I never considered myself much of a movie person, but thanks to Rose Scholars and my friends, I’ve started seeing (and enjoying) some classic films. When I told my parents that the film of the week was North by Northwest, they told me that I would be sure to love it, as it is one of the greatest films ever produced. I did some research and noted that Rotten Tomatoes, a movie database, gave the film a 100% rating. However, as I watched the movie, I never understood what was so great about it.

The film is about an innocent man, Roger Thornhill, who is mistaken for George Kaplan and consequently kidnapped and hunted by Vandamn. The first scene, which features Vandamn trying to get Thornhill to drink himself to death, concludes with Thornhill driving around steep mountain roads while severely intoxicated. I believe that this scene was supposed to be considered to be thrilling, but I found it simply comical. Later, in an exchange between Thornhill and Lester Townsend, a man throws a knife, killing Townsend, which Lester then pulls out of the man, setting himself up as the murderer. This seemed rather dumb to me and a cheesy way to set the plot.

The ending, which clearly is supposed to be the most thrill-inducing part of the film, shows Thornhill and Eve Kendall, a woman who was originally working against him but has since fallen in love with Thornhill, fleeing from Vandamn’s men by climbing Mount Rushmore. The Professor, a man now working to protect Thornhill, kills off the two men and Eve and Roger get away. The two presumably live a happy life in peace.

These “action” scenes just seemed so dry to me, so it left me wondering what made this movie so popular back in the 1950s. I have not seen a lot of movies from that time period, but solely from this movie, I can conclude that cinematography and technology were no way as advanced as they are today. It seems as if this movie was simply far ahead of its time when it was initially created, as to me, it is a rather dull thriller compared to newer movies.