Destination Hitchcock: The Making of 'North by Northwest' (2000) (V)

Director:

Peter Fitzgerald

Genre:

Documentary | Short

Plot:

Hosted by Eva Marie Saint, the film's leading lady, this 40-minute documentary of Alfred Hitchcock's...

Plot Keywords:

Behind The Scenes | Cast | Film Making | Interview | Mistaken Identity

Cast

Eva Marie Saint	...	Herself - Host
Patricia Hitchcock	...	Herself (as Pat Hitchcock)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert F. Boyle	...	Himself (production designer)
Martin Landau	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ernest Lehman	...	Himself (screenwriter)

Runtime:

40 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Fitzfilm

Trivia:

This documentary is featured on the DVD for North by Northwest (1959), released in 2000.

Movie Connections:

References Spellbound (1945)

Interesting but not fascinating

Eva Marie Saint introduces a recollection of the making of the film North By Northwest. Going through shooting and the film launch a small collection of those involved and family recall what Hitchcock was like and how the film was made.

Given that few of the original cast were involved (two) and outside of them we have the screen writer, the production designer and Hitchcock's daughter, I was quite wary of how good this would be. Indeed at times it is very weak – and seems to rely on Saint too much. However there is plenty of interesting material here and most of the stories.

Saint is an OK host but a couple of comments hint at more dirt that she lets on – she comments on the fact that the studio didn't give the cast their own headgear by saying `of course…..' and things like that. Pat Hitchcock is OK but really only has personal asides. Likewise Boyle, Lehman and Landau only have the odd bit of interesting information to tell. However Saint's narration has plenty of good anecdotes and keeps the interest easily.

Overall this manages to be interesting if not earth shattering despite the lack of interviewees available.