Tag: North by Northwest
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Saul Bass’s Only Credit as Director Is a Weird Horror Movie About Ants
Even if you don’t know his name, you’ve seen his work: the hypnotic, dizzying poster for Vertigo (and its iconic opening credit sequence), the vaguely horrifying original poster for The Shining, and a pretty sizable selection of household logos, from Lawry’s to the goddamn Girl Scouts. On top of that, legendary graphic designer Saul Bass…
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Alfred Hitchcock Turned His Lowest-Budget Movie Into a Masterpiece
Seminal director Alfred Hitchcock made Psycho, widely considered one of the best films of all time, at 60 years old and on a shoestring budget. After a career already responsible for films that are the bread and butter of both scholars and students — Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, Vertigo, and North by Northwest…
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The Most Unforgettable Movie Mistakes, from ‘North by Northwest’ and ‘Elf’ to ‘Jackie Brown’ and ‘The Matrix’
Movies might seem like magic, but Hollywood’s favorite actors, directors, producers, stunt performers, props masters, costumers, script coordinators, and cinematographers are still only human. Since before that kid-extra prematurely covered his ears for Eva Marie Saint shooting Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest,” audiences have delighted in finding the little moments that make…
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‘The Birds’ Featured a Playful Cameo, and No, It’s Not Alfred Hitchcock
Did you know that the director responsible for some of the scariest movies known to humankind owned the cutest pets in existence? It’s true. When he wasn’t terrifying audiences in record-breaking droves, Alfred Hitchcock, the keen mind behind classics like Psycho, Rear Window, North by Northwest, and The Birds, served as the human companion to…
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Steve McQueen’s Bullitt Set A New Standard For What Car Chase Scenes Could Be
The car chase was one of many innovations of the New Hollywood era, where on-location authenticity supplanted studio backlot fakery. Yes, there were car chases in movies before Peter Yates’ “Bullitt,” but they tended to be laden with process shots featuring actors at the wheel while the image projected behind them veered out of control.…
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North By Northwest’s Famous Plane Chase Could Have Been A Lot More Cartoony
As Time notes, the title of Alfred Hitchcock’s spy thriller, “North by Northwest,” seems to be a reference to flying north on Northwest Airlines, which we see Cary Grant’s protagonist and mistaken identity victim, Roger Thornhill, do as he leaves Chicago for South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore National Memorial toward the end of the movie. There’s…
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Alfred Hitchcock Learned The Hard Way That Directing Cats Wasn’t One Of His Talents
It’s no secret that Alfred Hitchcock was a controlling director. Not only did he famously call actors cattle, Hitchcock also had no qualms about misleading studio executives in order to make “North by Northwest,” a passion project. Simply put, Hitchcock was cunning and skilled enough to get his way — and made it known when…
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As Eva Marie Saint Turns 97, Celebrating Her Seductive Turn in ‘North by Northwest’
In a career that spans more than seven decades, Eva Marie Saint has won an Oscar, played Superman’s mom, and acted alongside screen legends such as Paul Newman, Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando. A versatile performer, she appeared in comedies, historical epics (“Raintree County”), social dramas (“On the Waterfront”), and misbegotten superhero films (“Superman Returns”).…
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AFI Launches Robert Osborne Collection Featuring the TCM Historian’s Many Famous Movie Intros
The American Film Institute has announced the launch of The Osborne Collection, a celebration on the Institute’s website of the life and work of the beloved movie historian and whiz TCM host Robert Osborne, who died in 2017. The collection will debut on May 3, which is Osborne’s birthday, and it will feature many of…