Summer of Movies #6: North by Northwest

Alfred Hitchcock, how amazing you are. You are known as the master of horror, when you only made a couple of scary movies, you are the master of suspense and espionage, yet no one knows about those other films. The exception though, is today's film. This is considered one of the best thrillers of all time, maybe one of the best movies of all time. It's so well known that "Family Guy" has an entire episode that's a parody of it. It is, of course...

PLOT
Roger Thornhill is a New York advertising executive who lives a pretty normal life, that is until he is kidnapped and accused of being someone named George Kaplan. He tries to convince his kidnappers that he's not this man, but they won't budge. They then frame Thornhill for murder of a NATO politician. Rodger is now on the run from not only the mysterious kidnappers, but the police as well. He must find out who this George Kapland is, what he has to do with all this, and clear his name.



PROS
This may be the most well crafted thrillers in history. The mystery is very engaging and keeps you guessing 'till the end. There are even points when the movie tells you what's going on, and yet you're still tense. It also makes sense and never seems too far fetched.

The film has a great sense of paranoia. Hitchcock never lays it out for you, never tells you to be paranoid, he lets you do it all on your own. Their were many points where I thought "That guy, he's in on it...oh wait no he's not".

Cary Grant is great as Roger Thornhill, starting out as a sarcastic jerk, and slowly becoming the one out-smarting everyone.

The situations in the film are amazing. Some examples are the auction house scene, when Rodger is drunk and taken in by the police, and the most famous one, being chased down by the crop duster plane, which ends in one of the most unexpected ways



CONCLUSION
This earns its title as one of Hitchcock's best films. It's tense, action-packed, yet subtle and full of intrigue. I loved this movie and will gladly watch it again. Now, time to watch the last 5 greatest films of all time!


RATING
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