An actor doesn't have to like a script to perform it. As detailed by Turner Classic Movies, while shooting "North by Northwest," Alfred Hitchcock used this to the picture's advantage. Both he and screenwriter Ernest Lehman had Cary Grant as their first choice for the film's lead Roger Thornhill, a Madison Avenue ad man mistaken for the spy George Kaplan. Roger stumbles his way into heroism, ultimately thwarting a Soviet spy ring run by Phillip Vandamm (James Mason). Only someone as simultaneously dashing and comic as Grant could correctly pull off the part.
Hitchcock and Lehman obviously got their wish, but Grant didn't have confidence in the project they did. During production, Grant vented to Hitchcock, "It's a terrible script. We've already done a third of the picture and I still can't make head or tail of it." Per TCM, Hitchcock was "amused" by this comment; Grant was confused by...
Hitchcock and Lehman obviously got their wish, but Grant didn't have confidence in the project they did. During production, Grant vented to Hitchcock, "It's a terrible script. We've already done a third of the picture and I still can't make head or tail of it." Per TCM, Hitchcock was "amused" by this comment; Grant was confused by...
- 2/26/2023
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
For as much as the films of Alfred Hitchcock are consumed by the psychologies of their protagonists, the "Master of Suspense" was not particularly interested in delving deep into them when it came to working with his actors. To be fair, he was working in a time where the internalization of character was not nearly as important as it is today. Film acting in classic Hollywood was presentational, practical, and technical. The actor was required to showcase emotional truth, not necessarily feel it themselves. Of course, moments where the two collided did occur, but it was not standard practice.
Alfred Hitchcock did not have much respect for an actor's process, even going so far as to say they should be "treated like cattle." This was said in his sarcastic, sinister way, but there's probably some underlying truth to that sentiment. He was someone who used every artistic discipline that goes...
Alfred Hitchcock did not have much respect for an actor's process, even going so far as to say they should be "treated like cattle." This was said in his sarcastic, sinister way, but there's probably some underlying truth to that sentiment. He was someone who used every artistic discipline that goes...
- 8/22/2022
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
Alfred Hitchcock is known for his suspense-laden thrillers and innovative plot devices that modern filmmakers take cues from to this day. "North by Northwest," the 1959 mystery featuring Cary Grant, is a lesson in how to intertwine various antagonistic forces without compromising the competitive strength of one or the other.
Grant stars in the film as Roger Thornhill, a man who is mistaken for a government agent by a ruthless spy, Philip Vandamm, played by "Lolita" star James Mason. Hitchcock often liked to cast attractive actors with a reputation as romantic leading men in villainous roles, such as Anthony Perkins in "Psycho"...
The post Alfred Hitchcock Found a Creative Solution to North By Northwest's Villain 'Problem' appeared first on /Film.
Grant stars in the film as Roger Thornhill, a man who is mistaken for a government agent by a ruthless spy, Philip Vandamm, played by "Lolita" star James Mason. Hitchcock often liked to cast attractive actors with a reputation as romantic leading men in villainous roles, such as Anthony Perkins in "Psycho"...
The post Alfred Hitchcock Found a Creative Solution to North By Northwest's Villain 'Problem' appeared first on /Film.
- 4/27/2022
- by Shae Sennett
- Slash Film
In a career that spans more than seven decades, Eva Marie Saint has won an Oscar, played Superman’s mom, and acted alongside screen legends such as Paul Newman, Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando. A versatile performer, she appeared in comedies, historical epics (“Raintree County”), social dramas (“On the Waterfront”), and misbegotten superhero films (“Superman Returns”). Saint, who turns 97 on July 4, is one of the last surviving links to Hollywood’s Golden Age, with her style and sophistication serving as a luminous reminder that they “don’t make ’em like they used to.”
Nowhere is this more evident than in “North by Northwest,” where Saint put her own spin on the “Hitchcock Blonde.” It was a role previously filled by the likes of Grace Kelly and Kim Novak (“Vertigo”), and one that would later be played by Tippi Hedren in “The Birds” and “Marnie.” Strangely, Saint’s foray into Alfred Hitchcock...
Nowhere is this more evident than in “North by Northwest,” where Saint put her own spin on the “Hitchcock Blonde.” It was a role previously filled by the likes of Grace Kelly and Kim Novak (“Vertigo”), and one that would later be played by Tippi Hedren in “The Birds” and “Marnie.” Strangely, Saint’s foray into Alfred Hitchcock...
- 7/4/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Lili Rosson, an actress from a notable Hollywood family who had small parts in North by Northwest, Some Came Running and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, has died. She was 87.
Rosson died June 27 at a nursing facility in Los Altos, California, her daughter, Christa, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Her lone credit listed on IMDb is as a character named Lydia in the low-budget drama The Diary of a High School Bride (1959), directed by Burt Topper for American International Pictures.
However, her daughter said Rosson was on the scene as a bystander when Cary Grant's Roger Thornhill is "...
Rosson died June 27 at a nursing facility in Los Altos, California, her daughter, Christa, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Her lone credit listed on IMDb is as a character named Lydia in the low-budget drama The Diary of a High School Bride (1959), directed by Burt Topper for American International Pictures.
However, her daughter said Rosson was on the scene as a bystander when Cary Grant's Roger Thornhill is "...
Lili Rosson, an actress from a notable Hollywood family who had small parts in North by Northwest, Some Came Running and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, has died. She was 87.
Rosson died June 27 at a nursing facility in Los Altos, California, her daughter, Christa, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Her lone credit listed on IMDb is as a character named Lydia in the low-budget drama The Diary of a High School Bride (1959), directed by Burt Topper for American International Pictures.
However, her daughter said Rosson was on the scene as a bystander when Cary Grant's Roger Thornhill is "...
Rosson died June 27 at a nursing facility in Los Altos, California, her daughter, Christa, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Her lone credit listed on IMDb is as a character named Lydia in the low-budget drama The Diary of a High School Bride (1959), directed by Burt Topper for American International Pictures.
However, her daughter said Rosson was on the scene as a bystander when Cary Grant's Roger Thornhill is "...
Movies that involve both action and romance have been around forever. There’s nothing like an adventure to enhance sexual tension. Action romance movies are filled with witty banter in dramatic and exciting situations. The love interest is often a foil in the adventure and there are many mysteries as to whom to trust. Action romance movies are exciting, sexy and fun. Here are our picks for the top 20 action romance movies of all time. North By Northwest North By Northwest is one of the best action romances of all time. Cary Grant plays Roger Thornhill, a handsome New York
The Top 20 Action Romance Movies of All Time...
The Top 20 Action Romance Movies of All Time...
- 6/8/2018
- by Nat Berman
- TVovermind.com
In the late 1970s, an associate professor in the Philosophy department at Johns Hopkins (thesis title: "The Nature of the Natural Numbers") began publishing essays on Hollywood movies. George M. Wilson wasn't the first person to undergo this shift in specialism. At the start of the decade, Stanley Cavell had published The World Viewed, a series of "reflections on the ontology of film." But Cavell had always been concerned with how works of art enable us to think through philosophical themes such as knowledge and meaning, and he held a chair, at Harvard, in Aesthetics. Wilson differed in that he brought a range of analytic gifts to an ongoing revolution: the close reading of American cinema, conceived as part of the "auteur" policy of Truffaut and other writers at Cahiers du cinéma in the 1950s, and concertedly developed in the following decades by critics in England such as V. F.
- 12/11/2017
- MUBI
Hitchcock classic North by Northwest is back in Cineplex theatres for a limited time only!Hitchcock classic North by Northwest is back in Cineplex theatres for a limited time only!Ingrid Randoja - Cineplex Magazine8/14/2017 12:32:00 Pm
Director Alfred Hitchcock wanted to make a movie that included a chase scene across Mount Rushmore that culminates with a man, hiding inside Abraham Lincoln’s nose, being discovered when he sneezes.
The sneezing idea was silly but the chase along the famed stone monument was intriguing to writer Ernest Lehman, who was assigned by MGM to write a screenplay for Hitchcock.
The result is the 1959 classic North by Northwest, which sees debonair ad executive Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) go on the run when he’s mistaken for a murdering spy. Hitchcock strings together one suspenseful scene after another that puts Grant in peril — he drunkenly drives along a cliff, he’s...
Director Alfred Hitchcock wanted to make a movie that included a chase scene across Mount Rushmore that culminates with a man, hiding inside Abraham Lincoln’s nose, being discovered when he sneezes.
The sneezing idea was silly but the chase along the famed stone monument was intriguing to writer Ernest Lehman, who was assigned by MGM to write a screenplay for Hitchcock.
The result is the 1959 classic North by Northwest, which sees debonair ad executive Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) go on the run when he’s mistaken for a murdering spy. Hitchcock strings together one suspenseful scene after another that puts Grant in peril — he drunkenly drives along a cliff, he’s...
- 8/14/2017
- by Ingrid Randoja - Cineplex Magazine
- Cineplex
Macbeth, Lego Dimensions and North by Northwest top August Events listMacbeth, Lego Dimensions and North by Northwest top August Events listScott Goodyer8/1/2017 11:00:00 Am It's been a very rainy summer so why not take advantage of those gloomy days and come see a special event screening this month? The following is a list of some screenings you should definitely check out and for more information on each event, click on their titles: August 2nd: Kiki's Delivery Service (Japanese w/e.s.t.) From the legendary Hayao Miyazaki comes the beloved story of a resourceful young witch who uses her broom to create a delivery service, only to lose her gift of flight in a moment of self-doubt. It is tradition for all young witches to leave their families on the night of a full moon and set out into the wide world to learn their craft. When that night comes for Kiki,...
- 8/1/2017
- by Scott Goodyer
- Cineplex
The Simpsons has pastiched hundreds of movies in its time. From Hitchcock to Kubrick to Disney, we select our top 30 favourites...
The Simpsons has a long history of peppering its stories with pop culture references, and some of the show’s finest gags stem from the world of cinema. These have ranged from the briefest of quotes, to full on shot-for-shot parodies and extended episode-long homages.
Most striking in trying to put this list together was the sheer volume of movie references there are to choose from. In pretty much any given episode of The Simpsons, there are at least a couple, with nods to James Bond, 2001: A Space Odyssey and the work of Alfred Hitchcock proving three of the most regular candidates. The tributes to numerous great horror movies in the show’s Treehouse Of Horror episodes could have been used to fill this list all on their own.
The Simpsons has a long history of peppering its stories with pop culture references, and some of the show’s finest gags stem from the world of cinema. These have ranged from the briefest of quotes, to full on shot-for-shot parodies and extended episode-long homages.
Most striking in trying to put this list together was the sheer volume of movie references there are to choose from. In pretty much any given episode of The Simpsons, there are at least a couple, with nods to James Bond, 2001: A Space Odyssey and the work of Alfred Hitchcock proving three of the most regular candidates. The tributes to numerous great horror movies in the show’s Treehouse Of Horror episodes could have been used to fill this list all on their own.
- 4/23/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Now it’s gettin’ good, right? This section of the list begins to get into the portion where “you’ve heard it before.” A number of the films below have been universally acclaimed for one reason or another, but the focus here is on the writing. Some are innovative, some are unexpected, and some completed changed the way films were written, creating a new style or sub-genre. After all, isn’t that what makes for good writing?
30. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Written by Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary
I don’t wanna kill anybody. But if I gotta get out that door, and you’re standing in my way, one way or the other, you’re gettin’ outta my way.
Before he was one of the more recognizable directors in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino was a screenwriter just trying to make enough money to get the films he wanted to make off the ground.
30. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Written by Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary
I don’t wanna kill anybody. But if I gotta get out that door, and you’re standing in my way, one way or the other, you’re gettin’ outta my way.
Before he was one of the more recognizable directors in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino was a screenwriter just trying to make enough money to get the films he wanted to make off the ground.
- 3/3/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
The suspense of Cary Grant's unflappable businessman on the run from a low-flying plane is the stand-out moment in Hitchcock's stand-out thriller
• More on North by Northwest
• More from Why I Love …
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Hitchcock's 1959 classic was ahead of its time in many ways, but the tense few moments in which suave ad executive Roger Thornhill (played by Cary Grant) is terrorised by a murderous crop-dusting pilot is the film's biggest triumph. It is also one of the most emulated action sequences in Hollywood history. It's been parodied by everything from The Simpsons to Metallica.
The scene begins when Thornhill, a New Yorker caught up in a life-threatening case of mistaken identity, arrives at an isolated rendezvous point in rural Indiana to meet the man for whom he has been mistaken. He steps off the bus and on to a gritty, lonesome highway...
• More on North by Northwest
• More from Why I Love …
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view
Hitchcock's 1959 classic was ahead of its time in many ways, but the tense few moments in which suave ad executive Roger Thornhill (played by Cary Grant) is terrorised by a murderous crop-dusting pilot is the film's biggest triumph. It is also one of the most emulated action sequences in Hollywood history. It's been parodied by everything from The Simpsons to Metallica.
The scene begins when Thornhill, a New Yorker caught up in a life-threatening case of mistaken identity, arrives at an isolated rendezvous point in rural Indiana to meet the man for whom he has been mistaken. He steps off the bus and on to a gritty, lonesome highway...
- 9/30/2013
- by Tola Onanuga
- The Guardian - Film News
Though mistaken identity is a relatively infrequent incident in real life, it’s one of the few movie concepts that can create fertile ground for both comic and serious ventures almost from the outset. Is there not just something tantalising about seeing someone thrown into an excessive situation, entirely out of their depth?
As they struggle to re-assert their own identity and eschew the one they’ve been saddled with, it’s an extremely versatile concept that has been a hugely successful formula for Hollywood movies over the decades.
Also somewhat timely with today’s constant fears about identity theft – hence the box office success of the recent Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy-starring vehicle Identity Thief – the genre, like many of the best, taps into an inherent fear, something that is ticking over in our minds even if we’re not always consciously obsessed with it.
After all, if...
As they struggle to re-assert their own identity and eschew the one they’ve been saddled with, it’s an extremely versatile concept that has been a hugely successful formula for Hollywood movies over the decades.
Also somewhat timely with today’s constant fears about identity theft – hence the box office success of the recent Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy-starring vehicle Identity Thief – the genre, like many of the best, taps into an inherent fear, something that is ticking over in our minds even if we’re not always consciously obsessed with it.
After all, if...
- 7/19/2013
- by Shaun Munro
- Obsessed with Film
Taxi Driver, North by Northwest, The Manchurian Candidate, JFK – there's a rich history of assassinations in American film. But what's the difference between the accidental killer and the glamorously rebellious hitman?
It was Monday 31 March 1981, coming up to 2.30pm, and John Hinckley was fidgeting by the Florida Avenue entrance of the Washington Hilton, catching the attention of a police lieutenant who stopped to stare over at him. Hinckley jostled with reporters too, complaining that the press were always getting in the way, before finding a place to stand among the TV cameras. It drizzled, off and on, and the sidewalk was damp. His speech inside finished, President Reagan came out of the hotel, flanked by security men, acknowledging the few onlookers across the street and the small crowd of pressmen on the sidewalk beside him. For a moment, Hinckley asked himself the question: "Should I do this or not?" A journalist shouted to the president,...
It was Monday 31 March 1981, coming up to 2.30pm, and John Hinckley was fidgeting by the Florida Avenue entrance of the Washington Hilton, catching the attention of a police lieutenant who stopped to stare over at him. Hinckley jostled with reporters too, complaining that the press were always getting in the way, before finding a place to stand among the TV cameras. It drizzled, off and on, and the sidewalk was damp. His speech inside finished, President Reagan came out of the hotel, flanked by security men, acknowledging the few onlookers across the street and the small crowd of pressmen on the sidewalk beside him. For a moment, Hinckley asked himself the question: "Should I do this or not?" A journalist shouted to the president,...
- 10/4/2012
- by Michael Newton
- The Guardian - Film News
Spying is an inherently hot profession: You're constantly aloof, shifting your facade, and using guile to your advantage. You will make a disastrous husband and a fine, fine movie protagonist. In honor of The Bourne Legacy and the slyly smug hotness of Jeremy Renner, let's revisit the dashing past of hot spies and rank the top 10. (My definition of "spy" is sometimes a bit liberal, so indulge me when some of these characters qualify more as "special agents" than "spies.")
10. Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in GoldenEye
The former Remington Steele was built for 007's tux, and as he fraternized with babes like Xenia Onatopp and Natalya Simonova in James Bond's '95 return to form GoldenEye, he asserted the most debonair Bond ever. Later, he would purr humiliating lines about Bond girl Christmas Jones like, "I thought Christmas only comes once a year" in The World is Not Enough,...
10. Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in GoldenEye
The former Remington Steele was built for 007's tux, and as he fraternized with babes like Xenia Onatopp and Natalya Simonova in James Bond's '95 return to form GoldenEye, he asserted the most debonair Bond ever. Later, he would purr humiliating lines about Bond girl Christmas Jones like, "I thought Christmas only comes once a year" in The World is Not Enough,...
- 8/8/2012
- by virtel
- The Backlot
Cary Grant, Saul Bass's titles, Bernard Hermann's score, that all-conquering crop-dusting scene. Why is it that Hitchcock's biggest crowd-pleaser makes critics sniffy?
Life, most of the time, is matter of routine. We get up, go to work, pass the day as we have hundreds like it before. But this predictability is an illusion, because at any moment, the whole reassuring framework could collapse. An accident, an incredible stroke of luck, a crime: and suddenly everything has changed.
Roger Thornhill's life turns on a dime in the bar of the Plaza Hotel on 59th street, at the moment he calls over the bellboy. He's an advertising executive – one of the original Mad Men – whose anxieties centre around keeping his women sweet (with gifts dispatched by an obliging secretary), his mother happy and the Skin Glow account ticking over. But that bellboy was looking for a certain George Caplan,...
Life, most of the time, is matter of routine. We get up, go to work, pass the day as we have hundreds like it before. But this predictability is an illusion, because at any moment, the whole reassuring framework could collapse. An accident, an incredible stroke of luck, a crime: and suddenly everything has changed.
Roger Thornhill's life turns on a dime in the bar of the Plaza Hotel on 59th street, at the moment he calls over the bellboy. He's an advertising executive – one of the original Mad Men – whose anxieties centre around keeping his women sweet (with gifts dispatched by an obliging secretary), his mother happy and the Skin Glow account ticking over. But that bellboy was looking for a certain George Caplan,...
- 8/3/2012
- by David Shariatmadari
- The Guardian - Film News
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