DVD Pick: 'North by Northwest' (50th Anniversary Edition)

Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959), starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, has been available on DVD for years, but Warner Home Video has released a 50th Anniversary Edition two-disc DVD set containing a version of the feature film that is restored from original VistaVision film elements. The picture quality is superior to that of previous DVD editions, there are two new documentaries, and bonus materials from previous DVD releases are brought over to the new edition.

Also, for the first time, the film has been released on Blu-ray. The Blu-ray disc provides all the same bonus materials as the 50th Anniversary Edition DVD set, and in addition comes packaged with a 44-page booklet.

A lighthearted thriller, North by Northwest is a great classic film that reflects old Hollywood at its best. Debonair Cary Grant manages the feat of being both glamorous and funny at the same time. Eva Marie Saint makes a wonderful Hitchcock icy blonde, and James Mason is perfect as the sophisticated villain. Hitchcock was never more successful at creating suspense blended with elements of humor and romance.

The movie's most celebrated sequence is where Cary Grant's city-slicker character is in an agricultural boondocks when he is attacked by a crop-dusting biplane. Also famous is the climax, in which characters climb around on the face of Mount Rushmore, where there are monumental likenesses of former US presidents chiseled in stone. (Hence the film's jokey working title The Man in Lincoln's Nose.)

The best new bonus material in the 50th Anniversary Edition is the hour-long "The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style." In it, eight directors, five writers, two costume designers, a makeup artist and a sound expert talk about Hitchcock's oeuvre. The points they make are illustrated by clips from eight Hitchcock movies from the 1940s and '50s, which means that both his early and his late work are ignored. Also, key films aren't mentioned since examples were drawn only from what is available from Warner Home Video. The analysis here, except for that given by Camille Paglia, is rather lightweight, but the documentary is nevertheless interesting and informative.

The other new extra is the 25-minute "North by Northwest: One for the Ages," in which four directors — Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential), Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), William Friedkin (The Exorcist) and Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) — and screenwriter Christopher MacQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) talk about some of the 1959 film's major scenes. As expected, they discuss the airplane attack and the chase on Mount Rushmore, but they also make the case that two less flashy scenes — the seduction in the train's dining car and the art auction — are fine examples of Hitchcock's skills. It's Lawrence who perhaps best sums up Hitchcock's style: "tasteful and elegant."

If you haven't already seen it, don't fail to watch "Cary Grant: A Class Apart," a 2004 documentary that is nearly an hour and a half long and covers Grant's life from youth through death. It has aired on PBS television as part of the American Masters series, and it was previously included on the Bringing Up Baby DVD set.

The North by Northwest 50th Anniversary Edition also carries over from previous DVDs a reasonably good 39-minute making-of that was produced in the year 2000. It's hosted by the film's lead actress, Eva Marie Saint, and has input from the screenwriter and the art director. Most of the movie was shot in a studio, but locations are identified — for example, the airplane attack, which supposedly takes place in Indiana, was shot near Bakersfield, California. Also, a goof where a boy covers his ears before a gun is fired is revealed. And you'll learn that when you hear Saint's line, "I never discuss love on an empty stomach," her lips show that during the take she actually said "make" rather than "discuss."

Also brought over from previous editions of North by Northwest is a feature-length audio commentary made in the year 2000 by screenwriter Ernest Lehman. For his efforts on the film, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, but had to compete against The 400 Blows and Wild Strawberries, and the winner was … Pillow Talk! In his audio commentary, Lehman doesn't add much that isn't available elsewhere on the 50th Anniversary Edition.

Below I have listed all the details for the 50th Anniversary Edition two-disc DVD set containing North by Northwest. On Blu-ray, the extras are the same, and in addition there is a 44-page booklet.

Release Date: November 3, 2009
Number of Discs: 2
Feature Film Runtime: 2 hours 16 minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Aspect Ratio 16x9, Color
English Dolby Digital
French Dolby Digital (Dubbed in Quebec)
Music-Only Audio Track
English Captions for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired
French Subtitles
Audio Commentary by Screenwriter Ernest Lehman
The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style (57 min.)
North by Northwest: One for the Ages (25 min.)
Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North by Northwest (39 min.)
Cary Grant: A Class Apart (1 hr. 27 min.)
Stills Gallery
Theatrical Trailers (2)
TV Spot