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Load of rubbish!!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This movie is great. I'm probably not surprising anyone who's seen the name Alfred Hitchcock before. Even then, I was surprised at how much I loved this movie. It has to be one of the most well written movies I've seen, it blows modern movie writing out of the water. It's an interesting and fast paced plot that has plenty of turns, but is never anywhere near convoluted or distracting. It's got pretty much everything you could want from an action movie, and then some. Cary Grant is entertaining as ever, and fills his role perfectly. There's not much more I can say about this movie without giving away the plot, but it's hard to think of anyone who wouldn't like this movie.

Like all absurdist theatre, this is suffused with comedy. It is absurd like Gregor Samsa turned into a cockroach. Absurd like the prophet Job tested by God at the behest of Satan to test Job's faith. And we all know by now, that the Book of Job should be read with a laugh track: Eliphar, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu provide irrelevant (and hence unintended absurdist comedy) commentary to Job's affliction. Absurdist like the twists and turns of Oliver Twist... You get the idea.Cary Grant is not playing Cary Grant, he really plays a man bewildered by the chain of events that have beset him. Watch his facial expression as he is drunk driving the car and drunk in the police station; that is acting. He plays the role of absurdity straight, unaware till the end of the parameters of the absurd. And there is nothing more absurd than the spy agencies with the numerous twists and turns in the defense of a nation's integrity. And in the end, the assertion of love (Grant & Eva Marie Saint) is an assertion of sanity and denial of absurdity.But there is unmistakable and intentional comedy in the auction scene where Grant seemingly channels Leo G. Carroll's TV Cosmo Topper's vocal cadences in making irrelevant bids which end up as absurdist non-sequiturs just as Cosmo Topper did. And Grant played the role of ghost George Kirby to Roland Young's Cosmos Topper; while Leo G. Carroll was the TV Cosmo Topper; now that is Hitchcock comedy at its finest!How long should the drama be? As long as it takes to explain something. And sure enough, each part of the unfolding drama contains the needed time for the suspense: the endless road in the corn field adds for the cinematic suspense as does the lone individual waiting for a bus. ("Waiting for Godot") The scene in the Restaurant where Eva Marie Saint shoots Grant with a fake gun. ("The Sting")The scene with Eva Marie Saint in the Hotel Room. The scene at the house just before he warns Eva Marie Saint, that she has been found out. And so on. Each of these scenes have suspense from beginning to end. Even as they harken to other dramatic performances encapsulating absurdity, even if planned absurdity as in "The Sting." This may be Grant's best and finest performance; this may be Hitchcock's best and finest film production, to rival "The 39 Steps". the cast of Grant, Mason, and Eva Marie Saint give the proper balance; Leo G. Carroll is a plus.

A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive. Despite one again Hitchcock's brilliant direction and just a cast that delivers well made perfomances 'North by Northwest' just doesn't have enough of suspense and tension that a film of this kind needs to have and besides some cool scenes like the one where the main star was running away from the airplane there just wasn't enough for me to say that i really really enjoyed it as a film. (5/10)

Unlike most of the Hitchcock films that spend a lot of time on the build-ups, "North by Northwest" is intense from the start to the end. In Act 1, Thornhill is mistaken for a CIA agent and is chased by foreign spies. The police think he kills a UN diplomat and also chase after him. In Act 2, Thornhill gets the help from Kendall and successfully avoids the police. In Act 3, Thornhill is almost killed by a crop duster plane, and knows that Kendall works for the foreign spies. In Act 4, Thornhill is told by the CIA that Kendall is actually an agent of CIA, and saves her from the foreign spies. Of course, the final chase scene on Mount Rushmore is the most gripping one. But there are plenty of other action sequences before that. Most notably, the crop duster plane chase scene outside Chicago is quite thrilling.