Member review

'North by Northwest' (1959) is an espionage thriller centred on an innocent man who's identity is mistaken, resulting in him being chased across America, resulting in a a charming, enjoyable film which is a good watch all the way through!

Perhaps the most charming thing about this film is the Cary Grant's portrayal of the protagonist, Roger Thornhill. His light-hearted attitude to his unfortunate circumstances keeps the film afloat amongst it's lengthy run time of 136 minutes, in which arguably there are some scenes which seem to drag on for some time, such as the oddly paced finale involving some very slow climbing!

I also thoroughly enjoyed the plot of this film. Perhaps I am biased, I am a huge fan of espionage thrillers such as the 'James Bond' franchise or 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.', and this film was no exception. However, for me it brought something different to the table as the protagonist is some not some cool, suave international super spy; he is just an "advertising man", which makes him far more relatable and likeable as a character. Also, as with many Hitchcock films, the twists and turns in the plot were significant and unexpected, which added a real flavour of drama to the unfolding events.

The cinematography of this film was also very striking - providing many memorable moments throughout the film, such as a particular scene in the film where Thornhill is standing alone on a bleak desert road framed in a breathtaking long shot. This aswell as the climactic finale on Mt. Rushmore really grabbed my attention and drew my eyes to the screen, which is impressive when compared to one of Hitchcock's later films 'The Birds' (1963), which was mostly a 2 hour long yawn!.

I personally loved this film and everything about it; the acting was good, the cinematography was good and the writing was good. Writing this review I have struggled to remember anything I disliked about this film and would highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking about watching it!