Product description

North by Northwest [DVD] [1959] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Price: £21.94
Average customer rating: 5.0

Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780790749815
ISBN : 0790749815
Label : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Release date : 2000-08-29
Title : North by Northwest [DVD] [1959] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
Actor : Array
Format : Array
Languages : Array
Number of items : 1
Original release date : 1959-01-01
Region code : 1
Running time : 131
Studio : Warner Home Video
Theatrical releaseDate : 1959

Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
A strong candidate for possibly the most entertaining and enjoyable film ever made by a Hollywood studio, INorth by Northwest/I is positioned between the much heavier and more profoundly disturbing IVertigo/I (1958) and the stark horror of IPsycho/I (1960). In the corpus of Alfred Hitchcock films it shows the director 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". 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 US 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. With its sparkling Ernest Lehman script and that pulse-quickening Bernard Herrmann score, what more could a filmgoer possibly desire? --IJim Emerson, Amazon.com/Ip BOn the DVD/B: This wide-screen print of the movie looks remarkably fresh, preserving the vivid depth of the original's VistaVision cinematography. The main extra feature is a new and entertaining 40-minute documentary hosted by Eva Marie Saint in which most of the surviving cast and crew give their insights into the making of the picture (we learn for example that canny Cary Grant charged 15 cents per autograph). Screenwriter Ernest Lehman provides an audio commentary and on a separate audio-only track Bernard Herrmann's masterful score can be heard in its entirety. There's also a stills gallery and trailers. --IMark Walker/I

Customer reviews

review by: G date: 2009-06-17 rating:

my favourite classic movie
Roger Thornhill played by the charismatic Cary Grant is the real mummy's boy. It is a case of mistaken identity and the unadventurous Roger is mistaken for George Kaplan; a Government agent. This leads to a kidnap, a murder for which he is blamed, chases and adventure! It's a great classic movie, entertaining with droll humour and witticism. It is full of suspense with splendid acting and the musical score creates the chilling fear and suspense like no other producer has used to such a degree. I first saw this movie as a child and like another reviewer I have fond memories of it too! It's a great movie. As a fan of Alfred Hitchcock this movie will be played again and again. I know its not the smartest film, nonsense really but its just so entertaining....

review by: date: 2009-06-14 rating:

Enjoyable, if a little too pleased with itself
While North by Northwest still doesn't rank among my favorite Hitchcocks, it's a lot more fun than I recalled. It's little more than a rerun of past glories, in particular The 39 Steps with a touch of The Saboteur thrown in for good measure, but it's more in the execution than the inspiration that it shines even if it plays a lot funnier on the big screen than the small one. Cary Grant and Jessie Royce Landis are a fine double-act thanks to Ernest Lehmann's witty script (knocked out while he and Hitchcock were supposed to be adapting The Wreck of the Mary Deare), but the show belongs to Mason's wonderfully dry villain and his creepy queen sidekick Martin Landau (when asked for proof of his suspicions of Eve Marie Saint, he replies "Call it my woman's intuition"!). Bernard Herrmann's glorious fandango of death is also rather wonderful. br / br /Warners' DVD comes with a good widescreen transfer and a fine selection of extras - audio commentary by Ernest Lehman, 39-minute documentary, isolated score, stills gallery, TV spot and theatrical trailer.

review by: date: 2008-12-26 rating:

What are you people on about?
This film is terrible! Several plot errors and very bad acting (specifically the knife scene in the UN) make this film painful to watch. It is so unbelievable it is unreal! Wake up everyone!

review by: date: 2008-12-18 rating:

Hitch's other masterpiece
This is the accessible, happy-go-lucky murder masterpiece, the one full of symbolism and crop-dusting. Bernard Herrmann's symbolic theme drags us at the rush into a plot that has more twists than an Alpine pass. Symbolic suave, clean cut Madison Avenue Mr. Nice American Cary Grant saunters through every turn, his hair only symbolically ruffled by Eva Marie Saint's minxy double agent and James Mason's foxy Mr. Hiss-Boo with the Russki hairdo. En route Grant shaves with tiny razor, nothing symbolic about that surely. Symbolically, things come to a head at Mount Rushmore where poor Martin Landau couldn't have been wearing the right aftershave. Ms. Saint symbolically loses her shoes and we know that's not going to be all, don't we? A clash of cymbals and all ends very symbolically as that train dashes into the tunnel. There we are children, very pleasant. Now, we all know we're not at home to Uncle Red, the Commie bastard, don't we?

review by: date: 2008-10-29 rating:

Grant and Hitchcock create a classic thriller
Roger Thornhill (Grant) is mistaken for another man by a group of foreign spies and after a few unfortunate events, finds himself on the run. br / br /North by Northwest is recognized as one of Alfred Hitchcock's finest films and with the adrenaline soaked narrative and a great central performance it is easy to see why. br / br /Cary Grant (Charade) delivers a sensational portrayal of advertising executive Roger Thornhill, a simple man who is mistaken for someone else. Thornhill is wonderfully sarcastic, very charismatic and plaudits must go to Grant who has created an original hero, an ordinary man who turns himself into an action hero within a short space of time in Alfred Hitchcock's wonderfully realistic world. br / br /Hitchcock's action styled direction is picture perfect for this fast moving thriller. The British director cements the realism down to the ground with his cutting edge close shots and the fast sweeping direction, most noticeable in the landmark plane scene in the fields. br / br /It is easy to overdo action in modern day films and Hitchcock has expertly managed to balance the action alongside the everyday events of the protagonists. br / br /This film is close to resembling a Bond styled genre, though obviously was made before Bond films were. The cocky yet sophisticated Thornhill is well directed by Hitchcock to create the ultimate action hero in a sharply written narrative that is more realistic and entertaining than the Bond spy genre. br / br /The reason this 1959 thriller works is down to all the genres it covers. br / Through Hitchcock's action and realistic direction, viewers are thrust into action sequences, romantic moments and crime sequences to, providing viewers with the ultimate adventure. Covering different genres is not a stroll in the park as recent films show and can be appreciated here with Hitchcock's wonderful balance. br / br /The balance of the action and romantic genres works well with the whole mystery concept of what is happening to the central character. br / br /The settings are well executed and further add to the intensity of the plot, particularly the field and the climax on Mount Rushmore. br / br /North by Northwest is a top notch action thriller, made so by Hitchcock's direction, great writing and a fine central character. br / br /9/10

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