North By Northwest: Special Edition

Warner | minutes | | | Standard DVD reviewed by: Matt Brighton

One of the great advents of DVD is the restoration of classic movies. While a majority of the titles get a new picture and possibly enhanced sound, they don't really get the treatment that they deserve. Alfred Hitchcock, quite possibly the greatest director that ever lived, has had his share of movies (most all of which are considered "classics") come to the new format, and thankfully most are getting the treatment that they deserve. Somewhere between his films "Vertigo" and "Psycho" (both available on DVD in Special Edition format) was a story of mistaken identity called "North By Northwest". While it has withstood the test of time, it's still Psycho that is recognized as Hitchcock's "Benchmark" achievement. However, North By Northwest is recognized as one of the AFI's (American Film Institute) "Top 100" movies of all time, and for good reason.

While serious overtones dominate the movie, Hitchcock takes a very "tongue and cheek" approach to different points of this movie. The whole movie is a case of mistaken identity in which Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) summons a waiter at the exact same moment in which a page is broadcast for a man by the name of Steve Kaplan (a name which Thornhill will wish he never heard). Instantly taken by two "goons" to a lavish estate, he is interrogated and insists he has no idea what is going on. Forced to drink an entire bottle of bourbon, one of the film's "lighter" moments features a drunk Cary Grant swerving down a winding road barely escaping death literally at every turn. After he's arrested, he returns to the mansion in which he was taken the night before, only to be made a fool of (not even his own mother believes him). Not convinced that all is entirely well, he decides to do some investigating under the guise of Steve Kaplan...It's not long until the men locate Thornhill again, and in a desperate attempt to prove his innocence, he goes to the United Nations (again under Steve Kaplan's name) to meet with the owner of the mansion. This sets up the downfall of the character, as the U.N. represenative is killed and the act perfectly frames Thornhill (Kaplan) for the murder with a picture on every newspaper in the land.

About this time, the pace quickens and Thornhill hops aboard a train fleeing the authorities. It's also then that he meets Eva (Eva Marie Saint), a self-described "woman of 26 and unmarried...". After ducking the police, and sharing a night of passion, Thornhill is told by Eva to meet Kaplan which sets up one of the most reconizable scenes in all the movies...Who can forget the shot of Cary Grant running down a dirt road as a cropduster follows behind shooting?! As the movie approaches the end, the action sequences become more and more intense, as is the case with most Hitchcock movies and it all leads to a finale on Mt. Rushmore!

North By Northwest is a movie that I've never seen all the way through before, so I was very anxious to view this new Special Edition. Like most of Hitchcock's other films, the soundtrack plays a very important part in it, and the casting is near perfect. Cary Grant's Thornhill is just a suave as the rest of his other characters, but he has the natural charm and charisma to pull it off. Eva Marie Saint is perfect as the lovely leading lady and James Mason is perfectly cast as the "icy bad guy". All in all, North By Northwest is one of the better movies..ever. This new DVD is the definitive edition and I'm sorry...but if you already own a previous version, you'll have to buy it again.

Advertised as a "Vista Vision" picture, this new DVD edition is clearly (no pun intended) one of the best transfers that I've ever seen. I saw no spec, no artifacting and no compression errors at all. I can't believe a film over 40 years old looks this good. Right up there with Starship Troopers and Saving Private Ryan, in terms of quality the film looks like it could have been made yesterday. Hitchcock shot the film in a somewhat softer tones to set the mood for the film, but even the scenes at night (like the final shot) look posively beautiful. A+!

It's kind of weird to say, but I was somewhat disappointed to see that the only track available was a newly remastered 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack. While it sounds great at times, I would much rather hear the original mono track. Still, as mentioned above, a good portion of North By Northwest's action and suspense is derived from the soundtrack, and there is also a "music only soundtrack" that is a nice touch. While the dialog is clean and free of distortion, most of the action is limited to the center channel (so I guess it's closer to mono than I think). Surround effects, especially during the opening sequence, sound great and there are some cars that zoom across the screen and you get to hear your front speakers kick in. Overall, it sounded good, but with all the extra effort put into this disc, the original soundtrack would have been the icing on the cake.

In addition to the remastered soundtrack and the beautiful anamorphic image, there is a feature-length commentary with the screenwriter Ernest Lehman which is very interesting (obviously Hitchcock is no longer with us, as is Grant). Anothe nice touch is the addition of the music only soundtrack, while comepletely quiet at times, this showcases one of the nicer effects from Hitchcock's movies. But wait...there's more. There is also a behind the scenes documentary featuring Martin Landau (he was one of the henchmen) and Eva Marie Saint that is a nice touch as well as some TV spots and a couple of original trailers. A trailer that I like is Hitchcock's trailer, where he describes the movie as a "vacation", and in his style, thee is a map of the United States with Thornhill's path across the North Central United States in the background. All in all, you couldn't ask for much more than what's offered on this disc. Sit back and enjoy a wonderful special edition of one of the most celebrated movies to come around...ever.