North By Northwest

NOTE: This post is a review of a Hitchcock film that was seen projected on 35mm at the Belcourt Theater in Nashville, TN, as part of their Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Suspense Series. These movies were not watched on DVD, but in a theater, projected on film.

Cary Grant returns to Hitchcock's universe as Roger Thornhill in North By Northwest. When Thornhill is caught up in a case of mistaken identity, his life is threatened, and he's forced into being a pawn for both sides of a game he never asked to play. Working against him is a man named Vandamm (James Mason), who is convinced that Thornhill is an operative, sent to spy on him. Thornhill ends up traveling from New York City to Mount Rushmore, with various stops along the way (and an assassination attempts), trying to solve the mystery of George Kaplan, the agent that Vandamm thinks Thornhill is.

There's zero you can complain about with North By Northwest, which feels like one of Hitchcock's best realized films. His scope runs across America, and he knows how to use major locals between the east coast and South Dakota to their maximum effect. The film is gorgeous, in all of its Technicolor-ish style, and Grant never ceases to be the man that, at least the male audience, wants to be. Mason is devilish, but real, and Eva Marie Saint plays the cool double cross VERY well. You never really know what side she's on.

To Catch A Thief

NOTE: This post is a review of a Hitchcock film that was seen projected on 35mm at the Belcourt Theater in Nashville, TN, as part of their Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Suspense Series. These movies were not watched on DVD, but in a theater, projected on film.

It's funny, because I remember seeing this on DVD a few years ago, and I went back and read my review of it, and I said something to the effect that it was a very "competent" film. Seeing it on the big screen (or, perhaps, it was the years distance) definitely changed my mind on this one. I think it's now one of my favorite Hitchcock's, along with Psycho.

To Catch A Thief s the story of a retired cat burglar, John Robie (Cary Grant), who must solve a rash of burglaries done in his old style in order to clear his name. No one believes him, but help comes in the way of Frances Stevens (Grace Kelly), a bored socialite who falls in love with Robie, and her mother Jessie (Jessica Royce Landis).

The acting, such as it is for the period is fantastic, and Kelly is the real stand out here. Every time I see her on screen, I'm reminded of what a travesty it was that her career was ended early. She seems so natural, she's almost weightless on screen. Hitchcock captures the French Riviera with flair, opulence, and rich cinematic tones. This truly is, I think, one of his best.

Suspicion

NOTE: This post is a review of a Hitchcock film that was seen projected on 35mm at the Belcourt Theater in Nashville, TN, as part of their Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Suspense Series. These movies were not watched on DVD, but in a theater, projected on film.

A charming young man, John Aysgarth (Cary Grant), woo's a young woman, Lina (Joan Fontaine) into marrying him. She soon finds out, though, that he isn't the person she thought he was, and she might be in grave danger.

Suspicion... I feel like a tool for saying this, but I just didn't like it. It was long. It really didn't feel like Lina was in danger, and it always felt like she could pretty much leave at any time, so... Call me a spoil sport, but I never bought into the idea that Cary Grant would ever play a cold blooded murderer, either. It just never felt like there were any real stakes, and, without giving anything away, it just felt like the whole thing was resolved at the snap of a finger, which was incredibly frustrating. You sit through almost two hours of Hitchcock building all of this up, and then one quick thing happens, and everything is cool again. No way... No dice.

DVD - To Catch A Thief

Hitchcock is pretty reliable, and To Catch a Thief keeps the status quo. The film stars Cary Grant as John Robie aka The Cat, a retired master thief. When someone on the French Riviera begins stealing high dollar jewels using The Cat's old M.O., Robie has to come out of retirement in order to clear his name. Along the way, he meets the gorgeous and single Frances Stevens (played by the gorgeous Grace Kelly), and begins romancing her as a way to keep his cover while investigating the robberies.

The story for Thief is pretty basic, but enjoyable, and Grant and Kelly, as always, pull off great performances. Hitchcock does an amazing job at photographing the French Riviera for the exterior scenes, and making sure that all of the sound stage stuff matches with the look and feel. Although Thief is not one of his more well known films, overshadowed by his thrillers from the same era, it's still a reliably enjoyable piece of work.