§Hitchcock’s most fully realized film. l Script: Ernest Lehman l Score: Bernard Herrmann l Starring: Gary Grant and Eva Marie Saint North by Northwest

§Genre: comic thriller §as the cornerstone of that particular genre

North by Northwest §It’s ranked number 20 on the Internet Movie Database’s top 250 §The movie has been restored, enhanced and released on DVD

Full of all the things §Ingenious shots §Subtle male-female relationships §Dramatic score §Bright technicolor 电影染印法彩色 §Inside jokes §Witty symbolism §Masterfully orchestrated suspense

North by Northwest §It‘s a delicate blend of humor and suspense §It‘s a product of one of those rare synergitic relationships where all the right elements come together: l the right actors l the right screenwriter l the right composer l the right director

2 cinema’s best known sequences §The wonderfully constructed and unscored crop duster attack in the middle of a Midwestern cornfield §A climax that takes place on the aces of president at Mount Rushmore

Weakness in this movie §The romance between Gary Grant and Eva Marie Saint is unintentionally amusing and several of the action scenes lack credibility §He is about 15 years too old for this part §His mother looks younger than Grant §The romance begins with laughably too- clever dialogue, later Grant becomes as jealous as a school boy at a time when both of their lives and national security are in danger.

Weakness in this movie §The famous duster attack scene ends with Grant getting knocked down by a large truck immediately followed by the plane flying into the truck and bursting into flames §Grant runs away without a scratch

Weakness in this movie §Grant’s transition from a businessman to spy and action hero, without any training, isn’t plausible. §People all dressed formally back in the 1950s, but Grant wearing a particular gray flannel suit throughout most of the film. Even when it becomes soiled, and even when there is a nationwide manhunt for him

Homework question §Give a 5 minute speech about Hitchcock and his N by NW and analyze his use of suspense.