I had the pleasure Saturday of watching my first Alfred Hitchcock motion picture in a movie theater. I’ve seen most all of Hitchcock’s movies on television, and even own a dozen or so on DVD.
But there is something about the theater experience that made watching North By Northwest special. The film is 52 years old, so obviously society has changed. Cars looked ancient, we no longer go into phone booths to make calls, and hotel clerks don’t give out room numbers of guests any more. But Hitchcock’s techniques are timeless: his camera angles, crackling dialogue, crisp color cinematography, on-location shooting, attention to set details, Bernard Hermann’s wonderful score, Cary Grant in his prime and the insight into the human psyche. Particularly apt was the callous attitude of a CIA authority figure regarding the potential loss of life of innocent bystander Cary Grant caught in the middle of Cold War espionage.
North By Northwest is one of the few movies I can enjoy viewing again and again. A local non-profit theater is showing a Hitchcock film every Saturday this month. I don’t think I’ll go back, though. They are charging 2011 prices for admission.
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