North By North West (1959)

North By North West (1959)

Director- Alfred Hitchcock

Writer- Ernest Lehman

Main Cast- Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason

Eva Marie Saint 

James Mason

Director Alfred Hitchcock takes his job as a director seriously as he learns the dialog to films he directs so that he will hardly need to look as the script. If he did not do this he would compare it to a conductor conducting an orchestra without a score. Hitchcock also makes sure that the visual is up to scratch so that his films are accessible in different languages so even if they can't understand what is going on they will understand it through music and actions. He didn't look at the camera whilst filming 'North By North West' which adds to the drama of the film through the cameras actions.

Alfred Hitchcock's trailer to ' North By North West' starts with a bit of a statement about himself, "The master of suspense weaves his greatest tale" the trailer is very dramatic and uses a lot of cuts to show dramatic scenes throughout the film, leaving the audience in suspense, he makes sure that too much is not revealed so that the audience will still want to watch the film. The trailer is also very fast paced, in each cut when the audience really gets in to a part it cuts of and starts on another. The names of the main cast are shown during the trailer which is effective because if the audience likes that particular actor or actress they will want to watch the film. Hitchcock also planned every scene in advance.

The trailer is archetypal as it has most or all the elements of a stereotypical thriller film, the drama, suspense, story line setup, excitement and melodrama.

There is frequent action in the film from the beginning, for example in the crop duster scene which uses irony. This is when something happens in the opposite way than expected, in this scene the audience would expect Cary Grant to be killed by the crop duster but then he survives but nearly gets hit by a truck. The crop duster then crashes into the truck causing an explosion of fire but Cary Grant survives unharmed. Throughout this scene Hitchcock has used dramatic music keeping the audience interested and scared for Cary Grant. When the audience find out he survives this brings a sense of relief to the scene.


There is also a scene where Cary Grant is seen being shot by Eva Marie Saint and the audience is led to believe that he is dead but then it is revealed as a hoax. This scene is also very dramatic as it is not the first time that he could have been killed.

In the auction scene a man is seen to be very possessive over Eva Marie Saint as he strokes the back of her neck but as Cary Grant turns up and makes a statement about her, the man removes his hand from the back of the neck, this suggests that he has most probably caused a dilemma which creates a sense of worry for the audience. Cary Grant is also quite humorous in this scene when he pretends to know nothing about actions and constantly bids low numbers after a higher number has been agreed. This also relieves the tension in the scene as Cary Grant had gotten himself into trouble earlier and that was his way of getting himself out.

Eva Marie Saint is used as a red herring at the beginning of the film as the audience are convinced that she is on the side of the bad guys but then it is revealed that she is not and that she was really undercover.Alfred Hitchcock uses a MacGuffin. The MacGuffin in the film 'North By North West' would be what the villains
care about but the audience do not, in this case a statue full of microfilm. This gives an element to the film, something that causes all the drama, not particularly important but can be seen as important to create drama.

Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint are represented as the heroes in the film and they spoil the plans of the villains in 'North By North West'. For example when Eva Marie Saint was found out by the villains as actually being on the side of the good guys and Cary Grant turns up to warn her then heroically saves her. This delays the villains plans and creates a dilemma that they have to get through. Dramatically they both end up on Mount Rushmore nearly getting killed. In this scene Alfred Hitchcock has literally used a cliffhanger as Eva Marie Saint clings on for her life. Hitchcock also uses the MacGuffin for some fast paced action putting lives at risk as the characters climb down Mount Rushmore.