North By Northwest [VHS]
starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
![North By Northwest [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512XMGW84VL._SL160_.jpg)
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A strong candidate for the most sheerly entertaining and enjoyable movie ever made by a Hollywood studio (with Citizen Kane, Only Angels Have Wings and Trouble in Paradise running neck and neck). Positioned between the much heavier and more profoundly disturbing Vertigo (1958) and the stark horror of Psycho (1960), North by Northwest (1959) is Alfred Hitchcock at his most effervescent in a romantic comedy-thriller that also features one of the definitive Cary Grant performances. Which is not to say that this is just "Hitchcock Lite"; seminal Hitchcock critic Robin Wood (in his book Hitchcock's Films Revisited) makes an airtight case for this glossy MGM production as one of The Master's "unbroken series of masterpieces from Vertigo to Marnie." It's a classic Hitchcock Wrong Man scenario: Grant is Roger O. Thornhill (initials ROT), an advertising executive who is mistaken by enemy spies for a U.S. undercover agent named George Kaplan. Convinced these sinister fellows (James Mason as the boss, and Martin Landau as his henchman) are trying to kill him, Roger flees and meets a sexy Stranger on a Train (Eva Marie Saint), with whom he engages in one of the longest, most convolutedly choreographed kisses in screen history. And, of course, there are the famous set pieces: the stabbing at the United Nations, the crop-duster plane attack in the cornfield (where a pedestrian has no place to hide), and the cliffhanger finale atop the stone faces of Mount Rushmore. Plus a sparkling Ernest Lehman script and that pulse-quickening Bernard Herrmann score. What more could a moviegoer possibly desire? --Jim Emerson
A strong candidate for the most sheerly entertaining and enjoyable movie ever made by a Hollywood studio (with Citizen Kane, Only Angels Have Wings and Trouble in Paradise running neck and neck). Positioned between the much heavier and more profoundly disturbing Vertigo (1958) and the stark horror of Psycho (1960), North by Northwest (1959) is Alfred Hitchcock at his most effervescent in a romantic comedy-thriller that also features one of the definitive Cary Grant performances. Which is not to say that this is just "Hitchcock Lite"; seminal Hitchcock critic Robin Wood (in his book Hitchcock's Films Revisited) makes an airtight case for this glossy MGM production as one of The Master's "unbroken series of masterpieces from Vertigo to Marnie." It's a classic Hitchcock Wrong Man scenario: Grant is Roger O. Thornhill (initials ROT), an advertising executive who is mistaken by enemy spies for a U.S. undercover agent named George Kaplan. Convinced these sinister fellows (James Mason as the boss, and Martin Landau as his henchman) are trying to kill him, Roger flees and meets a sexy Stranger on a Train (Eva Marie Saint), with whom he engages in one of the longest, most convolutedly choreographed kisses in screen history. And, of course, there are the famous set pieces: the stabbing at the United Nations, the crop-duster plane attack in the cornfield (where a pedestrian has no place to hide), and the cliffhanger finale atop the stone faces of Mount Rushmore. Plus a sparkling Ernest Lehman script and that pulse-quickening Bernard Herrmann score. What more could a moviegoer possibly desire? --Jim Emerson
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- North by Northwest
A very exciting Alfred Hitchcock movie. It has you on the edge of your seat.
Rating: 
- DVD stops working 1/2 way through
This is one of my favorite Hitchcock films.Unfortunately the DVD that I bought from Amazon marketplace is defective.I didn't try to watch this until after the return period (so money spent was lost).Midway through the film, when Cary Grant is at the auction house, the DVD starts showing just pixels, skips, and nothing further can be seen even when trying to advance to other scenes.The DVD disc itself was brand new, no scratches, so there must have been something wrong with this batch.I ... Read More
Rating: - Arrived damaged
The DVD arrived damaged and I had to return it for a refund, a replacement was not an option.
Rating: - One of the best ever....
This film is truly iconic.The look of the cityscape, the beehive activity depicted from the opening frames is classic.People use to dress in those days and they actually cared how they looked.Grant's suit set the standard for decades.
While this film is fantastic - from beginning to end, it angers me to see the lack of recognition over the last half-century for Bernard Herrmann's music. I've never heard a movie score so stimulating, from the moment the MGM lion leaves the screen ... Read More
Rating: 
- great seller but incomplete dvd
I received this dvd and was disappointed that it only went to scene 32.When I emailed the seller, they immediately offered a prepaid return and sent me another dvd.They never received my return in the mail, but sent a replacement anyway.The new DVD, brand new and in the wrapper, also only went to scene 32.While I am very satisfied with the response of the seller and rate them a 5/5 stars, I think I will write to the company, warnervideo, and ask them to replace the DVD.
- North by NorthwestA very exciting Alfred Hitchcock movie. It has you on the edge of your seat.
- DVD stops working 1/2 way throughThis is one of my favorite Hitchcock films.Unfortunately the DVD that I bought from Amazon marketplace is defective.I didn't try to watch this until after the return period (so money spent was lost).Midway through the film, when Cary Grant is at the auction house, the DVD starts showing just pixels, skips, and nothing further can be seen even when trying to advance to other scenes.The DVD disc itself was brand new, no scratches, so there must have been something wrong with this batch.I ... Read More
- Arrived damagedThe DVD arrived damaged and I had to return it for a refund, a replacement was not an option.
- One of the best ever....This film is truly iconic.The look of the cityscape, the beehive activity depicted from the opening frames is classic.People use to dress in those days and they actually cared how they looked.Grant's suit set the standard for decades.
While this film is fantastic - from beginning to end, it angers me to see the lack of recognition over the last half-century for Bernard Herrmann's music. I've never heard a movie score so stimulating, from the moment the MGM lion leaves the screen ... Read More
- great seller but incomplete dvdI received this dvd and was disappointed that it only went to scene 32.When I emailed the seller, they immediately offered a prepaid return and sent me another dvd.They never received my return in the mail, but sent a replacement anyway.The new DVD, brand new and in the wrapper, also only went to scene 32.While I am very satisfied with the response of the seller and rate them a 5/5 stars, I think I will write to the company, warnervideo, and ask them to replace the DVD.
