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North By Northwest is directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
The film stars Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason,
Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau. It features a musical
score by Hitchcock regular Bernard Herrmann and was originally
released theatrically in 1959. ***
Roger O. Thornhill is your typical, everyday advertising
executive. But things in his life take a turbulent turn
when he is captured by a group of thugs who believe him
to be a master spy. It isn’t long before he finds himself
caught in a web of suspense, confusion, and mystery alike.
On his unwilling journey he meets up with a beautiful woman
who isn’t all that she seems, and looks death in the eye
on countless occasions – including in the path of a biplane’s
guns and on the edge of Mount Rushmore. It’s up to Thornhill
to get himself out of this conspiracy alive and clear his
good name. ***
Through directors are as iconic as the legendary Alfred
Hitchcock. Given his nature as a master filmmaker, it comes
as a surprise that none of his films had yet been released
on the Blu-Ray format. Over 3 years after the format launched,
we finally get one of his movies in HD – and it’s a damn
good one. This is the first 1080p worldwide home video release
of one his films (although there was a Region B Locked version
of The 39 Steps a few months prior, which has been lambasted
with negative reviews due to a poor transfer.) ***
North By Northwest is great because it’s the biggest,
boldest, and arguably the all-around best film Hitchcock
ever made. Everything we love about what he brought to film
comes together here. We have a suspense-laden storyline,
excellent characters that we actually care about the outcome
of, beautiful cinematography, and some of the most memorable
action sequences in cinema history – who could forget the
classic “corn field” sequence or the gripping finale on
the edge of Mount Rushmore? ***
As for the role of the leading man, no one could have
played Mr. Thornhill better than Cary Grant. Grant is great
at this role because he plays it real – he’s as timid and
nervous as any real man whisked away into the movie’s events
would be. He doesn’t “play it cool” at first, and as a result,
his performance is all the more believable. Eva Marie Saint
is equally impressive as the leading lady. The supporting
cast is no less talented, including faces such as Martin
Landau and James Mason. ***
I’m glad to finally see some Hitchcock reach the Blu-Ray
format, and North By Northwest is a damn good first entry.
Hopefully we’ll be seeing Psycho, The Birds, Vertigo, and
Rear Window making their 1080p debuts in the near future.
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Image and Sound:
This was one of my most eagerly-awaited titles on the
Blu-Ray format. Warner Bros. has a reputation for giving
their classic films excellent remastering jobs, so I was
glad to discover it was them that now held the rights to
this gem. And while I wouldn’t quite put this transfer up
there with some of their other recent restoration jobs,
it’s still damn good. Pretty much all of the dirt and damage
on earlier issues of the film is nonexistent here. The colors
are bright and vibrant and the detail level is better than
normal for most films on Blu this vintage. I suspect some
minor noise reduction was used on this transfer, but it’s
not used to an obnoxious degree like on some other studios’
releases. Audio gets a lossless upgrade (Warner Bros. has
began making this a standard practice in recent years) and
it sounds fantastic, with loud sound effects and clear,
easy-to-understand dialogue. Plus, Bernard Herrmann’s score
has never sounded better. All in all this is another great
effort from Warner.
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