personal favorite among his films for sheer entertainment value. I’m glad to see new people discover this great classic.
Love this movie , the chemistry between Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint is amazing. Eva Marie Saint is still alive and well at 97. Her mind and memory are still amazing.
I dig the Cary Grant / Hitchcock films more than the Jimmy Stewart collaborations. Hot take? No. I just think Grant was more comfortable with the comedy and the action. Notorious (1946) is also excellent.
Hitchcock`s "The Birds"... you´ll love it...!!!
I’d watch Hitchcock’s “Dial M for Murder” next. Just like “12 Angry Men” it takes place on one set.
@McPh1741 Also one of my favorites! Dial M For Murder.
I love all of Hitchcock's work, but Dial M for Murder is my favorite.
Yes. "Dial M for Murder" is wonderful! It's never boring despite being Set bound in the one Apartment, other than when Ray Milland & Bob Cummings go out to the stag party.
_Dial M For Murder_ and _Rope_ .
"The Lady Vanishes" "Notorious" "The Trouble With Harry" his only real comedy "The Birds" "The 39 Steps""Rebbeca" are all worthy of review.
Bernard Herrmann is the composer most associated with Hitchcock, with whom he had a decade long relationship.
The Trouble with Harry (1955)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
The Wrong Man (1956)
Vertigo (1958)
North by Northwest (1959)
Psycho (1960)
The Birds (1963) The movie had no score, but Herrmann was a "sound consultant."
Marnie (1964)
Torn Curtain (1966) Herrmann's score was rejected by Hitchcock, ending their relationship.
One of the best score composers ever... quite forgotten, sadly.
Herrman had that special gift old score composers had: making everything more interesting without overwhelming people with noise, cheap hooks or tons of absurd percussions and the louder bass possible... Hans Zimmer I accuse you.
I miss freaking music silence in movies nowadays
@@JulioLeonFandinho Herrmann is hardly forgotten. He has legions of fans, even amongst the Hollywood elite. Though few of his scores were released when the movie was new, nearly all have been re-recorded (in whole, or in part) in the years since his death. He even got the ball rolling by releasing a series of albums (in the early '70s) of suites of his scores, including one of Hitchcock's films.
Still plenty of more Hitchcock to see. I'd recommend The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes, Foreign Correspondent, Shadow of a Doubt, Lifeboat, Strangers on a Train, The Wrong Man and Frenzy. You may also want to check out some of his acolytes. You've already done some DePalma, maybe try some Claude Chabrol.
Lifeboat and saboteur
You both left out Notorious, my favorite of his works
My favorite thanks Shan, maybe not his best but it’s my favorite, I got to see Cary Grant in person at a actors studio type event at SMU in Dallas way back in the 80s and always a big fan , one thing I love about Hitchcock films are how colorful and well everyone is dressed, you can just look at all the beautiful scenery in the background the cars etc , thanks again Shan your videos are such great treasures
My pleasure and thank you so much for your support as usual :)
Great reaction! I don’t know if this has been mentioned but for me, when I watch this, I always think of “Silver Streak”, with gene wilder, Richard Pryor and Ned Beatty. Another great train thriller/comedy. Hope you can check it out one of these days.
Please just for your own pleasure check out 'Foreign Correspondent ' with Joel McCrae from the 40's , also Hitchcocks favorite film " Shadow of a Doubt " with Joseph Cotton & Teresa Wright. Smaller Hitchcock films that became major favorites after repeated viewings.
Oh my gosh, I love Joseph Cotton movies! He made every movie better,
@@sherigrow6480 Cotton is the early epitome of evil in Shadow of a Doubt . His speech at the dinner table about useless old. women ranks up there with anything by Hannibal Lecter.
...and "Saboteur", where another National Monument (Statue of Liberty) is utilized in a memorable set piece.
This is one of the funniest and most intriguing of Hitchcock's films. One of my favorites in terms of shot composition and writing!
Check out the little boy in the Monument restaurant. He plugs his ears before she fires her gun at Grant. A popular gaffe in the film.
So glad you enjoyed this one! If you want to see the other film that inspired the original 007 producers to create their now-iconic spy, I'd recommend watching The Guns of Navarone, with Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn.
North by Northwest CLEARLY inspired the style of the early Bond films, but Navarone set the tone in terms of ACTION. Stylistically its more comparable to later Mission: Impossible movies - with an ensemble setting out to complete a given assignment - but in terms of BIG sets and set pieces, BIG twists, BIG turns, and BIG drama, plus more pulse-pounding ACTION than any film of its time, and you can CLEARLY see the inspiration for the later 007 productions like Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice, or The Spy Who Loved Me.
It may seem a bit quaint these days, but at the time, it set the bar pretty high for what an action-adventure film could do in 2 1/2 hours (war movie or otherwise), and Broccoli and Saltzman clearly watched both films and said, "If we take these Flemming novels and turn them into something like THAT, we might have something here."
At a time when most studios and producers either took pride in avoiding sequels altogether or tried to maximize profits by slashing the budgets and milking diminishing returns for all they were worth, those two gentlemen doubled down for almost every subsequent Bond film up to Moonraker, and were so successful that almost every studio in Hollywood now emulates their golden formula. SO glad you didn't leave out North by Northwest as you've gone on your own 007 marathon adventure.
As for what Hitchcock film to watch next, you've seen MOST of his best - although there's a LONG list between 1935 and 1963 where he pretty much never failed to deliver SOMETHING watchable, along with a handful of perfectly satisfying "little" thrillers like Dial M for Murder, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Notorious, and The Birds that are classics unto themselves - but for me the one you need to watch is another Cary Grant film called To Catch a Thief, in which he co-stars with the unbelievably gorgeous Grace Kelly. It's more of a comedy than a suspense picture, but those seeing those two "beautiful people" trading wits, romance, and witty banter on the French Riviera remains one of the highlights of Hitch's career (for me anyway, some deride the fact that it isn't a straight-up suspense thriller, but it's just pure, Hitchcockian eye-candy and a lot of fun to boot). I've heard Gal Gadot is doing a remake in the near future, but even with her looks it would be hard to top that one for pure, old fashioned, Hollywood GLAMOUR.
Finally, should you find yourself jones-ing for more FANTASTIC spy pictures, I'd recommend these three CLASSICS from the 1970's:
The Day of the Jackal (with Moonraker's Michael Lonsdale and Edward Fox, 1973)
Marathon Man (with Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider, and Sir Lawrence Olivier, 1974; it inspired one of the fights from The Bourne Identity), and...
Three Days of the Condor (with Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, and Max Von Sydow, 1975, which inspired Tom Cruise's first Mission: Impossible film to some degree, as well as a host of others including Captain America Winter Soldier - at least in terms of tone - which is one reason they asked Robert Redford to come back and play a part)
Obviously I'm looking forward to WHATEVER sinister scheme you'll be hatching next to steal away some more of my time, but like many of your subscribers, I'm a lifelong movie junkie, and eternally grateful whenever I get to share some of that feeling with others. Can't wait to see whatever's next, sorry to prattle on, and thanks for another great reaction/ review!!!
I love this movie and music soundtrack music as well. It is so well done. Just to let you know, it's 2022 and Eva Marie Saint is still with us. She's 97 now.
I watched this in 8th grade and I was shocked that this was first OLD movie that I actually liked.
The movie’s title: he’s not only traveling across the country in a north by northwest direction, he flies on Northwest Airlines which eventually merged with Delta Airlines. North by Delta doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
Let's watch Sunset Boulevard 👍
You definitely need to watch notorious 1946 I think it’s a movie that you would like 👍
I have seen all his films 😃
On first viewing you don't notice this:
When he is at the hotel, the bell boy is paging Kaplan. Just then he calls the boy because he wants to sent the telegram. The bad guys (obviously paged Kaplan to see who answers), and he waves to the bellboy at that moment - thus they think he is Kaplan.
The VistaVision camera used to photograph this movie was about the size of a small refrigerator and weighed about 300 lb. There was no way for it to shake because it was always either on a tripod or on some kind of dolly or crane.
The parks department did not allow them to actually shoot on the faces of Mount Rushmore, so Mount Rushmore was built as a set in the studio and augmented with matte paintings.
If you loved James Mason as a bad guy in this check him out as a great good guy in 1959 journey to the center of the earth movie..great fun movie..north by north west and man who knew to much are my fave hitchcock films
My mother is a huge Cary Grant fan and therefore I grew up with him on Tv and a fan by default. Another couple great thrillers with him is Charade and Hitchcock directed To Catch A Thief. One of my favorite comedies that is naughty is That Touch of Mink. So many of his movies I enjoy.
Sadly, most of the Rushmore scenes were sets, but I think they did a few shots on site. I was at Rushmore a couple of summers ago, and I was delighted to see how similar everything looked. The binoculars there today could have been the ones Cary Grant looked through.
You did another one of my favorite Hitchcock movies!! Try Rope, which takes place in one room; The Man That Knew Too Much, a great Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day movie, and A Shadow Of Doubt
Only thing I didn't like in Shadow Of Doubt was the conclusion.
11:27 'I wonder why this movie is called North by Northwest?' A moment earlier we saw an image that might give a clue 11:00 (one of many similar throughout the movie)
Fun Hitchcock. He wanted to do something light and commercial after "Vertigo". He followed it up with "Psycho". If you really want some textbook hardboiled Hitchcock that goes down easy, delivering everything you want: "Strangers On A Train". By all means, try all the rest. And then try one of the very best. And for a late period surprise, try "Frenzy". "Shadow Of A Doubt" was his own personal favorite and it's easy to see why, it's one of mine as well. (And for off the channel, if you want to be dazzled and surprised, watch his silent movie "The Ring").
Cary Grant, in the '50s and '60s, can't be beat.
One funny part is when Eva pulls out the gun to shot Cary you can see a little kid behind them cover his ears because he knew from a previous take that she was going to shot the gun.
Very entertaining Hitchcock movie. Hitchcock owed MGM a film and they wanted him to make a shipwreck movie called Wreck of the Mary Deare. His screenwriter Ernest Lehman couldn’t get into that movie. Hitchcock liked Lehman and told him we will give them something else. They were both immediately inspired Lehman wanted to make the ultimate Hitchcock movie and Hitchcock responded with “I’ve always wanted to film a chase across the faces of Mount Rushmore”. The story evolved from theie.
Other great movies…
To Catch a Thief
Strangers on a Train
Rope
Notorious (Cary Grant as a spy)
Shadow of a Doubt
Rebecca
AND WHAT ABOUT THE BIRDS ?? WHY NOBODY MENTION IT
@@claudiogarcia5876 Well, I didn’t mention Frenzy, or Lifeboat either. I tried to hold myself back a little.
Hitchcock's ROPE (1948) quite interesting! ''The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956) also.
The Birds is great, Shan! But another amazing movie is Rope!! You will love Rope!
I saw this and Vertigo ran off a dye transfer technicolor print some years ago at the Eastman House Dryden theater. It was a revelation. I NEVER saw color as vivid on a film print and even these great HD restorations and transfers don't do it justice.
I would recommend Shadow of a Doubt or Strangers on a Train.And Rope is a cool experiment,shot to appear as one continuous take.
excellent job of catching the small details and That great music score. NO they were not allowed to film on the South DAKOTA scene and the mountain, Thats what makes this pretty impressive, Its def in my top 3 of suspense, drama and of course the spy ideas
If you really love Cary Grant I also recommend "FATHER GOOSE" his best performance by far and "Operation Petticoat"
The Birds, Spellbound, The Trouble With Harry, Frenzy, Rebecca.
Other great Hitchcock films to check out (well, my favorites other than those you've already watched): Shadow of a Doubt (1943), The Lady Vanishes (1938), The 39 Steps (1935), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Rebecca (1940), Saboteur (1942), Rope (1948), Strangers on a Train (1951), Lifeboat (1944). But you really can't go wrong with Hitchcock. He has at least 25 films worth watching.
Hitchcock was the king of the McGuffin. Many of his stories have one, because to him, it didn't matter what everyone was chasing, as long as we knew they all wanted it badly. He cared about the emotion of the situation, putting the audience in the place of the protagonist to create the suspense and be thinking, "how are they going to get out of this one?" The item itself was secondary. And that is true for a lot of story. Think of "The Maltese Falcon." We get a very brief history of the falcon (maybe a minute or two of screen time), but otherwise, the story is about how badly everyone wants it and what they are willing to do or not willing to do to get it (and then figuring it all out). That's the story. Character is revealed through conflict.That is the emotional connection/cathartic moments that we go to story for. You could change the actual object "Tha Maltese Falcon" and make it "The Tunisian Elephant" and with a very minor rewrite, have the same film.
And yes, it was very common for older films to end much more abruptly than today. In the old days, as soon as the story was resolved, you rolled the credits. No long pans away with music, no final montage, no day after scenes. Story done...roll credits. Sometimes these days it goes too far the other way. "Gladiator" and "The Sixth Sense" come to mind for me in that regard. At the end of both of those films, I said, why are we still sitting here, the story ended like 10 minutes ago and yet the movie is still going. There is obviously a good balance, somewhere in between. But, it is interesting to see how film has changed by watching younger people review/react to older films. Like with opening credits. Most young viewers (not you Shan...you obviously enjoyed this title sequence and in the Bond films, etc.) are annoyed/bored by opening title sequences. As older film viewers, that was just the way it was, so you didn't think twice about it. And you always appreciated the filmmakers who were creative with their opening titles. A superb opening credit sequence and another great (non-Hitchcock) film you should watch if you haven't seen it is "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1952) with Gregory Peck.
Anyhow, I love your reactions/reviews Shan and your choices of which films to watch/review. Keep it up!
"The Trouble with Harry" is overlooked but is another great one to add, along with "Rope".
Also want to mention that Cary Grant films, I highly recommend.
If you ever get a fancy for old-school fantasy or stop-motion animation, Bernard Herrmann composed phenomenal scores for the Ray Harryhausen classics _Jason and the Argonauts, Mysterious Island_ and _The 7th Voyage of Sinbad._
These are the STOP ANIMATION ! And for me it was my first time watching “horror” enough sequences to lose sleep back then. 😂🤣
𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 (1946) Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains.
A few superb Hitchcock movies which have never been watched by RUclips reactors, because everybody's too busy copying each other, are:
Lifeboat (1944)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 not the older version)
The Wrong Man (1956)
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Suspicion (1941)
And Young and Innocent (1937), with a tracking shot that rivals Notorious (1946).
"The Lady Vanishes", one my all-time favourites since childhood!
...also "Saboteur", which utilizes another National Monument (Statue of Liberty)in a fantastic set piece
...and "Foreign Correspondent", Joel McCrea, George Sanders.
Cary Grant was already in his mid-50s when he made this film and was still able to play a very physical lead. A considerably younger Grant also starred in one of Hitchcock's best films "Notorious" (1946). That's well worth seeing, as is the slightly lesser Grant/Hitchcock film "Spellbound" (1945). As for other non-Grant Hitchcock films worth seeing, "Shadow of a Doubt" (1943) and "Strangers on a Train" (1951) are must-sees, as is the more modern thriller "Frenzy" (1972).
My List of Recommended Hitchcock Films (and it ain't typical):
Notorious (my fifth favourite film ever; Cary Grant again, more Spy stuff but a decidedly different feel than North By Northwest)
Family Plot (okay, now, this is not normal, but...I'm a junkie for Hitch's light-hearted last film; the four principal actors are all wonderful, and I love the dual plot threads that collide. Bruce Dern fans, don't ignore this one)
Frenzy (I might as well trumpet another very late film by this Director; I think it would have been very interesting if Hitchcock had made films into the late 70s and early 80s, based on what goes on in Frenzy, and Family Plot; note: Frenzy is NOT light-hearted, and more for Psycho fans)
The Wrong Man (hey, you got to know Henry Fonda in Twelve Angry Men...why not see Fonda again, in this oft-overlooked gem)
Blackmail (early! 1929! was planned as a silent film, and you can tell that, especially at the start. but the talkie onslaught was underway, and Hitch decided this would be a talkie too; Shan, if you are ever back doing films from the 1920s, do not skip this film; some real ahead-of-its-time stuff - especially concerning a shocking scene involving a woman, a potential attacker, and a kitchen knife...)
also:
Sabotage (spy stuff; I absolutely love Sylvia Sidney, even though she hated working with Hitchock, "To him, actors are robots.")
The Man Who Knew Too Much (it has grown on me; I became a Doris Day fan, which is one thing that happened - and re-watches of this one - I'm talking about Hitch's later, Jimmy Stewart version of this film - has gained ground with me, with each viewing)
The Thirty-Nine Steps
Saboteur
Foreign Correspondent
Torn Curtain (I'm a spy movie fanatic, so a lot of this Director's canon is of course very appealing to me)
Nice to see some love for Family Plot. One of Hitchcock's few comedies (along with The Trouble With Harry) and notable for its John Williams score done the same year he did both Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
"I am but mad north-northwest. When the wind is from the south, I can tell a hawk from a handsaw." --Shakespeare, Hamlet.
My dad always insisted that this was the source of the movie's title -- Hamlet's pretense of being insane when he was really behaving strategically.
You are also correct, I think, in saying that the government/national stakes are intentionally left vague, because they *aren't* the stakes. The stakes are Thornhill's integrity and Kendall's life.
The real through-line of action of this film is the transformation of Roger Thornhill from a completely self-centered, manipulative jerk (early on, we see him essentially steal a taxicab from another patron, and it's pretty clear why his wives left him) to someone who takes his responsibilities to other people (and even to his country) seriously. He becomes a whole person.
What an excellent choice! The other day I said to myself that this movie should be on the watch list and here it is. One of my many favourites from this film is the scene when Thornhill meets Vandamm in the living room of the mansion. Two great English actors directed by another Englishman, in a very Hollywood movie. :-)
Grant was an American by then. He became an American citizen in 1942, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Very patriotic man, who visited wounded servicemen, donated his salary to the American Red Cross, performed to raise funds for USO entertainment for the troops... he tried to enlist in the Army Air Corp., but was too old. He also loved baseball.
@@catherinelw9365 Fair enough! Should have said "English-born". 🙂
Hitchcock stated that N by NW is a 'fantasy film', that it's a1950s political dreamscape experienced by a naive romantic trying to get home so that seemingly abrupt ending feels perfect to me. The film is full of imagery that is dreamlike: the super-fast tracking in, descending high angles and geometrical images as in the vertical cityscapes and the horizontal cornfield and the train crossing the country, the whole Mt. Rushmore sequence...
The essential Hitchcoks other than the ones you've seen, all of which were indeed essential, are IMO:
The 39 Steps (1939)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Notorious (1946)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
The Birds (1961)
Marnie (1963)
Frenzy(1972)
Plus some excellent options I think should be elevated in the academic world:
Secret Agent (1936)
Young and Innocent (1937)
To Catch a Thief (1955)
The Wrong Man (1957)
And BTW, my good friend Dorothy's father wrote the score to N by NW. She's a wonderful person and her father was a supreme genius if rather cantankerous fellow, but a really sweet man in the long run. Take a look at his filmography and you'll be stunned.
Fantastic reaction!
The most iconic suit in cinema history
If you liked Cary Grant, you should watch _Arsenic and Old Lace_ . Very funny. Based on a play, so the sets are limited, but it makes excellent use of the set. Not a Hitchcock film, but rather a Frank Capra film - who directed _It's a Wonderful Life_ . Cary Grant is so good. Also stars Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre - who you'll remember from _Casablanca_ .
Grant was also very good in '"Father Goose" - his last movie,I believe.
Grant was ALWAYS very good
Great reaction as usual. If you liked Cary Grant in this movie, you should really check out Charade (1963) with him, Audrey Hepburn and Water Matthau. A very clever thriller with great comedy elements to it.
This is one that I have watched every year for forty years. Still enjoy it every time. Thanks for watching.
The next best film that follows with the development of Agent films is Charade ,,, It often refered to the most Hitchcock-ian flim that he didn't direct Fabulious with Grant and Audry Hepbern
Once again, my friend, I must reiterate you have impeccable taste in movies. As for Hitchcock recommendations, "Rope" and "The Birds" would be at the top of the list
The scene in From Russia, With Love where Bond is chased by a helicopter may be a nod to the crop duster scene in North By Northwest.
Hey Shan. As you saw Cary Grant was mostly a gifted comedic actor. But he did do some serious roles too like Hitchcock's "Notorious" a WWII story, and a Hitchcock film you will enjoy too. And Hitch does a cameo as well so keep your eyes open! ✌😎
Definitely 'Notorious' should be one of your future Hitchcock viewings.
I second Notorious! Great camerawork and performances!
@@CaminoAir
And "Suspicion", another great Hitchcock movie starring Cary Grant.
Notorious is not a WWII movie. It is a post WWII movie, about Nazis is South America.
@@jackasswhiskyandpintobeans9344 Come to think about it you're right. It's been awhile seeing it.
Some of my favorite movies of Cary Grant To Catch a Thief, Father Goose, and Operation Petticoat. The last two are more comedic that dramatic. Glad you have seen this movie and enjoyed it.
Here's some Hitchcock movies. Rebecca (Laurence Oliver and Joan Fontaine) and To Catch a Thief (Cary and Grace). As far as the movie's title, I think Hitch acquired it from a line in Shakespeare. A crazy person has a N by NW mindset. Something about the wind from that direction.
“In 1997, Technicolor reintroduced the dye transfer process to general film printing. A refined version of the printing process of the 1960s and 1970s, it was used on a limited basis in the restorations of films such as The Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Rear Window, Funny Girl, and Apocalypse Now Redux.[35]
After its reintroduction, the dye transfer process was used in several big-budget, modern Hollywood productions. These included Bulworth, The Thin Red Line, Godzilla, Toy Story 2, and Pearl Harbor.[34][35]
The dye-transfer process was discontinued by Technicolor in 2002 after the company was purchased by Thomson.[35]”
The original 1956 The Bad Seed, not an Alfred Hitchcock but a masterpiece and don't forget The Omen 2😁
Watch “The Birds” it’s great fun! Thanks again
I watched a good number of Hitchcock movies as a child in the 80s and 90s but I didn't see this until I was much older. I do remember the plane scene as a kid so maybe I caught part of it on tv. Anyways, I see its influence on so many movies I feel robbed I didn't see this before all of those.
You nailed you comment about the microfilm being a classic Hitchcock McGuffin! Hitch's definition of a McGuffin is a something that helps drive the plot, a thing that the characters care about, but the audience really doesn't care about it at all. Thank you for this reaction to another Hitchcock classic. On to The Birds? Dial M for Murder is a classic mystery with a twist, with Grace Kelley.
Shan, love your reactions and reviews. Always on point. The North by Northwest reference pertains to the location of New York to Mount Rushmore. I would love you to react to Hitchcock's Lifeboat. So ingenious with Hitchcock's cameo.
"I am but mad north-northwest. When the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw." -- Hamlet. At a minimum, the title is a pun.
@@mythoriker Maybe.
"The title _North by Northwest_ is a subject of debate. ... Lehman states that he used a working title for the film of "In a Northwesterly Direction", because the film's action was to begin in New York and climax in Alaska. Then the head of the story department at MGM suggested "North by Northwest", but this was still to be a working title. ... according to Lehman, "We never did find a [better] title."[17]"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_by_Northwest#Themes_and_motifs
Great reaction! Looking forward to Notorious! The title is a reference to Hamlet where he says to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern "I am but mad north-northwest. When the wind is
southerly, I know a hawk from a hand saw". In other words, he might be crazy, but he still sees that there's a grand conspiracy against him.
The title corresponds to Grant's direction of travel. It may also be a reference to a line from Hamlet: "I am but mad north-northwest."
I hope you watch THE BIRDS soon. Hitchcock made the movie with no music. Someone had told him that his movies were only scary/suspenseful because of the music, so Hitchcock proved that person wrong with THE BIRDS.
Opening credits by Saul Bass - the high master of title sequences. Worth looking up Phase IV - the one film he directed. It's very weird and wonderful.
The jump cut at the end was Hitchcock's "screw you" to the studios, which told him code would not allow an overtly sexual final scene
When I was in elementary school (probably in eighth grade, just before high school - i am born 1972), I read a book of Hitchcock's conversations with Truffaut, and in it Hitchcock mentioned that he wanted to have a scene in the movie where Grant was debating in a car assembly plant with someone, and as one of the cars came on the assembly line, a door opened on it, and there was supposed to be a dead body in the just-finished car - he just felt it was too far-fetched, so he didn't put it in there (but who knows, maybe he was just trolling Truffaut in that conversation, after all, that's was his style, if I'm not mistaken).
Yea, this was my first Hitchcock movie, saw it when i was maybe 11 year old in TV, and immediately i loved it.
Steven Spielberg's Minority Report has a scene in an auto assembly plant which is a nod to Hitchcock's idea.
Essays have been written about Cary Grant's immaculately tailored suit in this film, probably a precursor to James Bond's elegant wardrobe. Cary Grant is also great in Hitchcock's Notorious and To Catch A Thief. Hitchcock's career spans almost the entire history of cinema, from silent films to the modern era. His early British films include masterpieces such as The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes.
Many critics believe that Hitchcock's greatest film was Vertigo. It is one of those films that was not commercially successful but grew in reputation as the years went by. Now it is considered his greatest masterpiece.