Hi everybody! This is a re-upload of the video I published yesterday. Several people pointed out how repetitive the music was, so I added more tracks to break up the monotony. It also allowed me to add in another interview clip that I had forgotten to include. I worked really hard on this video, so I figured I’d fix these issues while it is still new and the view-count is still low. Thanks for watching!
I'll be honest, I didn't notice the music whatsoever because I was engrossed in your narration. Also, that image of Hitch with a revolver pointed at Cary Grant made me laugh out loud.
Where in the video is the newly included interview clip? As much as I enjoyed watching it the first time, I don't want to watch the whole thing again to find it.
I saw this movie when it came out in 1959, I was 14. From that time on, I wanted to go to Mount Rushmore. I finally made it three years ago. I was not disappointed. I got to meet Nick Clifford, the last surviving carver, he was 17 when he worked there. He died soon after.
Thanks for sharing your NORTH BY NORTWEST experience. I first saw this movie in the 1980s when I was a child. I have shown it to be kids on blu ray in our theater room. I may go see it at the AFI Theater, because it is being screened this weekend.
NORTH BY NORTHWEST is one of my all-time favorite movies, and has been since I first saw it when I was going on twelve years old. Love this history of the making of the movie!
It would be a better movie if they did not make the main character unlikeable. He is just kind of a dick the whole movie. It kind of makes you want to root for the bad guys.
Thanks so much for these, Tyler. My wife and I met in film school and have spent our long marriage dissecting movies together (we went on to other non-film related careers) and are especially enamored of Hitchcock's genius. Much appreciated, sir.
North by Northwest IS a real direction. On a compass dial it is half-way between North and Northwest, or 337.5 degrees. The actual direction Roger Thornhill travels in the movie is West by Northwest. However, in the play HAMLET, Hamlet is described as being North by Northwest, meaning that he is a little off (mentally). So, the movie title is taken from HAMLET and is meant to describe Thornhill suddenly being thrust into a slightly insane situation
Hamlet says that about himself in the play. He's basically saying that he's aware that he is not always mentally correct but that when he's ok he is still capable of telling friend from foe. So you're right about the compass reference but as usual with Shakespeare a broader context reveals what he's really saying. The line is doing more than just telling us he experiences bouts of madness, it's considering whether he is actually paranoid or not on a specific matter.. are his friends betraying him? This also kind of fits thematically when considering North By Northwest with it's espionage, paranoia and potential betrayal.
I've always like that final dubbed line, "Come along, Mrs. Thornhill", regardless if it was only added to placate the censors. It's really a "happily ever after" finale, and it feels good after all the trauma the two lead characters have just been through. It's much better than the two of them embracing in the upper berth, unmarried.
@@hazbutler I don't care if marriage was "desecrated" or not; like I wrote in my original comment, I liked that the two lead characters ended up together happily (which is implied by them being married) after all the terrible stuff they went through earlier in the film.
When I look at a compass rose I see the NW and NE and so on. A deeper dive is where I found the more ornate versions get into the NNW and NNE and so on. So yes, you are correct sir.
Great video, but you forgot to mention one of the most important parts of North By Northwest----- the music! The score is by Bernard Hermann, who also did Psycho and Citizen Kane and many other Hollywood classics. The music in North by Northwest contributes hugely to the mood and pacing of the film, and it's one of the greatest scores every composed.
Vertigo was recently voted best Hollywood film of all time in a poll- I imagine that without Herman’s amazing contribution it probably wouldn’t have won, a music score can make or break a movie for sure.
Yes Bernard Herrmann, one of the greatest film composers ever. His score for North by NW is incredible. Very 20th century symphonic and huge. Just perfect.
This is one of my all time favorite pictures. Whenever I want to run away from the crazy would of 2019, I love to chill, lower the lights and enjoy a picture like this. These were the days of great pictures and talent like. Picnic, Dark Passage, Rear Window, Christmas in Connecticut, The Little Shop Around the Corner to name a few...
Excellent, as always. I look forward to the Cropduster scene breakdown. I once read a quote from Hitchcock saying, "There are no symbols in 'North by Northwest'. Oh, yes, the train going into the tunnel is phallic -- but don't tell anyone"
I frickin' LOVE this film. I saw it when I was a teenager when they did a special screening a the Pictureville in Bradford (in the UK) and although I'd seen it a million times on TV, seeing it on a huge screen was awesome. I love how Cary Grant pays it suave but is quietly freaking out about the whole thing all the time. Instead of a cool guy not looking at explosions, when the plane crashes into the tanker he minces away as though he just knocked a statue off a shelf and doesn't want anyone to think it's his fault. And anything with James All The Best People Shave Twice A Day Mason is epic.
Tyler, not that 60k isn’t a lot, but I don’t know how you don’t have hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Yours is my favorite channel on the art of cinema. Keep up the excellent and in-depth work, sir!
I read a lot of the correspondence between Hitchcock and Lehman regarding this movie. It’s in the Ransom Center at UT Austin. There are several drafts of the screenplay and dozens of letters, telegrams and handwritten notes on hotel stationary (Lehman often drank to generate ideas). Hitchcock didn’t seem to do any actual writing, but he was blunt in his notes, some of which are typed out, while others are handwritten on the script.
I admire your dedication to putting out a quality product even at the risk that some of your viewers will opt out of seeing the new version. Keep up the good work. I have no doubt it will pay off ten fold
I love the comparison of the writing process to improvisation, along with Lehman's faith in the right brain. This is what's totally missing from the screenwriting manuals and it's so much more fun and satisfying to write like this than to follow the manuals' drily bureaucratic prescriptions for preordained act structure with a series of obligatory markers - the inciting incident and so on. Improvisation teaches you to pay attention to precisely the question Lehman says was repeatedly his here: What happens next? I wish someone had explained that to me - and given me Kieth Johnstone's 'Improvisation for Storytellers' years ago when I was starting to read screenwriting manuals.
I remember this show called Hollywood Babylon where Tony Curtis described the one time Hitchcock described a scene where a man parachutes into a forest, gets on a motorcycle, and rides to the back of a restaurant whereupon he takes off his overalls revealing he's wearing a waiter's uniform. Tony Curtis asked him what came next to which Hitchcock replied he didn't know because he was still thinking it out.
North by Northwest is a brilliant movie. I've seen it at least 10 times. It's always great to watch again. It's a great story, a great screenplay, and it's cast perfectly. It's a masterpiece of movie making, and one of Hitchcock's best. The crop duster scene is one of the most famous scenes in movie history. Last but not least, the musical score is excellent, and one of the greatest ever composed.
The crop duster sequence is iconic, but my favorite line in the whole movie is "I don't want to go to the airport, I want to go to the Police Station!". Just after the auction scene and before the airport scene.
Hey there, I just kind of stumbled upon your video and I am so glad that I did. I fell in love with movie classics and they get even better the more you get to learn about the production of them. I got to give credit where credit is due so please keep up the good work it was very well done and researched and I'm looking forward to more vids. You're awesome :)
It's amazing how troubled and frantic the making of some of the great classic films are and yet movies that were actually made in a professional manner seem to never be anything special.
Thornhill's private secretary Maggie is played by Doreen Lang, a favorite of Hitch. You may remember her as the hysterical mother in the diner in The Birds, as one of the secretaries in The Wrong Man and in several of Hitch's TV shows.
Great film and video! Is it a bit of Alfred Hitchcock/Ernest Lehman foreshadowing that as Roger Thornhill is entering the Plaza Hotel Oak Bar for his business meeting, where he is about to be kidnapped (mistaken for a non-existent spy), the music playing is the song "It's a Most Unusual Day?"
God, your documentaries are so good. I binge them, fall asleep to them, wake up to breakdowns to both new films and old… you need to be on a subscription service, or dare I say, TV!
13:35 the kid is covering his ear before Eva shoots, lol. one of the famous goofs R.O.T. Roger O. Thornhill, the O that stands for nothing, I believe was a hint back to Hollywood famed producer David O. Selznick in which the o stands for nothing
@CinemaTyler - Actually the writing process seems bizarre to us and to my generation in general, but in reality this is exactly how many great filmmakers and writers in the silent era as well as begining again in the 50s and 60s up until the the late 70s wrote - as far as American industry is concerned. Film schools ruined entire generations of film writers and directors in how they wrote, and film studios didn't allow this improvisational luxury anymore after the 80s - this is how we entered into the current Risk Aversion era - for this you'll have to understand the economic and cultural changes. Studios today have eliminated any and all elements of risk - so no chance that we'll ever see such unplanned and creative improvisational filmmaking and writing with big budgets. And as usual whatever the studios do will be diligently be put into practice all across the board, and I mean not just in America but literally all over the world. This style of writing was actually very common and in vogue starting in the 50s all around the world because of the groundbreaking films it produced in the independent circuit. This type of thinking was encouraged in alternative education as well in the US in the 50s and 60s because of the rising popularity of Marshall McLuhan who championed the general theory of the right brain-left brain which eventually became so popular that it made its way into films as well - for example this idea made it's way onto the set of 2001 through Colin Cantwell, a special effects guy on 2001 who insisted that they shoot the Monolith with the sun and the moon lining up symmetrically everytime the plot is about to take a major turn because it acts as a visual marker for the audience to link their personal life experience to - this idea Colin borrowed from Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring - and Kubrick & Clarke thought it was a genius idea and wrote it into the script. Today, this type of creative thinking itself is not encouraged be it in the arts or education because alternative thinking is anathema to economic stability and it also brings about a lot of unforeseen consequences if it becomes culturally accepted like what happened in the 60s- and so movies too have suffered magnificently because of this. I would advise CinemaTyler to do more in-depth research to give the full picture - because it's only after you consider the cultural & economic context of that era will you realize why North by Northwest which is an early exmaple of this shortlived cultural development - was written that way - and why many films of that era were written and made that way.
This is very interesting and made me chuckle. I dabble in screenwriting and fiction and according to experts I do it all wrong. I'm supposed to have everything worked out before I start a draft, but I start with a premise, or a scene, or a plot twist and build from there as I go - pretty much like Lehman and Hitchcock did. The difference is they got things actually produced while I have several incomplete projects because I'm stuck on how to connect things. Oh well, it's just a hobby.
I agree completely even if we are in the minority here, as we appear to be. It's not a perfect film; it has its flaws, not the least of which are the weird stylizations imposed by single-camera/continuous ten-minute (1000' load) takes. But those are also, to some extent, its charms. I have a feeling that this is likely to be somewhat generational (with my own appearance casting me in the role of the old) but there is just something weirdly captivating about the whole thing, including from its odd punctuations but also by some really terrific performances including from the eminence grise, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Constance Colliers. I even find Jimmy Stewart's performance - and despite the deeply weird casting decision it represented, strangely satisfying. I've probably seen this film twenty-five times, if not more.
North by Northwest is not a direction. It's a reference to Northwest Airlines by which Thornhill travels to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. He travels "north by Northwest Airlines".
I've originally watched "North by Northwest" as a classic mystery film suggestion. It exceeded all expectations and set a high mark for any future movies in my book.
Thank you. Excellent video, even for someone who has seen the film repeatedly and is familiar with the making of. Is the story confusing? I take your point that the structure was improvised and doesn't confirm to a 'classical' structure, but I can't think of any unresolved plot lines and we eventually get an explanation of every important aspect. Any flaws would be hidden by the intriguing mystery and the fun/adventure nature of the approach. My attitude to 'N.B.NW.' is that it's intended as a big, varied entertainment instead of a tightly focused single tone film.
Really great as is your companion piece re the crop duster sequence. Great research and info. One thing - you mention the coincidence of the West Side Story ref by Laurents, given he’d go on to write the screen adaptation. Laurents wrote the book for the original stage musical, so this was his inside comment.
Sorry to be that guy but i have one correction: I think at 1:03 you say denouement, but it’s not pronounced “de now ment” it’s “de new mah” Very entertaining video!
07:18 I felt like I'd seen that U.N. receptionist before, so I looked her up: she's actress Sally Fraser, from It Conquered the World, Earth vs. the Spider, and War of the Colossal Beast!!!
Great explanation. I think that Saul Bass' titles are better than what Hitchcock wanted, but then, we'll never see those other titles. But it gives it that jazzy flair that the film then flies off with.
Imagine Cary Grant sitting around a table. Suddenly, Cary Grant goes off. What does the audience have? 10 seconds of Cary Grant. But now, imagine, we tell the audience, there's Cary Grant under the table. Now, we have five minutes of Cary Grant.
I always thought this movie had an improvisational feel.. now I know why. It has an unconventional disjointed quality which makes it quite a unique experience for the first time viewer. There's a lot of "why" being asked by the audience and even though the lighthearted, comic elements would probably confuse a modern audience and be the critical downfall if it were made today it somehow adds to the charm and mystery. It really works to its advantage by the time you get to the cornfield scene and you're waiting with Grant not knowing if the threat is coming, from where it might be coming or in what form. The action sequence is so well executed that for the rest of the film we're along for the ride and linked into the protagonist
Great information and analysis. The information about the failed script about the mystery boat makes me wonder how many scripts have these problems. Then some guy who’s not a writer gives them a very solid premise which worked in the end. Personally I think the censors should have made them make Eve Kendal look like she was really struggling to hang on during the end of the Rushmore sequence.
The original idea of "North by Northwest" seems to be an inspiration to Ridley Scott's "A Body of Lies" at least in some respect. The desert kidnapping in "A Body of Lies" as well bears strong resemblance to the iconic dust cropper scene being turned inside out in a way.
This is actually a true fact which another person pointed out just like you did. CinemaTyler's videos are somewhat good but they are mostly for the undiscerning film lovers over here and I've made a note of so many errors in almost all of his videos that it seems even Tyler doesn't do much in-depth research. But I guess he can fit only so much info in the 20-30 min clip format.
I started "watching" your videos like a podcast while doing other tasks. But they are so compelling that I can't stand more than one minute without looking at the screen and paying full attention.
Fantastic Tyler.... I'd like to add that the meeting at the airport sets up two things. One, it does summarize what has happened so far but, two, it sets up the rest of the film by now bringing Roger into Intelligence's plan... but (because of the propeller noise) leaves the audience out. That scene mirrors the scene at Intelligence's office right after Roger's incident at the UN... where we the audience are brought up to speed on what is happening, but Roger is still not aware.
Kinda like 'Three Days of the Condor' .. an average (but stunningly gorgeous) man -- Robert Redford -- gets embroiled in intrigue and along the way meets an average (but stunningly gorgeous) woman -- Faye Dunaway -- and together they try to fight the antagonists
I'm bummed we never got to see that original concept for the opening credits that sounds cool af, like an even cooler version of the rear window opening (though I like the Saul Bass titles we got instead)
Wonderful analysis. Hitch's account of having Grant slide down Lincoln's nose and hide in his nostril, and later to have a sneezing fit there--would have been brilliant and so amusing.
“Boxing the Compass” in the third quadrant and proceeding clockwise, the directions are: West, West by North, West-Northwest, Northwest by West, Northwest, Northwest by North, North-Northwest, North by West, North. So: Yes, “North by Northwest” is not a correctly stated direction, or one that would make any sense to a navigator. If one were traveling from, say, Los Angeles to Seattle aboard Northwest Airlines (remember them?), then the phrase would make sense, i.e., “I am going North by Northwest.” But in the film the action moves from New York to Mt. Rushmore, so perhaps West by Northwest would be a more descriptive title. But-oh, just enjoy the movie!!
What a great movie. Amazing the mistake at 13:37 made it into the final cut where the boy has his fingers in his ears in anticipation of the gunshot. A guess he had sat through too many takes.
The narrator says that there is no such direction as "north by northwest" -- of course there is. North by Northwest (NNW) is a vector that points half way between North and Northwest (between N and NW), or 22.5 degrees from N. On a clock face this direction would be where the hour hand is approximately at 56 minutes past the hour. This would be a heading of 338 for an airplane pilot.
North by Northwest isn't specifically a direction on a compass, but if you think about it like the compass directions are the x and y of a specific area of the compass, you have a small slice of North by northwest. It doesn't mean shit in terms of the movie but when I think of North by northwest directionally/geographically speaking I think of that area between North and northwest.
Thanks. Someone once thought they found a flaw in the screenplay and asked Hitchcock how Cary Grant knew that Eva Marie Saint and James Mason would be on the same train he got on. Hitchcock retorted " Daggers at dawn." Cheers.
Famous blooper that made it into the final production is at 5:11 where the kid in the dark blue shirt on the right is sticking his fingers in his ears for the gunshot that hasn't happened yet.
You indicated that the title, "North by Northwest" doesn't really mean anything and that Hitchcock didn't like it either. However, in the movie, (not in this video) Cary Grant passes through a doorway at the airport above which indicates Northwest airlines. So in a very short scene, the title of the movie becomes very meaningful and it does make sense. Cary Grant's character is going north by Northwest airlines.
Actually what he said was "North by North West isn't an actual direction" which is not the case; NNW is anything between 315' and 360' (or 0') on the compass.
denouement DAY- noo- MWAH (French) 1. the final resolution of a plot, as of a drama or novel. 2. the outcome or resolution of a doubtful series of occurrences. [1745-55; < French: literally, an untying]
Has anyone else noticed the similarity between Thornhill and Don Draper? In fact, "Mad Men" starts on New Year's Eve between 1959-60, the same time frame. Both films deal with the frivilarity and shallowness of the main characters. If you imagine Thornhill's back story, other than for a few details, you can imagine Draper. And, you can imagine Draper acting in a similar manner if he'd been in Thornhill's situation.
Thinking about it, the movie does feel like you are binge watching one of those cliffhanger-riddled adventure serials, not quite a fluid story arc but more of a kebab of set pieces. Recently we have seen several cases of movies that start shooting before the script is finished, or that are heavily rewritten on the spot. Ghostbusters, Justice League and Dark Phoenix come to mind. I guess it takes someone with Hitchcock level of skill to actually pull that off.
Yes, it's the clearly obvious answer. Northwest Airlines served Rapid City non-stop from Minneapolis/St. Paul, which was the capital of the traditional "Great Northwest" in the early 20th Century.
One thing ironic I came across in a book on the history of espionage was that Grant was approached by British intelligence during WWII to keep tabs on possible German sympathizers in Hollywood. The Brits were very keen on making sure there was no one supporting the Germans. Apparently they gave him some thing signifying his assistance during the war.
It's possible, likely, that the title was such an obvious reference to Hamlet that Hitchcock and Lehman never needed to discuss the origins publicly or privately. Prior to '59 if you said NXNW, people thought Hamlet.
![Tour the North by Northwest Home [CG Tour]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/284iZJ0zzts/mqdefault.jpg)
Hi everybody! This is a re-upload of the video I published yesterday. Several people pointed out how repetitive the music was, so I added more tracks to break up the monotony. It also allowed me to add in another interview clip that I had forgotten to include. I worked really hard on this video, so I figured I’d fix these issues while it is still new and the view-count is still low. Thanks for watching!
Hehe, thanks.
I'll be honest, I didn't notice the music whatsoever because I was engrossed in your narration.
Also, that image of Hitch with a revolver pointed at Cary Grant made me laugh out loud.
Where in the video is the newly included interview clip? As much as I enjoyed watching it the first time, I don't want to watch the whole thing again to find it.
I didn't notice the music either.
No worries. The clip is at 15:48.
I saw this movie when it came out in 1959, I was 14. From that time on, I wanted to go to Mount Rushmore. I finally made it three years ago. I was not disappointed. I got to meet Nick Clifford, the last surviving carver, he was 17 when he worked there. He died soon after.
Amazing story!
Thanks for sharing your NORTH BY NORTWEST experience. I first saw this movie in the 1980s when I was a child. I have shown it to be kids on blu ray in our theater room. I may go see it at the AFI Theater, because it is being screened this weekend.
NORTH BY NORTHWEST is one of my all-time favorite movies, and has been since I first saw it when I was going on twelve years old. Love this history of the making of the movie!
One of Hitchcock's masterpieces, no doubt.
It would be a better movie if they did not make the main character unlikeable. He is just kind of a dick the whole movie. It kind of makes you want to root for the bad guys.
Randy White watch the movie again. He is a total prick the whole movie. Even his mom thinks he is an ass.
Actually
@@blankname6629 so why are you here if you don't like the movie? Lol
@[GD] Annoe nah Cary was perfection and his mother was perfectly annoying which was by design.
Thanks so much for these, Tyler. My wife and I met in film school and have spent our long marriage dissecting movies together (we went on to other non-film related careers) and are especially enamored of Hitchcock's genius. Much appreciated, sir.
North by Northwest IS a real direction. On a compass dial it is half-way between North and Northwest, or 337.5 degrees. The actual direction Roger Thornhill travels in the movie is West by Northwest. However, in the play HAMLET, Hamlet is described as being North by Northwest, meaning that he is a little off (mentally). So, the movie title is taken from HAMLET and is meant to describe Thornhill suddenly being thrust into a slightly insane situation
Hamlet says that about himself in the play. He's basically saying that he's aware that he is not always mentally correct but that when he's ok he is still capable of telling friend from foe. So you're right about the compass reference but as usual with Shakespeare a broader context reveals what he's really saying. The line is doing more than just telling us he experiences bouts of madness, it's considering whether he is actually paranoid or not on a specific matter.. are his friends betraying him? This also kind of fits thematically when considering North By Northwest with it's espionage, paranoia and potential betrayal.
I've always like that final dubbed line, "Come along, Mrs. Thornhill", regardless if it was only added to placate the censors. It's really a "happily ever after" finale, and it feels good after all the trauma the two lead characters have just been through. It's much better than the two of them embracing in the upper berth, unmarried.
Right, cos nobody has ever desecrated marriage!
@@hazbutler I don't care if marriage was "desecrated" or not; like I wrote in my original comment, I liked that the two lead characters ended up together happily (which is implied by them being married) after all the terrible stuff they went through earlier in the film.
FYI, Re: @3:40 ... NNW and NNE are real directions used in orienteering.
That’s what I thought too!
When I look at a compass rose I see the NW and NE and so on. A deeper dive is where I found the more ornate versions get into the NNW and NNE and so on. So yes, you are correct sir.
Great video, but you forgot to mention one of the most important parts of North By Northwest----- the music! The score is by Bernard Hermann, who also did Psycho and Citizen Kane and many other Hollywood classics. The music in North by Northwest contributes hugely to the mood and pacing of the film, and it's one of the greatest scores every composed.
Vertigo was recently voted best Hollywood film of all time in a poll- I imagine that without Herman’s amazing contribution it probably wouldn’t have won, a music score can make or break a movie for sure.
Yes Bernard Herrmann, one of the greatest film composers ever. His score for North by NW is incredible. Very 20th century symphonic and huge. Just perfect.
and you forget the Wagner-like (Tristan and Isolde) splendid Vertigo soundtrack !
This is one of my all time favorite pictures. Whenever I want to run away from the crazy would of 2019, I love to chill, lower the lights and enjoy a picture like this. These were the days of great pictures and talent like. Picnic, Dark Passage, Rear Window, Christmas in Connecticut, The Little Shop Around the Corner to name a few...
Excellent, as always. I look forward to the Cropduster scene breakdown.
I once read a quote from Hitchcock saying, "There are no symbols in 'North by Northwest'. Oh, yes, the train going into the tunnel is phallic -- but don't tell anyone"
Haha, that's great!
I frickin' LOVE this film. I saw it when I was a teenager when they did a special screening a the Pictureville in Bradford (in the UK) and although I'd seen it a million times on TV, seeing it on a huge screen was awesome. I love how Cary Grant pays it suave but is quietly freaking out about the whole thing all the time. Instead of a cool guy not looking at explosions, when the plane crashes into the tanker he minces away as though he just knocked a statue off a shelf and doesn't want anyone to think it's his fault. And anything with James All The Best People Shave Twice A Day Mason is epic.
Derek Smallshorts I'm from Bradford and I remember abc cinema and the odeon but not pictureville but I'm 42 so it might have been before my time
Tyler, not that 60k isn’t a lot, but I don’t know how you don’t have hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Yours is my favorite channel on the art of cinema. Keep up the excellent and in-depth work, sir!
Thanks! I really appreciate it!
I read a lot of the correspondence between Hitchcock and Lehman regarding this movie. It’s in the Ransom Center at UT Austin. There are several drafts of the screenplay and dozens of letters, telegrams and handwritten notes on hotel stationary (Lehman often drank to generate ideas). Hitchcock didn’t seem to do any actual writing, but he was blunt in his notes, some of which are typed out, while others are handwritten on the script.
That sounds amazing! I'd love to read those notes!
I admire your dedication to putting out a quality product even at the risk that some of your viewers will opt out of seeing the new version. Keep up the good work. I have no doubt it will pay off ten fold
I love the comparison of the writing process to improvisation, along with Lehman's faith in the right brain. This is what's totally missing from the screenwriting manuals and it's so much more fun and satisfying to write like this than to follow the manuals' drily bureaucratic prescriptions for preordained act structure with a series of obligatory markers - the inciting incident and so on. Improvisation teaches you to pay attention to precisely the question Lehman says was repeatedly his here: What happens next? I wish someone had explained that to me - and given me Kieth Johnstone's 'Improvisation for Storytellers' years ago when I was starting to read screenwriting manuals.
I remember this show called Hollywood Babylon where Tony Curtis described the one time Hitchcock described a scene where a man parachutes into a forest, gets on a motorcycle, and rides to the back of a restaurant whereupon he takes off his overalls revealing he's wearing a waiter's uniform. Tony Curtis asked him what came next to which Hitchcock replied he didn't know because he was still thinking it out.
North by Northwest is a brilliant movie. I've seen it at least 10 times. It's always great to watch again. It's a great story, a great screenplay, and it's cast perfectly. It's a masterpiece of movie making, and one of Hitchcock's best. The crop duster scene is one of the most famous scenes in movie history. Last but not least, the musical score is excellent, and one of the greatest ever composed.
I saw this movie last night and it still looks better everytime you watch it.
The crop duster sequence is iconic, but my favorite line in the whole movie is "I don't want to go to the airport, I want to go to the Police Station!". Just after the auction scene and before the airport scene.
Hey there, I just kind of stumbled upon your video and I am so glad that I did. I fell in love with movie classics and they get even better the more you get to learn about the production of them.
I got to give credit where credit is due so please keep up the good work it was very well done and researched and I'm looking forward to more vids. You're awesome :)
It's amazing how troubled and frantic the making of some of the great classic films are and yet movies that were actually made in a professional manner seem to never be anything special.
This is my favorite Hitchock film. No doubt.
Well researched, well presented, very interesting and enjoyable. Thanks for the hard work.
The 'O' standing for nothing is a joke at the expense of David O. Selznick who produced 'Rebecca' and who convinced Hitch to come to Hollywood.
I read that the killer in REAR WINDOW (Thorwald) was intended to look like David O. Selznick.
@@bobbydazzler8684 It was supposed to look like Orson Welles
@@danwroy Why?
@@bobbydazzler8684I couldn’t say for sure, but it may have been in response to Orson Welles publicly talking about how much he hated Vertigo
Thornhill's private secretary Maggie is played by Doreen Lang, a favorite of Hitch. You may remember her as the hysterical mother in the diner in The Birds, as one of the secretaries in The Wrong Man and in several of Hitch's TV shows.
Best film video-essays on youtube, by far.
I admire you Tyler and love your talent and dedication.
Thanks so much!
My favorite film of all time!
Absolutely one of the best films of all time. James Bond before James Bond existed, in a way.
Great film and video! Is it a bit of Alfred Hitchcock/Ernest Lehman foreshadowing that as Roger Thornhill is entering the Plaza Hotel Oak Bar for his business meeting, where he is about to be kidnapped (mistaken for a non-existent spy), the music playing is the song "It's a Most Unusual Day?"
God, your documentaries are so good. I binge them, fall asleep to them, wake up to breakdowns to both new films and old… you need to be on a subscription service, or dare I say, TV!
Great work as always Tyler!! For a blooper check out time stamp 13:37. The kid in the back ground has his fingers in his ears.
Did you know of this before or did you just now notice it? Interesting observation.
I knew about it before.
13:35 the kid is covering his ear before Eva shoots, lol.
one of the famous goofs
R.O.T. Roger O. Thornhill, the O that stands for nothing, I believe was a hint back to Hollywood famed producer David O. Selznick in which the o stands for nothing
@CinemaTyler - Actually the writing process seems bizarre to us and to my generation in general, but in reality this is exactly how many great filmmakers and writers in the silent era as well as begining again in the 50s and 60s up until the the late 70s wrote - as far as American industry is concerned. Film schools ruined entire generations of film writers and directors in how they wrote, and film studios didn't allow this improvisational luxury anymore after the 80s - this is how we entered into the current Risk Aversion era - for this you'll have to understand the economic and cultural changes. Studios today have eliminated any and all elements of risk - so no chance that we'll ever see such unplanned and creative improvisational filmmaking and writing with big budgets. And as usual whatever the studios do will be diligently be put into practice all across the board, and I mean not just in America but literally all over the world. This style of writing was actually very common and in vogue starting in the 50s all around the world because of the groundbreaking films it produced in the independent circuit. This type of thinking was encouraged in alternative education as well in the US in the 50s and 60s because of the rising popularity of Marshall McLuhan who championed the general theory of the right brain-left brain which eventually became so popular that it made its way into films as well - for example this idea made it's way onto the set of 2001 through Colin Cantwell, a special effects guy on 2001 who insisted that they shoot the Monolith with the sun and the moon lining up symmetrically everytime the plot is about to take a major turn because it acts as a visual marker for the audience to link their personal life experience to - this idea Colin borrowed from Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring - and Kubrick & Clarke thought it was a genius idea and wrote it into the script. Today, this type of creative thinking itself is not encouraged be it in the arts or education because alternative thinking is anathema to economic stability and it also brings about a lot of unforeseen consequences if it becomes culturally accepted like what happened in the 60s- and so movies too have suffered magnificently because of this. I would advise CinemaTyler to do more in-depth research to give the full picture - because it's only after you consider the cultural & economic context of that era will you realize why North by Northwest which is an early exmaple of this shortlived cultural development - was written that way - and why many films of that era were written and made that way.
Very nice. I like the background music. It's perfect. Perfect volume too. Great video. Included things I've never seen in bio's.
The menace and superior acting of James Mason, forgotten in the seeds of time.
I just love the spelling mistakes and rewrites on Guernsey's letter!
Does anybody know if the ending has any story? it always seems really abrupt, like there should be another 5-10 minutes. but it was cut.
1:27 -- the story about the abandoned ghost ship project is the the same reason why ridley scott's alien prequel didn't work
This is very interesting and made me chuckle. I dabble in screenwriting and fiction and according to experts I do it all wrong. I'm supposed to have everything worked out before I start a draft, but I start with a premise, or a scene, or a plot twist and build from there as I go - pretty much like Lehman and Hitchcock did. The difference is they got things actually produced while I have several incomplete projects because I'm stuck on how to connect things. Oh well, it's just a hobby.
Train in the tunnel scene is an awesome snub. My all time favorite movie.
Rope is one of my favourite films. Real genius concept.
I agree completely even if we are in the minority here, as we appear to be. It's not a perfect film; it has its flaws, not the least of which are the weird stylizations imposed by single-camera/continuous ten-minute (1000' load) takes. But those are also, to some extent, its charms. I have a feeling that this is likely to be somewhat generational (with my own appearance casting me in the role of the old) but there is just something weirdly captivating about the whole thing, including from its odd punctuations but also by some really terrific performances including from the eminence grise, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Constance Colliers. I even find Jimmy Stewart's performance - and despite the deeply weird casting decision it represented, strangely satisfying. I've probably seen this film twenty-five times, if not more.
Absolutely brilliant. Another behind the scenes masterpiece from you bro. Well done, I enjoy the shit outta these. :)
amazing as always Tyler, keep up the good work!!
Minor point: "North by northwest" is a direction. It's in between "Northwest" and "North-Northwest." It's equivalent to 348.75d true.
North by Northwest is not a direction. It's a reference to Northwest Airlines by which Thornhill travels to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. He travels "north by Northwest Airlines".
I've originally watched "North by Northwest" as a classic mystery film suggestion. It exceeded all expectations and set a high mark for any future movies in my book.
Thank you. Excellent video, even for someone who has seen the film repeatedly and is familiar with the making of. Is the story confusing? I take your point that the structure was improvised and doesn't confirm to a 'classical' structure, but I can't think of any unresolved plot lines and we eventually get an explanation of every important aspect. Any flaws would be hidden by the intriguing mystery and the fun/adventure nature of the approach. My attitude to 'N.B.NW.' is that it's intended as a big, varied entertainment instead of a tightly focused single tone film.
Yeah, I've always been amazed that the train and tunnel scene was allowed to stay!
Really great as is your companion piece re the crop duster sequence. Great research and info. One thing - you mention the coincidence of the West Side Story ref by Laurents, given he’d go on to write the screen adaptation. Laurents wrote the book for the original stage musical, so this was his inside comment.
You're amazing dude I love your work one of the best out here 😄
Great video! So good my teacher made my class watch it and discuss :)
Sorry to be that guy but i have one correction:
I think at 1:03 you say denouement, but it’s not pronounced “de now ment” it’s “de new mah”
Very entertaining video!
07:18 I felt like I'd seen that U.N. receptionist before, so I looked her up: she's actress Sally Fraser, from It Conquered the World, Earth vs. the Spider, and War of the Colossal Beast!!!
Great explanation. I think that Saul Bass' titles are better than what Hitchcock wanted, but then, we'll never see those other titles. But it gives it that jazzy flair that the film then flies off with.
Cinema Tyler, what is the music that you used during the 8:00 thru 9:00 period? I like it
Imagine Cary Grant sitting around a table. Suddenly, Cary Grant goes off. What does the audience have? 10 seconds of Cary Grant. But now, imagine, we tell the audience, there's Cary Grant under the table. Now, we have five minutes of Cary Grant.
Hahaha
Well...sort of. Not exactly how Hitchcock originally phrased it.
13:36 check out the kid on the right side of the screen putting his fingers in his ears, anticipating the gun shot
I always thought this movie had an improvisational feel.. now I know why. It has an unconventional disjointed quality which makes it quite a unique experience for the first time viewer. There's a lot of "why" being asked by the audience and even though the lighthearted, comic elements would probably confuse a modern audience and be the critical downfall if it were made today it somehow adds to the charm and mystery. It really works to its advantage by the time you get to the cornfield scene and you're waiting with Grant not knowing if the threat is coming, from where it might be coming or in what form. The action sequence is so well executed that for the rest of the film we're along for the ride and linked into the protagonist
Thanks for such a great breakdown, well done!
Great information and analysis. The information about the failed script about the mystery boat makes me wonder how many scripts have these problems. Then some guy who’s not a writer gives them a very solid premise which worked in the end.
Personally I think the censors should have made them make Eve Kendal look like she was really struggling to hang on during the end of the Rushmore sequence.
Nice job Tyler-well done.
Love your videos! More videos related to screenplays would be great!
The original idea of "North by Northwest" seems to be an inspiration to Ridley Scott's "A Body of Lies" at least in some respect. The desert kidnapping in "A Body of Lies" as well bears strong resemblance to the iconic dust cropper scene being turned inside out in a way.
I thought it was because the event that leads to the ultimate climax was a north bound flight on Northwest Airlines?
Attention Deficit Squirrel this was my thought also
This is actually a true fact which another person pointed out just like you did. CinemaTyler's videos are somewhat good but they are mostly for the undiscerning film lovers over here and I've made a note of so many errors in almost all of his videos that it seems even Tyler doesn't do much in-depth research. But I guess he can fit only so much info in the 20-30 min clip format.
I started "watching" your videos like a podcast while doing other tasks. But they are so compelling that I can't stand more than one minute without looking at the screen and paying full attention.
Oo interesting! I bet some of those older 'What I Learned From Watching' videos would work decently well as podcasts!
A Classic Adventure that i have watched & Enjoyed many times. A Great Film. Great presentation Tyler i enjoyed it
Fantastic Tyler.... I'd like to add that the meeting at the airport sets up two things. One, it does summarize what has happened so far but, two, it sets up the rest of the film by now bringing Roger into Intelligence's plan... but (because of the propeller noise) leaves the audience out. That scene mirrors the scene at Intelligence's office right after Roger's incident at the UN... where we the audience are brought up to speed on what is happening, but Roger is still not aware.
Really good stuff, thanks for this Tyler 😎👍
Not really an average person, one of the world's most glamorous and good looking men who would stand out in any situation.
Kinda like 'Three Days of the Condor' .. an average (but stunningly gorgeous) man -- Robert Redford -- gets embroiled in intrigue and along the way meets an average (but stunningly gorgeous) woman -- Faye Dunaway -- and together they try to fight the antagonists
Love the content you make
I'm bummed we never got to see that original concept for the opening credits that sounds cool af, like an even cooler version of the rear window opening (though I like the Saul Bass titles we got instead)
19:30 - wait WHAT !?!! they actually once cared about offending the Catholic Church. wow!!
a long, long...,.... time ago.
Very good! I love this movie, and have read tons of material, and was pleased to hear things I have never read or heard before.
Excellent vid. Most enjoyable. Thanks.
Wonderful analysis. Hitch's account of having Grant slide down Lincoln's nose and hide in his nostril, and later to have a sneezing fit there--would have been brilliant and so amusing.
Great movie and a well done video.
“Boxing the Compass” in the third quadrant and proceeding clockwise, the directions are: West, West by North, West-Northwest, Northwest by West, Northwest, Northwest by North, North-Northwest, North by West, North. So: Yes, “North by Northwest” is not a correctly stated direction, or one that would make any sense to a navigator. If one were traveling from, say, Los Angeles to Seattle aboard Northwest Airlines (remember them?), then the phrase would make sense, i.e., “I am going North by Northwest.” But in the film the action moves from New York to Mt. Rushmore, so perhaps West by Northwest would be a more descriptive title. But-oh, just enjoy the movie!!
interesting and nicely done, Sir.
I always assumed (without looking into it) that NbNW was Hitch trying to do an American "39 Steps"
What a great movie. Amazing the mistake at 13:37 made it into the final cut where the boy has his fingers in his ears in anticipation of the gunshot. A guess he had sat through too many takes.
The narrator says that there is no such direction as "north by northwest" -- of course there is. North by Northwest (NNW) is a vector that points half way between North and Northwest (between N and NW), or 22.5 degrees from N. On a clock face this direction would be where the hour hand is approximately at 56 minutes past the hour. This would be a heading of 338 for an airplane pilot.
North by Northwest isn't specifically a direction on a compass, but if you think about it like the compass directions are the x and y of a specific area of the compass, you have a small slice of North by northwest. It doesn't mean shit in terms of the movie but when I think of North by northwest directionally/geographically speaking I think of that area between North and northwest.
19:44 You wonder how much of a "jab in the eye" the last shot is supposed to be, and it turns out the answer is 100% as much as it feels like it is.
Epic video about an epic movie. The only thing that grates in 2019 is that every outfit in the pics looks like it’s never been worn before.
I am but mad north northwest. When the wind is southerly i know a hawk from a handsaw.
Thanks. Someone once thought they found a flaw in the screenplay and asked Hitchcock how Cary Grant knew that Eva Marie Saint and James Mason would be on the same train he got on. Hitchcock retorted " Daggers at dawn." Cheers.
Famous blooper that made it into the final production is at 5:11 where the kid in the dark blue shirt on the right is sticking his fingers in his ears for the gunshot that hasn't happened yet.
1:34 if you know, you know
You indicated that the title, "North by Northwest" doesn't really mean anything and that Hitchcock didn't like it either. However, in the movie, (not in this video) Cary Grant passes through a doorway at the airport above which indicates Northwest airlines. So in a very short scene, the title of the movie becomes very meaningful and it does make sense. Cary Grant's character is going north by Northwest airlines.
Actually what he said was "North by North West isn't an actual direction" which is not the case; NNW is anything between 315' and 360' (or 0') on the compass.
denouement DAY- noo- MWAH (French) 1. the final resolution of a plot, as of a drama or novel. 2. the outcome or resolution of a doubtful series of occurrences. [1745-55; < French: literally, an untying]
Has anyone else noticed the similarity between Thornhill and Don Draper? In fact, "Mad Men" starts on New Year's Eve between 1959-60, the same time frame. Both films deal with the frivilarity and shallowness of the main characters. If you imagine Thornhill's back story, other than for a few details, you can imagine Draper. And, you can imagine Draper acting in a similar manner if he'd been in Thornhill's situation.
Thinking about it, the movie does feel like you are binge watching one of those cliffhanger-riddled adventure serials, not quite a fluid story arc but more of a kebab of set pieces. Recently we have seen several cases of movies that start shooting before the script is finished, or that are heavily rewritten on the spot. Ghostbusters, Justice League and Dark Phoenix come to mind. I guess it takes someone with Hitchcock level of skill to actually pull that off.
You didn't mention the possibility that the "Northwest" of the title shows up in the airport scene as Northwest Airlines.
Yes, it's the clearly obvious answer. Northwest Airlines served Rapid City non-stop from Minneapolis/St. Paul, which was the capital of the traditional "Great Northwest" in the early 20th Century.
One day you should talk about Sword of Doom since it's in your intro.
When I watch the scene beginning at 5:10, I always look at the boy with his fingers in his ears. He was anticipating the gunshot.
One thing ironic I came across in a book on the history of espionage was that Grant was approached by British intelligence during WWII to keep tabs on possible German sympathizers in Hollywood. The Brits were very keen on making sure there was no one supporting the Germans. Apparently they gave him some thing signifying his assistance during the war.
great essay thanks
It's possible, likely, that the title was such an obvious reference to Hamlet that Hitchcock and Lehman never needed to discuss the origins publicly or privately. Prior to '59 if you said NXNW, people thought Hamlet.
This is the only video I have ever seen in all of RUclips's History with more than a 1000 views that has 0 dislikes.
Agnimitra Sharma it has less than one thousand now...