Alfred Hitchcock and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had a short but mutually beneficial association in the late 1950s. It resulted in “North by Northwest,” now in a 45th-anniversary revival at the American Film Institute Silver Theatre through Thursday. Similar one-week encores have been scheduled for two other Hitchcock classics of the decade, “Rear Window” and “Vertigo,” beginning May 14 and June 4, respectively.
Every bit as productive in Hollywood as he had been in England, Mr. Hitchcock (1899-1980) completed a dozen features during the 1940s and followed up with 11 in the 1950s. “North by Northwest” was the capper, a deft and glamorous romantic thriller with Cary Grant as a fugitive hero, Eva Marie Saint as a delicate Mata Hari and James Mason as a debonair menace. The three are linked in a chase scenario that begins at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan and culminates in a cliffhanging finale at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
The title, presumably derived from one of Hamlet’s deceptive remarks, “I am but mad north-northwest,” is not a particularly useful clue to the movie’s travel plans, which involve a 20th Century Limited train journey from New York to Chicago and a Northwest plane flight (never depicted) from Chicago to Rapid City, S.D. While the movie was being written by Ernest Lehman, Hitchcock fans were reminded regularly that the impish working title, “The Man in Lincoln’s Nose,” pointed toward a showdown at Mount Rushmore.
Mr. Lehman’s recollections are part of the supplementary material in the DVD edition of “North by Northwest.” In fact, there’s little to choose between his testimony in a “Making of …” featurette called “Destination Hitchcock” and his narration of the commentary track, which would profit by additional and peppier contributions. The other participants in the featurette might have been helpful: Miss Saint, production designer Robert Boyle, supporting actor Martin Landau and the director’s daughter Patricia. In addition to sounding weary and repetitive, the Lehman commentary often fails to deal with the scenes on the screen at any given moment.
The most endearing Lehman memory is his remark about hoping to write “the Hitchcock movie to end all Hitchcock movies.” As time went by, it became apparent that he succeeded. The Hitchcock thriller took a different direction when “Psycho” proved an innovative and graphically appalling sensation in 1960. Drawing on expert romantic and suspense devices from such Hitchcock prototypes as “The 39 Steps,” “Notorious” and “To Catch a Thief,” Mr. Lehman helped finesse the valedictory example of a sophisticated mystery melodrama with trademark touches and stylistic command.
Having facilitated that summation gives Mr. Lehman enviable bragging rights in movie history — even if he had never been the writer who originated “Sweet Smell of Success” a few years earlier, or the clever self-plagiarizer who revamped “North by Northwest” a few years later, transparently but enjoyably disguised as “The Prize” with Paul Newman.
Deception was integral to both the plot and the inception of “North by Northwest.” The plot revolves around an exceptionally clever case of mistaken identity. By chance, Cary Grant’s character, advertising executive Roger Thornhill, is presumed to be a phantom CIA agent named George Kaplan, a decoy invented to outfox enemy agent Philip Vandamm, the Mason character. Thornhill is a man in the dark until the Rapid City stage of his odyssey. MGM was a studio in the dark about what Alfred Hitchcock might be preparing for it.
He had never worked at Metro before. He never did again. The studio had purchased a best-seller about a derelict ship, “The Wreck of the Mary Deare,” in hopes that it would become a different sort of Hitchcock success. Introduced to the director by composer Bernard Herrmann, Ernest Lehman found himself unable to make headway with “Mary Deare.” He offered to quit, but Mr. Hitchcock had found their conversations so satisfying that he suggested they consider something else. Metro was informed about the change of plan a bit belatedly.
The substitute project stitched together random notions and situations Mr. Hitchcock had been unable to exploit in earlier pictures, including, among others, a chase across the sculpted faces on Mount Rushmore, simulated by Robert Boyle on MGM soundstages, and a deathtrap in a setting so wide-open and empty that it appeared to defy threatening elements. This notion became the famous murder attempt by crop duster, shot near Bakersfield, Calif. Years earlier, New York journalist Otis Guernsey Jr. had entrusted Mr. Hitchcock with the idea of a chase in pursuit of a nonexistent character.
Reinforced with a worldly romantic triangle, the chase and the set pieces became indispensable building blocks in a classic entertainment. “North by Northwest” flattered the careers of everyone conspicuously involved in its realization. Durably attractive and satisfying, it remains a splendid example of how to transform a false start into a triumphant finish.
TITLE: “North by Northwest”
RATING: No MPAA rating (Released in 1959, a decade before the advent of the rating system; adult subject matter, with occasional violence and frequent sexual innuendo)
CREDITS: Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Written by Ernest Lehman. Cinematography by Robert Burks. Production design by Robert Boyle. Editing by George Tomasini. Music by Bernard Herrmann.
RUNNING TIME: 136 minutes
DVD EDITION: Warner Bros. Home Video
REVIVAL ENGAGEMENT: Through Thursday at the American Film Institute Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. $8.50 for the general public; $7.50 for AFI members, students and seniors (over 65). 301/495-6700
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