Hitchcock’s ‘North by Northwest’ withstands test of time

NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

After the personal, dark romanticism of “Vertigo” and just before the stark horrifying vision of “Psycho,” Alfred Hitchcock helmed one of his finest films – one that stands as fresh today as it was when it played theaters in the summer of 1959.

“North by Norwest” is unlike any other film from Hitchcock.

It boasts a lavish budget, spectacular on-location photography and several suspenseful set pieces that remain among the finest put to film. The original screenplay by Ernest Lehman is airtight and full of great dialog. The musical score by Hitchcock regular Bernard Hermann is a classic.

And, of course, “North by Northwest” features an incredible cast headlined by Cary Grant as his most charming, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. How could a film like that go wrong? Well, the answer is simple: It doesn’t. “North by Northwest” is perfect.

Hitchcock’s classic ‘Psycho’ still scares more than 50 years later

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

PSYCHO (1960)

Shortly after “Psycho” settles into its story, Alfred Hitchcock does the unthinkable: He knocks off one of the film’s top-billed stars in a scene that still frightens today.

The infamous “Psycho” shower scene is a technical tour de force, an intricately designed and meticulously filmed sequence that remains one of  many highlights of Hitchcock’s lengthy film career. The sequence is so effective that film scholars still study it in-depth.

More than 50 years after “Psycho” opened in 1960, the movie still packs significant scares and suspense into a small, intimate story. A year after helming the hit comic thriller “North by Northwest” in 1959, Hitchcock went for something totally different: a scaled-down, low-budget, black-and-white thriller filmed with the crew from his hit television show.

With strong performances from Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins, a lean script from writer Joseph Stefano and taut direction from Hitchcock, “Psycho” is in a class all its own. “Psycho” jolted film-goers in much the same way that “The Exorcist” did 13 years later. Audiences had never seen anything quite like Hitchcock’s film.

Overlooked and underrated: Brian DePalma’s ‘Blow Out’

Editor’s Note: This is the first of three posts on films of Brian DePalma. 

By TERRY R.CASSREINO

BLOW OUT (1981

Brian DePalma built his reputation and successful career by directing, and sometimes also writing, suspenseful and memorable character-driven horror thrillers.

He modeled his early work on Alfred Hitchcock. Some critics derided DePalma as nothing more than a Hitchcock hack, directing films that echoed and mimicked the themes and settings of many Hitchcock classics.

“Obsession” (1976), set in New Orleans, was nothing more than a retread of “Vertigo” – replete with a haunting score by Hitchcock regular Bernard Hermann. “Sisters” (1973) and, especially, “Dressed to Kill” (1980) had an awful lot in common with “Psycho.” In fact, “Dressed to Kill” is practically a shot-for-shot remake.

When DePalma tried to re-invent himself, his efforts proved just as troubling. “The Untouchables” (1987) was a slick, uninteresting retread of a popular 1950s television crime drama and “The Bonfire of the Vanities” (1990) was a flat-out, unmitigated, uninteresting disaster.