A review of the 50th anniversary book edition of North By Northwest on the high definition Blu Ray format.
Alfred Hitchcock made many classic movies over the years and North By Northwest is among his best work. Spellbound is my actual all time favorite Hitchcock film but this one is close.
James Stewart wanted the role of Roger Thornhill but Hitchcock was concerned that Vertigo which was his last film had been a flop at the box office, he thought Stewart was now too old for the part but rather than tell him he wasn't wanted he waited until Stewart was shooting Anatomy of a Murder before offering him the role and naturally Stewart was committed to that film and had to decline.
MGM wanted Gregory Peck as the main star of the movie but Hitchcock wanted Cary Grant for the part.
Hitchcock got his way and Mr Grant was cast.
Censorship meant that Martin Landau's character could never openly reveal himself as being gay thus it was only hinted at during his moments with James Mason near the end of the film.
Other censor problems included Eve Marie Saint's line "I never make love on an empty stomach" being changed to "I never discuss love on an empty stomach" but in the film you can clearly see her mouth the contenious words which were later dubbed out.
This film was shot in VistaVision which is a higher resolution finer grained film format than the normal 35mm shot films of the fifties. Although VistaVision would die out as a format to shoot whole movies in it would be used later to shoot the special visual effects in many Hollywood blockbuster movies and indeed films from only ten years ago such as The Mummy or Forrest Gump used VistaVision for their visual effect shot scenes.
Hitchcock wanted to film on Mt. Rushmore but was refused permission as it was deemed unacceptable that violence would be committed on the heads of a national monument.
They had to build a set of Mt. Rushmore on a soundstage and shoot the scene very carefully so as to not associate the faces of the monument with the onscreen violence.
Opticals were used for some scenes.
Television had become very popular in the late fifties and MGM was having financial difficulties as more and more people stayed at home rather than go out for an evening to the cinema.
This film went over it's budget as did MGM's other 1959 film Ben Hur. Ben Hur would go on to win eleven Oscars and be a big box office hit for the studio while North By Northwest was nominated for three Oscars but won none and it was a more modest success at the box office.
Film Plot
New York advertising executive Roger O. Thornhill is mistaken for a government agent called George Kaplan and is kidnapped by spies who intend to kill him. He narrowly escapes and goes on the run and meets a beautiful woman on a train who is somehow connected with the spies.
Suspense, intrigue and adventure follow as Thornhill finds himself framed for murder and in danger at every turn as the good and bad guys try to capture him.
Positives
The age of a film does not matter if it is good and this holds true for North By Northwest.
The pacing is not as fast as a modern day film but the script, dialogue, direction and acting is sharper than many of today's so called blockbuster hits.
Its superbly directed by Hitchcock.
This is film making at it's best and they rarely make them like this anymore.
Composer Bernard Herrman was a regular contributor to Hitchcock's movies and his music score for this film is enthralling and fits the images onscreen perfectly. A fantastic memorable score.
Hitchcock started his career in silent cinema and had been making motion pictures for over thirty years leading up to this film and you can see he learned his craft very well as he knows exactly how to set up a scene for maximum effect.
The film features some good set pieces and builds up the tension beautifully. My personal favorite and i suspect it is also other people's favorite is the crop dusting scene.
It starts out with Thornhill getting off a bus in the middle of nowhere and several minutes of silence and little dialogue and ends wonderfully. I will not reveal what happens as i don't want to spoil it for anyone but it's a beautifully filmed and edited scene which i never tire of watching.
The cast all do a nice job in their respective roles but it's Cary Grant and Eve Marie Saint who really make the film into something special. Their chemistry when together is a joy to watch and the dialogue they are given is exceptionally good. The first meeting on the train between these two is fabulous.
Their scene on the train is romantic and erotic despite the fact they never take their clothes off and you feel the passion coming through in their performances.
Image quality is high and i know some reviews have mentioned the possibility of DNR and after much deliberation i tend to agree that some scenes have had grain reduction applied.
Film productions in the fifties would often have scenes shot with softer images and it was not unheard of for vaseline to be applied to the lens of the camera to soften the image for a closeup or medium shot of the leading lady or in some cases the aging leading man and i think this film has that look in some scenes. So while i think that some minor DNR has been applied to this release i also think that in other scenes its an intentional look.
I felt image quality mostly represented the look of the original film. There was a fine layer of film grain present for most of the movie which helped give the picture a cinematic look.
Audio quality was good and the lossless track helps with the dynamics of Herrman's wonderful music score and during the crop dusting chase sequence there was even some split surround sound and my subwoofer even kicked in for a few seconds. Speech was always clear and concise and audio overall was good.
Negatives
There is a scene near in the film where Thornhill is looking through a telescope at Mt. Rushmore and i felt the blue sky background had all the hallmark signs of DNR but i think that scene may have been an optical and it may have had serious print damage and thus on it's restoration they did the best they could with the scene.
I detected chromatic aberration on some shots which some may think is edge enhancement but it's not as the color of the edges help identify it as a lens issue.
The opticals on Mt. Rushmore are showing their age and effects wise they don't always work.
Final Thoughts
The old saying that they don't make them like they used to is very true and it's a shame really but at least we can now sit back, dim the lights and watch these films in the best way possible in fabulous high definition.
I like the book format that Warner occasionally releases and although you have to carefully handle them i feel they are more of a collector's item and really bring extra quality to these releases.
This disc features some great extra content.
I enjoyed the making of feature and the documentary on Hitchcock is superb. The music only audio track is a bonus i feel more discs should have.
The profile of Cary Grant was interesting and had many classic clips and interviews from his career and from his private life.
When Alfred Hitchcock is mentioned many people will think Psycho but i do not think that is his best film and it wouldn't make my top five of Hitchcock films. I hope to see many more Hitchcock films released in high definition and especially the superb Spellbound although that one needs some restoration work.
North By Northwest has been given a very decent transfer and extra content that gives you insight into the movie business and not just the usual advertising fluff that counts for extras on some films today.
Highly recommend – If you do not want the book format you can buy the UK edition instead.
Technical Disc Specifications
Releasing Studio – Warner Bros
Film Running Time – 136 minutes
Film Aspect Ratio – 1.78:1
Blu Ray Resolution – 1080p/24
Audio Format – Dolby True HD 5.1
Starring Cary Grant, Eve Marie Saint, James Mason and Martin Landau
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
This is a region free release
Entertainment Rating – 9/10
Transfer Quality Rating – 8.5/10
Sound Mix Rating – 7/10