Rated as one of top five films directed by the maestro Alfred Hitchcock, NORTH BY NORTHWEST has its own cult status as an inspiring film that deeply influenced both the viewers as well as the filmmakers all over the world. Along with an engrossing suspense, its narration has an excellent storyline, innovative sequences and new shot-taking techniques which were witnessed for the first time in that specific point of time and later adapted by many. For instance, the most celebrated scene of the film is where a crop dusting plane chases and tries to kill the protagonist, which was prominently used in the film’s publicity posters too. The exact sequence was also replicated as it is and inserted in the climax of S. D. Narang’s BOMBAY KA CHOR (1962) featuring Kishore Kumar in the lead.
Starring Cary Grant, James Mason and Eva Marie Saint in the key roles, NORTH BY NORTHWEST is based on a mistaken identity plot, focusing on a simple and innocent man, unintentionally getting connected to secret agents and their organization. Along with the musical score by Bernard Herrmann, the film also has an innovative title sequence creating a perfect mood for a crime thriller.
Widely included among the greatest films of all time, though personally I rate many other Hitchcock films above this iconic one, but NORTH BY NORTHWSEST surely was a visionary attempt that had its premise and execution much closer to a James Bond film (as its USP), coming years before the first Bond venture. Continuing with the innovative ways of promoting his films, Hitchcock also made a special trailer, presenting himself as a travel agent offering the viewers a holiday tour to various locations of the world through his film as shown in its key sequences.
Adding to the list of Indian film-makers deeply inspired from the classic, Hitchcock certainly had a strong influence over Vijay Anand who later came up with an exceptional JEWEL THIEF (1967) that had inspired references from more than a couple of Hitchcock film including the one being discussed here as the major source. The influence can also be seen in a scene of KALA BAZAR released in 1960, just one year after the release of NORTH BY NORTHWEST, wherein Dev Anand is standing outside a Mumbai theater and Vijay Anand comes with his friends to watch the film that happens to be NORTH BY NORTHWEST. The sequence has a big poster of Alfred Hitchcock right behind Dev Anand (both in black attires) and the main posters of the English film can be seen at several places in the backdrop.
Two decades post JEWEL THIEF, an unofficial remake kind of average attempt was also made by Jyotin Goel with his INAAM DUS HAZAAR (1987) featuring Sanjay Dutt and Meenakshi Sheshashdri in the lead. It didn’t do well at the box office and is now remembered more for its melodious tracks composed by R.D. Burman instead of the film or its concept.
Concluding the write-up, if a roller-coaster kind of entertainment (exactly as we get to see in a Bond film) is your kind of cinema, then do watch NORTH BY NORTHWEST and have a great time guessing the next move that remains completely unpredictable and keeps you thoroughly engaged in pure ‘Hitchcock style’.
Cheers!
Bobby Sing – BobbyTalksCinema.com
(Upgraded/Rewritten in April 2020)
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NORTH BY NORTHWEST Review by Bobby Sing at bobbytalkscinema.com, Alfred Hitchcock Classics, Cary Grant Movies, Movies To See Before You Die, World Famous Movies, All Time Classics, Must See Movies List By Bobby Sing
