North by Northwest
Sensationally suave but confused Cary Grant meets the alluring but duplicitous Mata-Hari charm of Eva Marie Saint. Now hit the roller-coaster start button for one of Alfred Hitchcock’s finest thrillers…
The plot
Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is mistaken for the mysterious George Kaplan. He is kidnapped and taken to the home of Lester Townsend, where the bemused Thornhill is interrogated by spy Philip Vandamm (James Mason) who is masquerading as United Nations’ diplomat, Townsend.
After a failed attempt to kill Thornhill in a car crash the plot accelerates with the murder of Townsend which forces Cary Grant’s character to go on the run from the police.
On a train to Chicago Thornhill meets the enigmatic Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) unaware that she is working with Vandamm.
Eventually Thornhill discovers that Kaplan does not exist and is a creation to distract Vandamm from the real government agent, Kendall.
At the grand age of 60 this film remains a masterpiece of intrigue and double-dealing; from the opening modernist title credits and cameo appearance of Hitchcock to the iconic chase scene where a solitary Cary Grant is hunted down by a murderous crop-duster aeroplane.
Eva Marie Saint was happily married with two young children when Hitchcock cast her as his latest blond muse. His choice of female star came as a surprise as she was known for being a method-trained actress who was more usually to be found as a downtrodden, drab housewife. Far removed from being a sex symbol. In fact Hitchcock joked with her about the role: “You don’t cry in this one. There’s no sink.”
He had hoped to lure Grace Kelly back to Hollywood for the part, but when that failed he put all his efforts into transforming Eva Marie Saint into the alluring woman described in his script. He supervised everything from her hairstyle to make-up and wardrobe. He also advised her to lower her voice, keep her hands still and to look Cary Grant in the eyes when talking to him.
The result was a fine nuanced performance of a conflicted double agent and it surprised many critics who were more used to seeing her playing shy, dowdy characters rather than a teasing, subtle seductress. Hitchcock even went shopping with his leading lady at the exclusive Bergdorf Goodman in New York, where they viewed a parade of models and selected the outfits he wanted her to wear.
Time for a hit
Following disappointing box-office returns for The Wrong Man (1956) and Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959) was a return to classic Hitchcock.
The mix of suspense, adventure and romance involving an innocent man pursued by both criminals and the police had all the finest ingredients for a hit movie. And with Cary Grant at the helm the film oozed class and effortless Fifties’ style.
The male lead had appealed to another Hitchcock favourite, James Stewart, who had already appeared in four films from the famous director. But while Hitch loved him, he didn't think he was right for the debonair Roger Thornhill. He wanted Cary Grant for the part but did not want to hurt Stewart's feelings. Hitchcock opted to wait until Stewart was contracted to another film (Bell, Book and Candle) before casting the role.
Financial acumen
Grant accepted the role and, being financially astute, did very well out of it when filming over ran its shooting schedule. He was paid an additional $5,000 per day (around $41,000 today) for the production running over – and it ran 78 days over schedule.
But the star found the screenplay baffling, and midway through filming told Hitchcock:"It's a terrible script. We've already done a third of the picture and I still can't make head or tail of it!” Hitchcock believed this confusion would only help the film as Grant's character had no idea what was going on either.
The sexy flirting on the train between Grant and Saint is one of the highlights of the film and references a similar scene from The 39 Steps, but with different outcomes. Instead of being rejected by the woman as Hannay was in the earlier film, Thornhill is protected by Eve. Although this does turn out to be duplicitous.
You wouldn't expect Hitchcock to have to sneak around, but even the Master of Suspense was no match for the United Nations, which did not allow filming at its New York headquarters, not even in the plaza outside. So to get the shot where Grant walks into the building in search of his kidnapper, Hitchcock hid a camera in a nondescript truck and filmed in secret from across the street.
A mountain out of a molehill
The film’s final chase sequence across Mount Rushmore was central to Hitchcock’s vision. The US Department of the Interior – in charge of preserving national monuments – originally allowed Hitchcock filming permission if he didn’t depict any acts of violence.
Just before the shoot, Hitchcock described his plans to a local newspaper, which included filming an action sequence. The director’s permit was quickly revoked on the grounds of ‘patent desecration’, and he was forced to shoot the majority of the scene with a studio mock-up instead.
The mock-up was so realistic, and Hitchcock convinced enough people the scene was filmed on the real Mount Rushmore, that the Interior Department demanded that MGM remove the credit which thanked them for their cooperation.
However, one line of dialogue did fall foul of the censor police with Eva Marie Saint having to re-dub the line where her character first meets Grant on the train. She says, ‘I never discuss love on an empty stomach’. But if you carefully watch her mouth, what she actually said was, ‘I never make love on an empty stomach’
Any excuse to watch this film again… if one was really needed!