North by Northwest: 50th Anniversary Edition

Alfred Hitchcock never made a more purely entertaining film than this classic “wrong man” thriller that follows a romantic cast on a breathless series of cross-country adventures. Cary Grant is effortlessly suave and charming as Roger Thornhill, a glib, sheltered New York businessman who, in a random twist of fate, is mistaken for a master spy. Suddenly his safe routine is turned upside down by armed thugs, foreign agents, and a beautiful femme fatale named Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint, utterly seductive in a blonde sexpot role). Everything clicks, and Hitch slides more sexual innuendo and erotic flirtation into the 1959 production than most R-rated movies accomplish, while the breezy smoothness hides an undercurrent of tension and justifiable paranoia. North by Northwest features some of Hitchcock's greatest set pieces (including Grant fleeing a malevolent crop duster in a cornfield and scrambling across the faces of Mount Rushmore), sparkling dialogue, and a magnificent score. The Blu-ray edition, newly remastered from original VistaVision elements, boasts a clarity and richness that practically glows in gorgeous Technicolor hues. New to this 50th anniversary release—packaged in a 43-page digi-book—are the original hour-long documentary “The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style,” offering a superb tour through the filmmaker's most famous cinematic moments via interviews with critics and directors (including Martin Scorsese, John Carpenter, and Guillermo Del Toro), and the retrospective featurette “North by Northwest: One for the Ages.” Previously released supplements include an engrossing commentary track by screenwriter Ernest Lehmann, the absorbing “making-of” documentary “Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North by Northwest,” and the 2003 documentary “Cary Grant: A Class Apart.” An essential addition to any Blu-ray library, this is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (S. Axmaker)