Blu-Ray Review: Alfred Hitchcock Makes Striking HD Debut With ‘North by Northwest’

CHICAGO – It is as difficult for me to write critically about “North by Northwest” as it would be for someone to discuss their first love. The films of Hitchcock are, without question, why I do what I do and my only concern, as they start to be released on Blu-Ray, is that they won’t live up to the bar set by the package put together for first Hitch movie on the next-gen format - “North by Northwest”.

Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0

What more could possibly be written about “North by Northwest”? As co-star Martin Landau recently told me, it played to him like a “greatest hits” of Hitchcock’s career to that point. This is Alfred Hitchcock at the top of his game playing with themes that had been a part of his career since silent film. Released in between “Vertigo” and “Psycho,” “North by Northwest” is one of the most beloved films ever made (currently #32 on IMDB’s readers poll of film history) and the 50th Anniversary Edition recently released on Blu-Ray makes it 1080p-clear why it has stood the test of time.

North by Northwest was released on Blu-Ray on November 3rd, 2009.
Photo credit: Warner Brothers Home Video

“NxNW” would mark the fourth time that Hitchcock would work with one of his best leading men, the still-underrated-as-an-actor Cary Grant, as a Manhattan advertising executive plunged into a world of spies, double crosses, and the constant threat of death. Co-starring Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, and Landau, “North by Northwest” is Hitchcock’s best film about “being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” a common theme in everything from “The Man Who Knew Too Much” to “Rear Window”. With timeless set-pieces like the legendary crop duster scene and a climax on Mount Rushmore, “North by Northwest” is one of Hitchcock’s most purely entertaining films. A great choice to start the legend of the director on Blu-Ray.

North by Northwest was released on Blu-Ray on November 3rd, 2009. Photo credit: Warner Brothers Home Video

And Warner Brothers has recognized that a Hitchcock classic has become a release that can’t just be shuffled off to Blu-Ray. Hitch fans are film lovers and they need to be treated with the respect that a great studio like WB gives their classics.

First, the film itself looks absolutely stunning. This is arguably the most well-balanced Blu-Ray transfer for a classic film to date. I’ve seen most of Hitchcock’s films more than once and there were times during this latest (and first HD) viewing that felt like I was watching it for the first time. The audio mix is similarly stellar.

As for special features, they are plentiful and fascinating. Who among us who can truly call themselves a film lover wouldn’t want to hear Martin Scorsese discussing what he loves about the work of Alfred Hitchcock? He’s only one of several great directors interviewed in the new documentary “The Master’s Touch: Hitchcock’s Signature Style”. Others include Curtis Hanson, Guillermo Del Toro, William Friedkin, and many more. The other new documentary, “North by Northwest: One for the Ages” focuses more on the film itself.

Additional special features imported from previous releases include a screenwriter commentary, music-only track, a feature-length TCM documentary narrated by Helen Mirren called “Cary Grant: A Class Apart,” “Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North by Northwest” hosted by Eva Marie Saint, a photo gallery, and a trailer gallery.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com