Premise - A high rolling advertising executive is mistaken for a CIA operative and is chased across the USA whilst he tries to survive and clear his name. I had seen North By Northwest many years ago on TV when I was a youngster. I never paid it much mind back then, it was just an old film and had nothing on the latest action/comedy flick from Ahnuld. Looking on it now I can see it for what it is. A superbly crafted thriller that was light years ahead of it's time. Hitchcock made a film that must surely have had audiences sitting on the edges of their seats when this film was originally released. He indeed was the master of suspense and few directors since have managed to capture the feeling that Hitchcock was able to inject into his movies. Scenes from this movie have become the stuff of legend. The drunk car chase, the crop duster attack and the final moments on top of Mount Rushmore have all (rightly) become classic movie moments. Whilst modern movie fans have been spoiled by CGI heavy action sequences the tension in the crop dusting scene is a breath of fresh air. The scene slowly builds up with Grant standing on a dusty road in the middle of nowhere. Several cars go past and a plane can be seen dusting crops in the background. No dialogue for several minutes until a man gets out of a car and starts waiting for a bus. Small talk ensues and he mentions that the plane is dusting crops where there are no crops, the penny drops and the audience gasps. Some of the shot's that Hitchcock pulls of here are still fairly impressive today. A nice shot from the top of the UN building shows a tiny Cary Grant running to his car, the stuff on Mount Rushmore is also well handled. A fair portion of the films success should be shouldered by Cary Grant. This man just oozes charisma and he owns this role. I was reminded a lot of George Clonney here by his performance and if George wants to model himself on Grant then I think he could do a lot worse. His chemistry with leading lady Eve Marie Saint is fantastic, you really believe that there is an attraction between them. The bad guys are a joy to behold as well. James Mason is deliciously evil and his accent is wonderful. A (very) young looking Martin Landau is excellent as Mason's right hand man and general thug. I also loved the opening sequence by Saul Bass, much like the one in Bullit, very stylised. Combine it with the fantastic music of Bernhard Herrmann and you have one of the best opening sequences I've seen. The excellent music continues throughout the movie and is used very well. If anything goes against North By Northwest it's the script. Whilst for the most part it's tight and even witty, some of the dialogue between Grant and Saint is a little, well, cheesy. I'm sure it would have been nice in 1959, but it just doesn't cut it today. This is a small niggle however that only slightly damages an otherwise excellent film.

7/10 for North By Northwest. Poster Quote - North By North-Best.