North by NorthWest

Poster Analysis

'North by NorthWests's' American release poster helps to convey the over feel of the film within one singular image. The main character, Roger Thornhill, is portrayed at the very front & centre of the poster, with a crop duster plane chasing after Thornhill in the background. Having Thornhill in the foreground helps to convey the fact that he holds the starring role of the production. The crop duster plane chasing after him in the background represents a huge part of the film's plot, that is based around Thornhill constantly being on the run from foes far bigger & more powerful than himself.
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Directed by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock, with writing from Ernest Lehman, North By NorthWest follows the story of innocent New York advertising executive Roger Thornhill (Carry Grant), as he is mistaken as a government agent by a group of foreign spies. these pursue Thornhill across the country as he tries to survive, & uncover why he is being chased in the first place. This thrilling piece of movie magic also stars big names such as Eva Marie Saint & James Mason.

Hitchcock takes great care in his productions, & made sure that ever scene had been visually planned in advance. He even made sure he had learned all of the film's dialogue before shooting & so rarely needed to look at the script throughout production. A conductor was asked to conduct an orchestra without a score. When directing, Hitchcok liked to imagine he was looking at a cinema screen, & never looked at the camera.

North By North West is what is called an archetypal thriller. This is due to the fact that it follows most, if not all, of the existing thriller conventions. Thrillers are often characterised by their fast pace & frequent action, something that North By NorthWest definitely adopts. From the very beginning of the film we are thrown into the action as Roger Thornhill is unexpectedly kidnaped with no explanation, leaving both him & the audience stunned at why this occurrence may be happening. Another thriller convention that North By North West follows is that of a "resourceful hero who must thwart the plans of more powerful & better equipped villains". Considering that Thornhill is just an ordinary working man & his foes are a great group of foreign spies, his current predicament definitely conforms to that of the previously mention thriller convention. The extensive use of devices such as suspense, red herrings & cliff hangers is also a commonly used thriller convention. Suspense can be seen throughout the film during various scenes as Thornhill attempts to thwart his enemies & uncover the mystery of his current predicament. This can be seen during the Auction scene in which Thornhill confronts his antagonists. He engages in an intense conversation with said criminals & receives rather upper class, yet chilling, death threats. All this happens rather quietly & secretively as a means of not disturbing the auction, & not alerting anyone to their muderous activities, making the whole scenario all the more tense. The auction itself almost serves as a red herring, distracting onself from the real issue at hand, which is the conflict between Thornhill & the foreign spies. Another recurring red herring throughout the film is that of the Tarascan statue that Vandamm buys. This only distracts from the true plot of the production, & the only thing we really are about, which Thornhill & Kendal's safety. 
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Setting is one of the most important elements of film making, & Hitchcock knew this. He decided to take Mount Rushmore, a symbol of order, & use it as the setting for a scene displaying total & utter disorder. This unorthodox use of such locations is one of the many elements that make sure that Hitchcock's productions continue to impress. Hitchcock also acknowledges the fact that audiences sometimes need relief from suspense, stating that we sometimes need a change of pace, possibly a laugh. This may explain the auction scene's rather comical (yet still extremely clever & thrilling) ending.

Thrillers are generally characterised as villain driven plots, whereby the antagonists present various obstacles for that the hero must overcome. This is very true for North By NorthWest, as it is the villains who kidnap Thornhill in the first place, starting off the film's plot, & continue to antagonise & track him down throughout the film's duration. 

Hitchcock often includes McGuffins in his work in order in order to help push the film along & help the action occur. In North By NorthWest the McGuffin is that of the Microfilm. Though the Microfilm is an important plot device that helps drives the movie forward, it is not important to the audience & we rarely for it's whereabouts, & only care for Thornhill's safety. 
One of Hitchcock's most famous thriller related lines is when he stated that thrillers allow the audience to "dip their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like". This can be said for North By NorthWest as there are some moments where Thornhill's life is being seriously threatened, & we really do fear for him. The film expressing some rather frightening scenes, but does not venture into horror territory, one of the main reasons it sits comfortably in the thriller genre. 

For a film of it's time women are not represented too harshly. Whilst there definitely seems to be some male superiority, women are also presented in a rather possitive manner as well. This male superiority can be seen during the auction scene, where Vandamm is standing with his hand around Kendal's neck area, gently stroking her as though she were some form of pet.