Introduction to North by Northwest: A Look at the Director

Alfred Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899 in Leytonstone, England. He began his film career in London in 1919 as an illustrator of title cards for silent films. During his first years at Paramount, he learned scripting, editing, and art direction, moving into assistant directing in only a few short years. He began a full-on directing career in 1925 (Berg). In 1926, Hitchcock married his assistant director, Alma Reville. They had daughter named Patricia. Alma collaborated with Hitchcock on many of his films, but avoided public acclaim.

From his earliest films, Hitchcock has a flare for suspense and thriller films. It is said he “virtually invented” the genre (Berg). Generally speaking, Hitchcock invented and followed a basic formula with his films: “An innocent protagonist is falsely accused of a crime and becomes involved in a web of intrigue” (Berg). This is definitely the case in North by Northwest, as Carey Grant’s character has a mistaken identity, which throws him into a series of events. However, Hitchcock’s films also study family relationships and dynamics, specifically of the feminine characters. There is an association between female sexual abuse with criminal or violent behavior, which is another plot element in more than one of Hitchcock’s films: sex and violence association (Berg).

Suspense and thriller films are Hitchcock’s legacy. As he developed as a director, the genre seems to have developed as well. He learned from mistakes, and really developed the genre almost single-handedly. He learned that he could let the viewers in on more information than the protagonist, but that the protagonist couldn’t come to unknowing harm (Berg). This kind of mistake (allowing the protagonist to be harmed due to lack of information) rendered the viewer responsible in a way. Two films that flopped as a result of this mistake were Secret Agent and Sabotage (1936).

Hitchcock directed his first Hollywood film in 1940. So his European career lasted just over two decades. He became an American citizen in 1956 while remaining a British subject. Shadow of Doubt was his first big hit from Hollywood. It contained his normal suspense plot—a niece who discovers her uncle is a murderer—but the film also made commentary about a woman’s loss of identity when she becomes a married woman. This kind of social commentary is peppered throughout Hitchcock films.

Many of Hitchcock's films have twist endings and thrilling plots featuring depictions of violence, murder, and crime, although many of the mysteries function as decoys or "MacGuffins" meant only to serve thematic elements in the film and the extremely complex psychological examinations of the characters.

Hitchcock liked to experiment with cinematography, as in Vertigo and Rope. Rope was intended to look like a single, unedited shot, while Vertigo is famous for the murder that takes place in the shower (Berg). He pioneered the use of a camera made to move in a way that mimics a person's gaze, forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism. He framed shots to maximize anxiety, fear, or empathy, and used innovative film editing. These kinds of successful experiments earned Hitchcock technical acclaim in addition to his directing success.

Hitchcock’s “most inspired period” has been said to be the decade between 1950 and 1960. He made North by Northwest in 1959, and it is easily one of his most noteworthy pieces. Vertigo was made in 1960 and is perhaps equally as noteworthy, so the claim would seem to hold up (Berg).

“North by Northwest (1959) is perhaps Hitchcock's most fully realized film…[This] quintessential chase movie is full of all the things for which we remember Alfred Hitchcock: ingenious shots, subtle male-female relationships, dramatic score, bright technicolor, inside jokes, witty symbolism and above all masterfully orchestrated suspense” (Weiler).

The critics seem to have really enjoyed the piece. Although they felt the plot surrounding the actual mysterious events was a little less than serious. “The director and Ernest Lehman, his scenarist, are not, to put a fine point on it, really serious about their mystery. With a tongue-in-cheek attitude and a breezy sense of humor, they are off in high gear right at the beginning as they spin the somewhat improbable yarn of a successful, handsome Madison Avenue executive, who is mistaken for a Federal intelligence man by foreign agents and forcibly pushed into a succession of macabre situations that shock, amaze, perplex, and anger our once-debonair hero” (Weiler).

It is true, that the whole plot of the films is unrealistic and slightly tongue-in-cheek, but as the critics also stated, the locations, pace, and acting make for the perfect entertainment package.

“Since he is a peripatetic operative who loves to beat about the bush while beating about the countryside, director Alfred Hitchcock and a covey of willing and able traveling companions have made "North by Northwest," which was unveiled at the Music Hall yesterday, a suspenseful and delightful Cook's Tour of some of the more photogenic spots in these United States” (Weiler).

The conclusion was, “Although they are involved in lightning-fast romance and some loose intrigue, it is all done in brisk, genuinely witty and sophisticated style. With Mr. Hitchcock at the helm, moving "North by Northwest" is a colorful and exciting route for spies, counterspies and lovers” (Weiler).

Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades. Often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker, he came first in a 2007 poll of film critics in Britain's Daily Telegraph, which said: "Unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his characters and from us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else." Through his cameo appearances in his own films, interviews, film trailers, and the television program Alfred Hitchcock Presents, he became a cultural icon.

His last film, Family Plot was done in 1976, and Hitchcock died in 1980 (Berg). So, his career lasted for nearly all of his adult life. He died from liver failure and heart problems.

Works Cited

Berg, Charles Remirez. "Alfred Hitchcock: A Brief Biography." The Encyclopedia of Film. University Distinguished Teaching Professor Associate Professor Department of Radio-Television-Film The University of Texas at Austin, 1996. Web. .

Weiler, A. H. "North By Northwest (1959) Hitchcock Takes Suspenseful Cook's Tour; ' North by Northwest' Opens at Music Hall." New York Times (1959): n. pag. Web. 26 May 2011. .