North By Northwest [DVD] [1959]

Repartee was great between Cary Grant and his spy lady.

A real piece of history. Cary Grant at his very best. A wonderful film.

A great video on prime with great details of great scenes together with actors, actresses and the goofs in scenes

This movie has it all. Great acting by the best if the day. Comedy and drama mixed well

First, let me confess a little anti-North By Northwest prejudice as I settled down to watch this 1959 classic. My memory was that it had great comic moments, and some real suspense (the latter presented as much for laughs as for gasps)... but that it was a bit too much of a big-studio production to be a “real” Hitchcock on the lines of Strangers on a Train (1951) or the ultra-low budget Psycho (1960), which immediately followed it.Indeed there is strong evidence that the very experience of working on NNW’s then-stellar budget of $3.5 million (about $100 million in today's terms), prompted Hitchcock to make Psycho, with minimal crew, on his own dime. This, he thought, would be a way of getting back to the old days, in the tiny English film studios where his career began in the 1920s. He would work directly with a dedicated crew, and have control over production values, art direction, and so on. Furthermore, the quirky shots and gritty noir feel of the best 1940s and 50s work would once again come into their own.My memory — false, as it turned out — was that NNW was too glamorous, colourful and expensive to allow for any of these noir moments, or any of those hints of the perverse and twisted that is visible in so many Hitch works, even from the very beginning (The Lodger, 1927; Blackmail, 1929); becoming a trademark of mid to late career: Shadow of a Doubt (1943) and The Wrong Man (1957).Well, there are certain no shabby rooming houses, dodgy motels or dirty back streets. But that, in part, is the point: in the classic crop-dusting sequence, Hitchcock invented an entirely new cinematic idea: sundrenched noir.That notion — that menace and evil did not need the concealment of dark alleyways — is both literally and metaphorically true in NNW. Every act of wickedness, every hint of evil, takes place amongst people, and in settings, that could decorously feature in the society pages of a respectable newspaper.Villains like Phillip Vandamm (James Mason) and his sidekick Leonard (Martin “Marty” Landau) are soft-spoken, well-dressed and impeccably polite as they gracefully go about the business of murder and mayhem; they do so in settings ranging from elegant country piles to Frank Lloyd Wright masterpieces. This is homicide in the best possible taste.The film looks good, and what I mis-remembered as lavishness turns out to be Robert Boyle’s elegance, always with a hint of the decadent; and Robert Burks’ stunning cinematography. (VistaVision, a relatively new format, was perfect for the many outdoor locations).Bernard Herrmann provides the score: his percussive opening is much celebrated, but undeservedly neglected are his contrasting love themes, best heard in the forest scene near the end.Saul Bass, as witty as ever in his opening titles, adds icing to this wonderful film: in Hitchcock’s own words, not a slice of life but a slice of cake.Buy it, watch it. You’re in for a treat.

There's not much point in commenting on this 50 year old classic except to say that it may be Cary Grant's finest hour (what! no Oscar again?), is certainly one of Alfred Hitchcock's finest efforts, and obviously cinematic perfection from the moment Saul Bass's superb title sequence hits the screen right through to the thrilling Mount Rushmore finale.What's more important is how good a job Warner Brothers have done in bringing Hitchcock to Blu-Ray for the first time, and I can happily report that this first of hopefully many Hitchcock releases is very satisfying indeed.There's a stack of new docs and features for a start off. The full length Cary Grant Biography is the best I've ever seen, and this alone makes the disk essential for any fan. There's also two other new (and again quite lengthy) docs discussing the film's influence and Hitchcock's career, with a fair bit of input from some current directors (although apart from William Friedkin and Guillermo del Toro they're a little "B" list). For completion, the disk also includes the Eva Marie Saint hosted "making of" from the original DVD release (actually the second best of the docs after the Cary Grant Bio). That was enough to keep me occupied for a whole afternoon (I've not heard the commentaries yet).There appears to be a lot of enthusiasm for the image quality in the other reviews here, and rightly so, but I believe it to be merely excellent rather than perfect. Although it is generally beautifully rendered, with plenty of detail, gorgeous colour and a pleasing level of grain, I think it may be a little too dark, and often appears inconsistent; check out the shooting at the Mount Rushmore restaurant, where the film cuts to Martin Landau peering over the shoulders of some bystanders to confirm Thornhill is dead - there is a very obvious drop in quality, as if another, less pristine film element had been used. It also suffers a little from Hitchcock's use of soft-focus (normally for Grant's close-ups). This is nit-picking, but I just want to make it clear that in my opinion, North by Northwest doesn't quite attain the highest standards of image quality enjoyed by other classic BRD releases such as Dr No, Zulu or The Italian Job.Sound quality is also very high, although I could not discern that much of an improvement over the excellent DVD version. It's a little quiet though, and I found myself pumping the volume up rather higher than I would normally expect. There's not that much going on in the rears for most of the film (apart from the crop-sprayer scene), but that's fine - it was originally shot in mono of course.In conclusion, this disk is well worth full marks, and if you love the film (or Gary Grant), you are going to want to upgrade from the DVD. Roll on Vertigo...

I really enjoy this film. Lovely old film.

Bonjour, j’adore ce film. Il est génial. Les acteurs sont très bons. L’histoire est intéressante et bien ficelée. Le temps de livraison était parfait. Les frais de livraison étaient corrects. L’article est tel que décrit. Je suis satisfaite de mon achat. Je recommande vivement ce vendeur, elle ou il est excellent. Ma note est A+++++

Si trae subtitulos y doblaje al español para el que le interese

ヒッチコック映画としては珍しいスパイスリラーで、サスペンス、アクションを交えた見どころ満載、娯楽性盛りだくさんの作品に仕上がっている。ストーリー、展開、キャスティング、カラー映像などどれをとっても満点と評価したい。特に、ケーリー・グラントの共演者を演じるエヴァ・マリー・セイントが新鮮で魅力的だ。ヒッチコック作品でケーリー・グラントの相手役といえば、ジョーン・フォーティン（「断崖」）、イングリッド・バーグマン（「汚名」）、グレース・ケリー（「泥棒成金」）という有名で生粋の美女ばかりだが、エヴァ・マリー・セイントはひと味違う色香ある美人像を演じている。中でも、ラブシーンは不自然さを感じさせない。飲酒運転、とうもろこし畑での襲撃、ラシュモア山の攻防をはじめ随所に緊迫感の漂う構成だが、ラストのヒッチコック流のユーモアあふれるエンディングには拍手を送りたい！

One of my favorite Cary Grant/Hitchcock movies. Now my niece's favorite. Love the intro music, the story half comedy, half thriller. The Mt Rushmore climax and finale.L Fowden

Fans of NXNW who have not seen this blu-ray version should DEFINITELY make the effort to do so. The clarity of the blu-ray picture and sound surpass the high standard already set by the excellent DVD version and more than justify buying this pioneering spy caper anew.NXNW is rightly acclaimed as a classic and most definitely still delivers as an engaging and fun relic of its time, abundant in 1959 elegance, style, droll wit, & class. In many ways this (and its Hitchcock/Cary Grant predecessor To Catch a Thief [Blu-ray]) were truly the first James Bond movies, as becomes glaringly apparent after even casual comparison. Sean Connery's Bond was monumental, but it's just hard to imagine how the entire Bond series would have fared without having the suave, debonair Cary Grant there to blaze the trail as "The Cat" John Robbie in "TCAT" and of course as Roger Thornhill in "NXNW".Now let's concede up front: you MUST disconnect your plausibility radar and just go along for the ride with NXNW and all its howling impossibilities. Let's not even dig into them too much EXCEPT TO suggest that if you're looking to bump off a rival spy, are you REALLY going to try to lure him onto a dusty Indiana highway and try to puree him with the propeller of a biplane? How does it happen that Thornhill (Grant) and the rival agents (James Mason, Martin Landau, Eva Marie Saint) all wind up on the 20th Century Limited after Thornhill goes on the lam from the UN? For that matter, how likely is it that Thornhill even gets OUT of the UN after getting framed for the murder there? --NEVER MIND! You simply have to surrender to the night-at-the-movies popcorn FUN of it, and enjoy the rollercoaster of thrills, chills, romance & spy intrigue Hitchcock serves up here. Sure, it's easy to chuckle at the stratospheric "suspension of disbelief" necessary to properly enjoy NXNW but really I think it's a deliberate part of the fun and not meant to stand up to serious scrutiny.Cary Grant, in his fourth and final outing with Hitchcock delivers a knockout performance as the Madison Avenue adman on the run Roger Thornhill. James Mason shines here also as the oh-so-elegant (but deadly) "enemy agent" Phillip Van Damme, with outstanding support from his menacing secretary Leonard, played with beady-eyed malice by Martin Landau. Eva Marie Saint obviously owns the role of Eve Kendall, glamorous double-agent torn between her duty to maintain her cover and her growing love for Roger, but I personally still can't fully "buy" Eva as a "femme fatale" as depicted in NXNW. No complaints about her performance--she's excellent, and again, her name goes into immortality for this role, BUT I still think another actress would have been more credible as the "morally flexible" Eve Kendall than Eva Marie was able to project. By her appearance and temperament, I think Eva was much better matched to her "good girl" roles, as in "On the Waterfront (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]", which played to her strengths much more than NXNW would allow. Hitch already had two better qualified actresses "in his company" already in Ingrid Bergman ("Notorious [Blu-ray]") and obviously Grace Kelly ("To Catch a Thief"). STILL--I'm just offering my opinion here; Eva was great and more than nailed the part.As other reviewers affirm, in many ways "NXNW" was the pinnacle of Hitchcock's career. All the stars converged for this one; OUTSTANDING cast, script, cinematography, locations and all those intangibles necessary to create a CLASSIC which no one can deliberately conjure into being. Let me pay special tribute here to that high-style Frank Lloyd Wright/"Mid-Century Modern" style chateau all the principals converge on prior to their "face-off" grand finale on Mt Rushmore! If such a house doesn't actually exist, well, it should! I'm willing to cast my vote for NXNW as Hitchcock's greatest film, but I respect anyone who prefers "Vertigo" or "Psycho (1960)" or maybe even another. No one's personal favorite is ever "wrong".HOWEVER--here, in this luxuriant 50th Anniversary blu-ray, we're privileged to enjoy what may prove to be the BEST restoration & presentation of this classic movie EVER. The colors, picture and sound are all STUNNING and exceed the already high standard set by the previous DVD release of NXNW. I see this as an absolute "demo quality" blu-ray disc, a tour-de-force of what the format can deliver to re-ignite our appreciation of these old movies through OBSESSIVELY fastidious restoration and renewal. (Another knockout example of classic movie restoration that will scorch your eyeballs with its beauty: Pillow Talk (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy).)Blu ray EXTRAS abound here as well, including a fascinating documentary on the life & career of Cary Grant; obviously relevant and well worth viewer's time & interest. The NXNW documentary hosted by Eva Marie is the same one provided on the original DVD, but it is likewise a worthy and a great bonus feature to enjoy after seeing the movie again. My only gripe is that the sole commentary track, by writer Ernest Lehman, while certainly worthy of inclusion, isn't enough by itself. A film of the stature of NXNW deserves one or more commentary tracks by some historians or directors who can offer insight into the historical context of the Cold War, Hitchcock's intentions/techniques, NXNW's influence on its times and later films, etc. Stay tuned to see whether a 4K "Special Sixtieth Anniversary Edition" doesn't hit the Amazon pre-orders in 2019 to pick our pockets anew!Until such a re-release appears on the horizon, THIS 50th Anniversary Edition certainly remains the ABSOLUTE "Gold Standard" for seeing and re-discovering the excellence and fun of NXNW. If you've never seen NXNW before, maybe watch a Netflix or Amazon download (or check out a DVD from your local library); established fans of NXNW however, MUST see this exquisite blu-ray reissue to be awed by just what the blu-ray format is capable of with a movie you THINK you've already fully experienced and appreciated.Finally: in a world overrun with movie kitsch and "Gone With The Wind" Barbies, and other assorted junk, there are only TWO movie props I would like to have for myself: FIRST (and most essential) the gold phone in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel Cary uses to call up to George Kaplan's room. Second (and something I WOULD actually wear), how about one of the "red caps", the scarlet cabbie-style hats scurrying in herds in the Chicago train station where Cary & EMS disembark from the 20th Century. WHERE can I find either (or both) of those for my personal "NXNW" appreciation shrine?