News for today's 2018

Hitchcock...in 3D!

6:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe3u2jgN_RGVzHoITV68kxl0GTILajLiodgvgoXOE0KKRp4DN1iBb2TeIWtIc-dKX9BtnHI7TNMUyLapjmaFz-QoPRk3yYcUQYuRlOs88gP_SDB7sGGhQvCKE89qKcGc9bUWvTSwtOr0s/s1600/dial+m+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe3u2jgN_RGVzHoITV68kxl0GTILajLiodgvgoXOE0KKRp4DN1iBb2TeIWtIc-dKX9BtnHI7TNMUyLapjmaFz-QoPRk3yYcUQYuRlOs88gP_SDB7sGGhQvCKE89qKcGc9bUWvTSwtOr0s/s400/dial+m+poster.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My introduction to 3D movies <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">finally</i> came this past weekend and I’m sure it surprises no one who knows me that this happened by way of a classic rather than one of today’s CGI extravaganzas. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My initiation into stereoscopic 3D film, a process that has been around forever but has gained a firm foothold only recently, took place on Sunday afternoon, when I happily watched the only 3D film Alfred Hitchcock ever made with a near-full-house audience at one of my favorite theaters, <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2010/09/rafael-theater.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Rafael</b></span></a>.</span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmv-3C5U97xdc6nWGdbs7N5xnTenPbUUVjS0bURuADbTswBjYBS30OqwuI37tB8I3KcT6bqfK-qN_Mv0Rd9aQwJqv2bNtxcdClL9STFK_q3wtonisIjeAkZ27mYecK5YujJCzM1ZVTlqo/s1600/rafael.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmv-3C5U97xdc6nWGdbs7N5xnTenPbUUVjS0bURuADbTswBjYBS30OqwuI37tB8I3KcT6bqfK-qN_Mv0Rd9aQwJqv2bNtxcdClL9STFK_q3wtonisIjeAkZ27mYecK5YujJCzM1ZVTlqo/s320/rafael.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The Rafael Theatre, San Rafael, CA</span></td></tr></tbody></table><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dial M for Murder </i>(1954) was the last film Hitchcock made as part of his deal with Warner Bros., a studio that had a huge hit with the 3D horror thriller <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">House of Wax </i>in 1953. On the heels of that film’s box office success, Jack Warner decreed, for the moment, that Warners would or should make <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all </i>subsequent films in 3D. Hitchcock, who was ever interested in evolving filmmaking technology, agreed to make his final film for the studio using 3D. It would be his first and last foray into the process. Because it could not be released until the Broadway play it was adapted from had ended its stage run, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dial M</i> did not come out until mid-1954, just as public fascination with 3D films had begun to wane. In fact, once it went into wide release, the film screened far more often in 2D than 3D. The first “golden age” of 3D film had lasted only from 1952 until 1954; the process was an expensive and unwieldy undertaking at the time, and other, less difficult to produce and exhibit technologies, like CinemaScope, would move to the forefront.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">According to AMPAS, “Hitchcock used the All-Media rig developed by the optical department at Warner Bros. to experiment with stereoscopic techniques…” To emphasize the impact of 3D, he paid great attention to the film’s art direction, in particular, set design and decoration, as well as the placement of actors within each scene. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the action, based as it was on a play, takes place primarily on one set, a London apartment interior, this sort of approach was a necessity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, in the hands of an artist of Hitchcock’s caliber, 3D became a showcase not only for the drama at hand but, simultaneously, showcased the process itself. Hitchcock’s distinctive style coupled with the potency of 3D makes for an intense and evocative film experience. All that transpires onscreen - from a woman quietly reading her newspaper to a violent scene of attempted murder - is enhanced by the director's grasp of the 3D format.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji2ZPUYjn7aNwezPgdsMbqUB1M3m9NfqmqNQXc1FPzOzfOb4oIiiruxsO5Y2wU3UN3g5zaOcjoC7U_pIk8Z67TlUIfCu_cyEPoGs4cPkJDI2FFQuSUtRwZ_i7gN-dFltRX8ZWTE3Lsh24/s1600/newspaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji2ZPUYjn7aNwezPgdsMbqUB1M3m9NfqmqNQXc1FPzOzfOb4oIiiruxsO5Y2wU3UN3g5zaOcjoC7U_pIk8Z67TlUIfCu_cyEPoGs4cPkJDI2FFQuSUtRwZ_i7gN-dFltRX8ZWTE3Lsh24/s400/newspaper.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Grace Kelly</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span><br /><a name="more"></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have seen <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dial M for Murder</i> many times in 2D. I think it may have been the first Hitchcock film I ever saw. There was once a local Los Angeles TV station that aired a different movie every week, all week: in the early evening five nights, Monday through Friday, and then again Saturday night. Was it KTLA? One week the movie was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dial M</i>. And I watched it every night. Hooked by Hitchcock at a young age! But <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dial M</i> hasn’t been a favorite of mine. After seeing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vertigo</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rear Window</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Notorious</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strangers on a Train</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shadow of a Doubt</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psycho, </i>ETC., it seemed fairly tepid fare. And yet, when I found out it was to be screened at the Rafael, I instantly purchased tickets online. I had realized by now that Hitchcock on the big screen is a different experience from Hitchcock on the small screen (even on a good-sized small screen in HD). This realization first dawned on me when I attended a screening of the silent version of <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2011/03/hitchcocks-silent-version-of-blackmail.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blackmail</i></b></span></a> (1929) at the Rafael a few years ago and grew more profound with later viewings of <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2011/05/north-by-northwest-free-to-public.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">North by Northwest</i></b></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>(1959), also at the Rafael, and <b><a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/p/a-month-of-vertigo-bloggers-their-posts.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vertigo</i></span></span></a> </b>(1958), at <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2012/03/alfred-hitchcocks-vertigo-at-oaklands.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Paramount</span></b></span></a>, Oakland’s Art Deco movie palace.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlHSmI8mIFbAsE5-wVkvQXodJIPkMWZ24i6qaY31oeXfqykDM34HWML4ETo2ow7Uo_Zn04JjdfsnQzD_TQytqnFlESe8TTcDInD-mgkZyMrggmtm9fACV2Z2rNyMGPnNDU1ab66RHTyE/s1600/murder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlHSmI8mIFbAsE5-wVkvQXodJIPkMWZ24i6qaY31oeXfqykDM34HWML4ETo2ow7Uo_Zn04JjdfsnQzD_TQytqnFlESe8TTcDInD-mgkZyMrggmtm9fACV2Z2rNyMGPnNDU1ab66RHTyE/s1600/murder.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Anthony Dawson and Grace Kelly</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I was not disappointed with the newly restored <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dial M for Murder</i> in Dolby 3D. At all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>With visual depth and dimension it seemed to me a different film. Where, before, the film had seemed as flat as its two-dimensional format, it now, literally, came to life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I’d thought of it as talky and static (as filmed plays often are) but now its atmosphere teemed with suspense, every word spoken implied more, facial expressions and physical movements suggested barely concealed undercurrents. Dialogue-heavy as it is, the film now seemed to move along at a brisk clip. Though one scene was obviously designed for 3D (and must’ve caused quite a stir when the film was first shown), Hitchcock clearly understood 3D and exploited it with precision in every frame.</span><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhA9_qOai1PKgYWlexljkCDsGDZrquH06UqO_QeeDqrx4nRYIVBLH5byXCePj43Cdodn7ONOskTIm0ZvAB5weenlmgPPTFRJTno4DcRQ3GzvLsl5Y8N0cMxFS7yYdjEVKt561zyZ7oz0/s1600/phone+system.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhA9_qOai1PKgYWlexljkCDsGDZrquH06UqO_QeeDqrx4nRYIVBLH5byXCePj43Cdodn7ONOskTIm0ZvAB5weenlmgPPTFRJTno4DcRQ3GzvLsl5Y8N0cMxFS7yYdjEVKt561zyZ7oz0/s400/phone+system.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">dialing M...</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Among <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dial M for Murder</i>’s claims to fame is that it was the first of Hitchcock’s three films starring Grace Kelly. He had first seen the young actress opposite Robert Alda in an early ‘50s screen test for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Taxi</i>,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>a film that was never made. She would go on to make <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">High Noon </i>(1952) with Gary Cooper for Fred Zinnemann and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mogambo </i>(1953) with Clark Gable and Ava Gardner for John Ford before Hitchcock managed to cast her in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dial M</i>. If director Gregory Ratoff thought Kelly was perfect for the role of the Irish lass she might have played in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Taxi </i>because, he said, “she’s not pretty,” Hitchcock saw something else entirely. By the time the two were finished making pictures together in 1955, Kelly was vaunted as one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood - due in no small part to Hitchcock’s presentation of her.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6zm0CL1K-mWoqTWzGEYj97yrgb0kUHNeA-NThtAqZDOvnk6jsejZ7R1EBx32m36RKk6QYpAF1-3A489-O1c1epiPUM9JCfcHvHutUE5u9vkPBwUmwjw1SrFoHSGEsl7pEwIIYH-e0pOY/s1600/dialmscissors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6zm0CL1K-mWoqTWzGEYj97yrgb0kUHNeA-NThtAqZDOvnk6jsejZ7R1EBx32m36RKk6QYpAF1-3A489-O1c1epiPUM9JCfcHvHutUE5u9vkPBwUmwjw1SrFoHSGEsl7pEwIIYH-e0pOY/s400/dialmscissors.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">A scene designed for 3D </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Thanks to the resurgence of 3D, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dial M for Murder </i>can now be seen as it was originally conceived and appreciated as the bona fide classic it is.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3KJJ7KsIimI2EwJyRPWBOQ0H96ViSaUs1Z0fP-SUKef06SmYA9RNYFDofoKpEIipqtnBCx0wmhp1kr16TsQGCXrH0yJPI5-97B9V6TTm_w7KDUiqgWaQLIBfVbQ9JC3WoMAWel5Xy0w/s1600/Dial+M+for+Murder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3KJJ7KsIimI2EwJyRPWBOQ0H96ViSaUs1Z0fP-SUKef06SmYA9RNYFDofoKpEIipqtnBCx0wmhp1kr16TsQGCXrH0yJPI5-97B9V6TTm_w7KDUiqgWaQLIBfVbQ9JC3WoMAWel5Xy0w/s400/Dial+M+for+Murder.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

3D Alfred Hitchcock Dial M for Murder Rafael Theatre The Lady Eve (author) Hitchcock...in 3D!

My introduction to 3D movies finally came this past weekend and I’m sure it surprises no one who knows me that this happened by way of a cl...

North by Northwest - free to the public...

10:42 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr637xG2iyQ_sRktVwa9aEU8Zvq6KuG0SUPERY3uaNJYOQWJP5tDcVNJhZuNEB8d7XMX8uxPQjtczN1SEX8dJsiZlajboQ7Jeg7y0gOswjWpQ0xTvHld3ON4JkaKk91gn6ElX0UtTckIAO/s1600/NxNW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr637xG2iyQ_sRktVwa9aEU8Zvq6KuG0SUPERY3uaNJYOQWJP5tDcVNJhZuNEB8d7XMX8uxPQjtczN1SEX8dJsiZlajboQ7Jeg7y0gOswjWpQ0xTvHld3ON4JkaKk91gn6ElX0UtTckIAO/s320/NxNW.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi83aD-6R-rdZTEsPdUtZICQS45Vc1oWGtSvEEZOXg9q-_VzGytTEii0RAMSWQTTT-Wy5ilXYHrCrAQcD4Gu5O_0xILq0jDF1-b2sBfjVLnmedqK1IagbcGezl684kMwhe2A-Kn7xyR-MnK/s1600/nxnw+audience.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi83aD-6R-rdZTEsPdUtZICQS45Vc1oWGtSvEEZOXg9q-_VzGytTEii0RAMSWQTTT-Wy5ilXYHrCrAQcD4Gu5O_0xILq0jDF1-b2sBfjVLnmedqK1IagbcGezl684kMwhe2A-Kn7xyR-MnK/s320/nxnw+audience.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">When I was a little girl, the only director whose name I knew was Alfred Hitchcock. Though I didn't see any of his signature films of the era in a theater - <i>Rear Window</i> (1954), <i>To Catch a Thief</i> (1955), <i>Vertigo</i> (1958), <i>North by Northwest</i> (1959) - I must've seen the trailers, because I was well aware that he made exciting, colorful and glamorous movies.</span><br /><br /><a name="more"></a><br /><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Psycho</span></i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> (1960) was the first Hitchcock film I watched on in a theater. I saw <i>Psycho </i>(a far cry from his elaborate VistaVision/Technicolor creations of the 1950s) second-run (I was <i>finally</i> old enough) at the local movie house, the Ritz Theater, with a friend who'd already seen it. Pal that she was, she nudged me just as Arbogast, the detective, reached the staircase landing of the Bates home and a figure with a knife darted toward him...naturally, I shrieked long and loud...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I was fortunate enough to see <i>Rear Window</i> when it was re-released into theaters in 1984, but have seen most of Hitchcock's films on television. There's no question that his work comes through powerfully on TV, but his films were made – carefully - to be seen on full-size theater screens.</span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgjDVlIn6pkex3gmKtAHxtjk1_8AYLjZY_3SmPVd3gyMMbsloLcphtilF64YL6aneiN_gBBTLXtoAEmcjqQfRWAbUGpo0cuXTF_zDgJ8E0zmNJNnFK-1O1pAWOQ-X4_M0vBuJ9OIlEozJo/s1600/Rafaelatnight-300x225%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgjDVlIn6pkex3gmKtAHxtjk1_8AYLjZY_3SmPVd3gyMMbsloLcphtilF64YL6aneiN_gBBTLXtoAEmcjqQfRWAbUGpo0cuXTF_zDgJ8E0zmNJNnFK-1O1pAWOQ-X4_M0vBuJ9OIlEozJo/s1600/Rafaelatnight-300x225%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rafael Theatre, San Rafael, California</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Last July the nearby <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/search/label/Rafael%20Theater"><span style="color: #990000;">Rafael Theatre</span> </a>screened the silent version of Hitchcock’s <i style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://classic-film-tv.blogspot.com/search/label/blackmail" style="color: #990000;">Blackmail</a> </i>(1929). The film exceeded my expectations in just about every way possible. I was surprised that it as well-crafted and fluid as it was and that it contained so many elements that were to become Hitchcock trademarks. Live accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra underscored the action and added dimension. And it was thrilling to be surrounded by an appreciative SRO audience.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Six weeks later, at noon on Sunday, September 5, the Rafael presented <i>North by Northwest</i>, free to the public, as part of its quarterly "Everybody's Classics" series. At 11:40 a.m. the line was long, but good seats were still to be had. By show time Theater 1 was packed and anticipation ran high.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Then Bernard Herrmann's pulsing score began and the crisscrossing lines of Saul Bass's title sequence filled the screen. <i>North by Northwest</i> was upon us and in just a few exhilarating moments I was whisked into the adventure.</span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjncfTwxhlJ2LRmR7Js0ElvhCP0rydU3WwiZlcaNajjCjteH2h-thupKtdDIKMMWhqDVOae1u3vYpADTARrMJn1gVzZ1b2WssACPfp3TBJfeR46TrNQl3knU-mnnua1ISQmQn54Akoy3td6/s1600/North%252520by%252520Northwest%252520movie%252520image%252520%25283%2529%255B1%255D+b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjncfTwxhlJ2LRmR7Js0ElvhCP0rydU3WwiZlcaNajjCjteH2h-thupKtdDIKMMWhqDVOae1u3vYpADTARrMJn1gVzZ1b2WssACPfp3TBJfeR46TrNQl3knU-mnnua1ISQmQn54Akoy3td6/s320/North%252520by%252520Northwest%252520movie%252520image%252520%25283%2529%255B1%255D+b.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cary Grant - the adventure begins</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Possibly Hitchcock's quintessential thrill-ride, <i>North by Northwest</i> incorporates many familiar themes and plot devices - an innocent man accused, a romance complicated by mistrust and betrayal, a double chase (the police after the innocent man and the innocent man after the true villain), a backdrop of international espionage...</span><br /><br /><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">North by Northwest</span></i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> has been linked to two of Hitchcock's earlier classics, <i>The 39 Steps</i><b> </b>(1935) and <i>Notorious</i> (1946), but by 1959 the director, at the height of his powers, was in a position to control just about every aspect of his films, much more so than he had been 10 and 20+ years earlier.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">He was able to cast his favorite actor/star, Cary Grant, in the lead. And though he was unsuccessful in enticing Princess Grace back to the screen as his leading lady, he transformed Academy Award-winning method actress Eva Marie Saint into a stunning and complex femme fatale. James Mason, Martin Landau, Leo G. Carroll and Jessie Royce Landis rounded out his first-rate cast.</span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMLm5_dVQc_8P3zWLK5BEr_R1Tz5jlUh_VZVlsnINBG7Gqa80U-UgV_u3ix8BcNzpWIigkkar68CB7NvSlGN5uEDSMGZqZXGUUByPgOnNvbnc9v3toGPGV8MBOS6OOwSWbTTL1oVSftLfi/s1600/nxnw+hands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMLm5_dVQc_8P3zWLK5BEr_R1Tz5jlUh_VZVlsnINBG7Gqa80U-UgV_u3ix8BcNzpWIigkkar68CB7NvSlGN5uEDSMGZqZXGUUByPgOnNvbnc9v3toGPGV8MBOS6OOwSWbTTL1oVSftLfi/s320/nxnw+hands.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint, hands on </td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Bernard Herrmann, who by now had worked with Hitchcock on several films, was just completing the score for the pilot of "The Twilight Zone" when he began <i>North by Northwest</i>. Ernest Lehman wrote the sophisticated and clever script that earned an Oscar nomination. Academy Award winning cinematographer Robert Burks, production designer Robert F. Boyle (also Oscar-nominated for this film) and other Hitchcock stalwarts joined in the collaboration.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">All of these ingredients plus glorious VistaVision and Technicolor added up to produce one of Hitchcock's most successful and exciting films.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I'd seen <i>North by Northwest</i><b> </b>countless times and felt I knew the film well, but to finally see it on a movie screen was akin to seeing it for the first time.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">To begin with, Cary Grant's starpower was almost overpowering - his screen presence was that commanding. What grace, what confidence…and how impossibly handsome he was. It's not surprising that Bernard Herrmann adjusted his score to match what he described as Grant's "Astaire-like agility."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">As might be expected, the suspense seemed magnified on a theater screen, and so did everything else - the humor was more direct and the seduction scenes more intense in their intimacy and erotic implications. The film’s pacing is acutely precise – with suspense building to an exquisite pitch, then, at just the right moment, relief - via wit or romance. Then, once more, the suspense begins to build…</span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqdsZttYxl-0L4WHyQTs4Fcc1DhOSajvG0gixaqFzmqLNqD1Xs_a0dNjO1k2VV8YgGAVhg8MvaFLMm42kTbYlpNKJ9t4F6SuWzbsqpTOlEFbO764Ez5_RCDRgBe-FwZwfX9vK6tAaW0eX4/s1600/NorthBrand%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqdsZttYxl-0L4WHyQTs4Fcc1DhOSajvG0gixaqFzmqLNqD1Xs_a0dNjO1k2VV8YgGAVhg8MvaFLMm42kTbYlpNKJ9t4F6SuWzbsqpTOlEFbO764Ez5_RCDRgBe-FwZwfX9vK6tAaW0eX4/s320/NorthBrand%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Climax of a classic chase scene</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The crop-dusting sequence with its truck-in-flames finale and the moonlit chase across the face of Mount Rushmore are striking set-pieces on a screen of any size. Via the big screen I could almost feel the heat of the truck’s explosion and smell South Dakota’s night air. These scenes are legendary and, for obvious reasons, much imitated. The early James Bond films emulate the crop-dusting scene... Steven Spielberg's <i>Close Encounters</i> (1977) includes a well-known homage with its replication of Hitchcock's night-time Black Hills.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Afterward, I couldn't help wishing I'd been able to see <i>North by Northwest</i> back in 1959 at the Ritz. The kid I was then would've come out of that theater exhausted and elated, convinced she'd just been on the greatest rollercoaster ride of her life.</span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoihabE6skbsSXUgz8BYBgbrbge-kESZRwqe64NIDi9ldGw2fQW-buTDBrsvEbl9I4TgdIA2BIK_Hl_BIJjkR7xKt3P_x7xfjsrenzHciIQ6fqQS-bow7sC_uSAkm6_j25btSHHNVQiIoY/s1600/nxnw_great_cast%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoihabE6skbsSXUgz8BYBgbrbge-kESZRwqe64NIDi9ldGw2fQW-buTDBrsvEbl9I4TgdIA2BIK_Hl_BIJjkR7xKt3P_x7xfjsrenzHciIQ6fqQS-bow7sC_uSAkm6_j25btSHHNVQiIoY/s320/nxnw_great_cast%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eva Marie Saint, James Mason and Martin Landau</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Alfred Hitchcock has been widely acknowledged for his matchless ability to maneuver an audience's emotions and point of view with ease, and it's hard to maintain much distance from Hitchcock's best films. This could be why I enjoy the <i>experience</i> of his films as much as I enjoy the exercise of <i>studying</i> them.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">As with all Hitchcock films, <i>North by Northwest</i><b> </b>has a few things going on beneath its slick surface. But last Labor Day weekend, inside a darkened theater filled with laughing, sighing, cheering people, I was a child again for a while. Happily immersed in a suspenseful, clever, sexy adventure, I didn't really notice that, from the first note of Herrmann's score to the final shot of a darkened railroad tunnel, I was being swept along as if aboard a sleek 20th Century Limited under the command of a very crafty locomotive engineer.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_eDVg712jVxSH8zKidSYldd3z-4A5O1JdxsUl31TOYTc-3O9sXaHvQtaQOdcWJm3q_kVu0p4IgQVbTrYkGlx0LhM2qJUKEH11HBXDrTQ75ICTRO6McAx9MGwcjc8yfgQGPDdWtN-u6Oz/s1600/nxnw+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_eDVg712jVxSH8zKidSYldd3z-4A5O1JdxsUl31TOYTc-3O9sXaHvQtaQOdcWJm3q_kVu0p4IgQVbTrYkGlx0LhM2qJUKEH11HBXDrTQ75ICTRO6McAx9MGwcjc8yfgQGPDdWtN-u6Oz/s400/nxnw+poster.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></div>