Half a century ago seems like a long time; but it was around that time that one of Hollywood’s most gifted and eccentric directors was in his prime; making classic films that would set the stage for today’s filmmakers. Alfred Hitchcock was one the kind of director that doesn’t really exist anymore; similar to Orson Welles, his films were carefully crafted masterpieces that were so layered that even today there are countless books and websites dedicated to analyzing his works. North by Northwest was screenwriter, Ernest Lehman’s attempt to create the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures, did he succeed?
Film 
Alfred Hitchcock gets a lot of credit for this film, which is well deserved for the great direction, however the unsung hero is the screenwriter, Ernest Lehman. Everything from the overall plot to the dialogue are well crafted. The fact that such a great script was helmed by a talented and influential director is what really makes the film astonishing, for a script is only as good as how it’s directed.
Before the movie starts were treated with some really amazing and artfully done opening credits, this is obviously way before visual graphics and thus making it even more impressive.We’re then thrown into a classic “you’ve got the wrong guy” caper, which combines a great performance by Cary Grant and some of the best chases from the 50’s.
The film weds elements of humour and suspense so well, there are few gags in the film (such as the taxi cab stealing in front of the hotel) that almost feel like we’re watching a slapstick comedy, but they’re quickly followed up with these great scenes of subtle thrills that really keep you at the edge of your seat in a way that only Hitchcock could do.
A great side-not e about the film is that Hitchcock had to use some modern guerrilla filmmaking approaches to get a shot of the U.N. building, which was off-limits to filmmakers at the time. Hitchcock had to hide a camera in a taxi cab in order to get the shots, which really goes to show the tenacity and will of one of Hollywood’s greatest directors.
It’s hard to review a Hitchcock film and it’s almost better to see them for yourself with no preconceived notions towards what you think they’ll be like. Hitchcock’s films are from another galaxy when compared to movies made today, his psychological approach to the medium is one of the factors that sets him apart from the directors today; whether it’s his surreal cinematography to the connotative meaning behind his shots (train entering the tunnel comes to mind), he’s a rare breed of director that really knows how to make a well-rounded film and North by Northwest is a prime example of such.
Video
North by Northwest is brought to us in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and uses the 1080p/VC-1 codec. The quality within this new restoration is nothing short of amazing. When dealing with 50 year old film you wouldn’t expect such a vibrant and clear picture.
It’s definitely a great to see a classic film get the restorative treatment it deserves and everything from the contrast to the colour are treated perfectly. The colours throughout are vivid and should be for it has been said they took a black & white master over the colour master due to fading and recoloured the film using filters; painstaking and expensive… but overall worth every penny for this is one is a great transfer!
Audio 
The audio is definitely a come-down from the great quality of the video. Coming at us in TrueHD 5.1 in English and unfortunately only MONO for French, Spanish, German, Italian & Portuguese. There are subtitles for all the languages above as well as Danish, Swedish, Finnish, & Norwegian. Make note of that due to the low decibel mix of the film, might make a lot of us reach for the subtitles function to actually make out what everyone is saying.
The score and foley comes through louder than everything else, which is bitter sweet . The sound is very clear but when compared to the quiet dialogue there’s a lot of those surprise noise jumps in overall level.
The film is definitely not meant to push the limits of our sound systems so I forgive the mixing issues, however for the diehard fans there is a significant difference between the video quality and audio quality.
Special Features
Ranging from a great commentary track to a series of documentaries and featurettes that covers both the making of the film and another which covers Hitchcock and his directing style; the collection of special features is definitely expansive for a film that wasn’t a part of a time where behind-the-scenes was remotely as important as it is nowadays in the consumer purchase. However that being said, the special features are all presented in SD .
The commentary track with Ernest Lehman stands out as my favourite, but there are some great informative documentaries that really were insightful and gave me some backstory about a film that, although it’s classic status, I didn’t know much about.
If you’re not picky about the fact there are no HD extras, then this is probably the definitive North by Northwest collection.
Final Thoughts 
The film is a classic and it’s definitely one of those essentials that should be in a film buff’s collection. There are many other great Hitchcock films that may be a higher priority, but for the quality transfer and the great wealth of special features, it’s definitely worth a rental for an evening of cinematic history and a display of Hollywood at it’s best.
