Author: Craig Freese

North by Northwest
Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest is a thrilling film about mistaken identity. Hitchcock uses all of his unique directing techniques in North by Northwest. One special element in this film is how Hitchcock makes a point to place many major monuments and icons in the background of the scene. North by Northwest is filmed in color unlike Psycho, and right from the beginning its color is important. As in any Hitchcock film camera angles are essential to the plot of North by Northwest. There are certain scenes in this film that are incredibly memorable and much of their greatness is due to the direction of Hitchcock. Right from the start color was used to create a city full of people that looked pretty much the same. Everyone seemed to be wearing the same color clothing as they walked down the street. Hitchcock uses this to his advantage later in the film. The main character of the film Roger Thornhill changes into a red cap's uniform in order to sneak past the police and FBI at a train station. When the detectives on his trail discover he is wearing a red cap they begin searching all the red caps in the train station. Hitchcock creates a very ironic scene because throughout the film the colors were all fairly drab. So the last thing a fugitive would be caught wearing to escape would be a bright red cap. Throughout the film Thornhill was forced to wear a grey suit which for the most part blended fairly well into the background. The woman named Eve who Thornhill had become an acquaintance of however switched between different dresses of white and black. Her contrasting dress along with her actions cast a suspicion on her throughout the film. In the last action sequence Eve wears a bright orange dress, because her identity is now known by both the viewer and the characters in the film. North by Northwest includes two very memorable scenes due to their setting and cinematography. Eve Kendall told Roger he would meet the man he is mistaken for named George Kaplan at a bus stop in a remote part of Indiana. Thornhill was not yet suspicious of Eve so he got off the bus and waited on the side of the road in a desolate area with corn on all sides. All of a sudden a crop dusting plane starts flying towards Roger and tries to kill him. The scene is punctuated by Hitchcock's camera angles. Only once do we see a long range shot from the sky. Instead Hitchcock places the camera on the ground right with Thornhill. Another incredible scene takes place in the ending of the film. Thornhill and Eve escape from Vandamm's house along with a statue filled with microfilm. Since Vandamm' henchmen are chasing them Thornhill decides to try and evade them by climbing down Mt. Rushmore. Due to the various camera positions used the viewer not only sees the action of the pursuit but also sees the grandeur of Mt.Rushmore. These scenes are the most famous but Hitchcock employs untraditional camera angles throughout the film. After Thronhill is framed for Lester Townsend's murder we see an overhead shot from the top of the United Nations building. The camera peers down upon Thornhill running away from the scene. These scenes are often taken for granted in the Hitchcock's overall work. However small nuances like these found in North by Northwest distinguish Hitchcock from an average director.