Looong before the reign of Baby Shark and Cocomelon, a desperate mother searched for an educational, culturally savvy, and clean form of entertainment for her young daughter that she could also watch and enjoy. The sitcoms of the early 2000’s were too adult geared, and the ever-present baby channel was too mind-numbing. But then, turning to Channel 256, she discovered a world of black-and-white, mostly wholesome, classic movie goodness. Yes, I grew up watching Turner Classic Movies, and I love vintage films. And in this blog post, I’m going to take a look at one of the greats, Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. This one’s for you, Robert Osborne.
The Analysis:
The Steamy Train Car Conversation
In this scene, Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint have a salacious chat about unwholesome topics in a completely unsuspecting setting. I think Hitchcock is clever to leave audiences wondering about their dialogue, where I feel like modern films would give us every detail in full visual display.
The reason I want to draw attention to this scene in particular is that it emphasizes how Hitchcock does two things. Making things less obvious 1) puts the audience in the shoes of the characters’ limited POV and 2) allows the imagination to do its job filling in the gaps.
It’s also such an interesting contrast to consider the unconventional dialogue against the conventional car.
The Crop Duster Scene
As the bus drops our hero at the desolate station, we are completely in Grant’s shoes as he gazes upon rows of crops that don’t offer any answer to the questions in his mind. And here again, Hitchcock doesn’t make things obvious for his audience. We are left to wonder as the last passenger gets on the bus and Grant faces the fields alone. The planned rendezvous with the unknown Mr. Kaplan turns perilous as the plane circles closer and closer to Grant’s hiding place in the cornfield.
As an artist, I think the composition of each shot is really interesting to examine. Very intentional composition is definitely one of Hitchcock’s trademarks. Below, I’ve done a storyboard study of the scene.
The Scene at Mount Rushmore
Before I dig in here, can we take a second to applaud Eva Marie Saint for gracefully falling down a national monument in heels? Wow, just wow.
Not only is the cinematography here breathtaking, it’s also symbolic. The largeness of the monument reflects the organizations the agents work for and the way they shape the political landscape they inhabit. In comparison, the agents are small, and endangered by the organizations that they’re helplessly attached to.
To Wrap Up…
North by Northwest is one of Hitchcock’s most iconic films. While it lacks the crescendoing suspense of Rear Window, it offers the rapid, heart-racing action of the 2015 thriller, No Escape. I highly recommend this vintage action-packed spy film, especially if you get a chance to see it come to life on the big screen, like I did at the Sunrise Theater in Southern Pines, North Carolina.
Rachel Brei 