November 8 movie: North by Northwest. Speaking of movies with a gay subtext. Was it Hitchcock's birthday or something? TCM must have showed 20 of his movies.
Isn't it weird how it's easier to write about a bad movie than a good one. I don't have much to say about North by Northwest except that it's an excellent movie, and if you haven't seen it you really should. It's probably Hitchcock's most blatant use of a macguffin. I mean that scene at the airport where the government man tells Cary Grant that James Mason is in "buying and selling." "Buying and selling what?" asks Grant. "Oh, let's say government secrets." He's basically saying right in the script that it doesn't matter what the macguffin is; it's just the thing that drives the plot.
Leave a comment