Certainly the right direction
Roger Thornhill is a fast moving advertising tycoon. Always in a rush, always witty and always in control, Thornhill has everything he wants in life and couldn’t be happier. While dining with some friends at a restaurant, Thornhill is mistaken for CIA agent George Kaplan and is whisked away, against his will, to meet with a very powerful man named Phillip Vandamm. Vandamm wishes for Kaplan to join his group and help him get something out of the country. Thornhill, thoroughly confused, soon finds himself running for mere survival as Vandamm tries to hunt down and eliminate whom they think is George Kaplan.
Unlike all other Hitchcock classics, the combination of Cary Grant (who steps out of his usual, witty role) and a solid story that redefines what a ‘thriller’ was back in those days (1959), equaled out to be one of the most memorial films of film history. What I really loved about this movie, as I’m sure you need my opinion to validate how great this film is, is how well Cary Grant fits into it. It was so important for Hitchcock to get his leading character perfect for this role. You could compare this choice of casting to that of Tom Hanks in Philadelphia. While certainly different, you took some of what makes Hanks good (in terms of comedy) and gave him a new edge with a very dramatic/serious subject; same with Grant. You took Cary Grant, that starred in films like Topper and Bringing Up Baby, and place him in a role that requires him to run, fight and ultimately kill; that’s quite different and very much out of his element. It was a perfect choice for the role of Roger Thornhill and it ultimately drives the entire film.
What adds to that drive is the different scenarios that Hitchcock puts Grant in. The first is escaping onto a train. The second is finding one’s self off of the train. The most infamous is Grant’s pursuit in a dusty cornfield by a bi-plane. The last is the last fight on top of Mount Rushmore. Each scenario provides just enough tension and action to keep you on the edge of your seat. I must admit that I hadn’t seen the entire film and was just ‘wowed’ by how tense of an effect the film had on me. This is probably one of the best, if not the best, thrillers/suspense films I’ve ever witnessed.
Moving on….
The real reason why you want to read this review is to find out if the DVD copy of North by Northwest that you already own is much different in comparison to this one. I can proudly say that the remastered video and audio outshines the original in all corners of effort. You’ll find one of the most visually cleaned-up DVDs in North by Northwest: 50th Anniversary Edition. I knew that Warner Brothers had the capabilities and the time, but I never knew that DVDs could be improved to such an extent (especially having reviewed tons and tons of blu-rays in the last year). You won’t fully appreciate the remastering until you make it to the cornfield scene. The sky is so gorgeous and the isolation that the scene portrays is simply unrivaled in this edition. You will get engulfed and drawn into it because of the remastering that has occurred.
Now, the biggest part of this release is what Warner Brothers has in store for you on that second disc. Here’s what you’re looking at in terms of features:
Disc One:
• Screenwriter commentary
• Music only track
Disc Two:
• The Master’s Touch: Hitchcock’s Signature Style
• North by Northwest: One for the Ages
• Cary Grant: A Class Apart [2003 TCM Documentary]
• Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North by Northwest hosted by Eva Marie Saint
• Photo gallery
• Trailer gallery
The two newest additions to the DVD are the two documentaries The Master’s Touch: Hitchcock’s Signature Style and North by Northwest: One for the Ages. Both documentaries are fascinating and give you some fantastic insight into how Hitchcock did things and what exactly makes this movie a classic and a cut above the rest. Add to that the beautiful commentary from screenwriter Ernest Lehman, and a few other good features that you might have seen before, and you have yourself one helluva set.
The only other thing that could make this movie better is the blu-ray.