Rock out with your Hitchcock out

One of Hitchcock's less eccentric classics, North by Northwest depicts the mishap of Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant), your average business man who gets tied up with some cold war spies. Mistaken as the US spy, George Kaplan, Thornhill is thrown into the chase of his life. The Russian spies soon frame Thornhill for the assassination of an United Nations Ambassador. As if it wasn't bad enough that he was on the run from the Russians, Thornhill now was considered a wanted man by the police as well. Along the way, he befriends the beautiful and seemingly innocent Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint), who assists Thornhill in his escape. She instructs him to meet with the true Kaplan, and it turns out to be a set up. A plane attempts to kill Thornhill and he loses his trust of the girl but can't help but fall for her beauty. After tirelessly searching for Kaplan, Thornhill discovers that the name is simply a cover, and the real Kaplan never truly existed. Still under the cover as Kaplan, Thornhill agrees to meet once again with the main Russian spy, Vandamm, who is seen to have relations with Eve. Working on the side of the US government at this point, Thornhill bargains with Vandamm, but he won't have it. In the mix, Eve creates a plan of her own and shoots Thornhill with blanks, giving them both a chance to escape the wrath of Vandamm. After many struggles, the two succeed and elope.

The plot line was semi confusing to me (then again I did sleep throughout the entire movie), and I did see some plot holes, but I'm sure the film was revolutionary for its time. The one thing I noted most was the usage of harsh light on the green screen. Particularly in the car scenes, the green screen was extremely evident. The moving windows were not so convincing. Furthermore, at Mount Rushmore and the train station, some shadows were cast onto the green screen. In this case, the shadows were present where they should not have been, which made the work of the green screen more evident. 

The story of the cold war and its tensions between the US and Russian is depicted through Roger Thornhill- an average man thrown into the world of spies.

The usage of the green screen was extremely effective. This low budget style looks amazing if done well and is so much easier to manipulate. Since I have problems with audio outdoors--the green screen is a safe bet to keep away from the wind.

Intentional lighting is something I have already learned but need to master. I don't always take the time to use lighting with purpose and it would bring more depth to my shots. 

The director of this film did a great job casting. I thought the actors were fantastic for the time period and I really like the aesthetic of older movies.

The movie would be better if less green screen was used. It was effective for some shots but could have been better if it wasn't as noticeable and often.

I definitely want to know if the movie was originally shot in black in white, because if it was remastered, I think it was done fantastically. Although everyone else claimed that the men looked really orange, it didn't necessarily bother me. 

North by Northwest. Perf. Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 1959. Videocassette.