The master of suspense, and his greatest scenes.

For almost a century Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) is being ranked as one of the most influential directors of all time. He was one of the first directors who dared to experiment with film and had rules for film-making. Those rules are still being followed today. Generations of people have been watching the films made by Alfred Hitchcock, and the films never seem to get out of time. The most famous film made by Hitchcock is ‘Psycho’ (1960). Most of the critics and viewers, therefore, claim that Psycho is best film by Alfred Hitchcock. However, a lot of hardcore Hitchcock fans seem to disagree, because Hitchcock directed two of the most iconic scenes in film history during the making of North By Northwest (1959). That is the reason why the hardcore fans think that the film North By Northwest performs better.

The film is written by Ernest Lehman (1915-2005) and is the second best action film of all time, (Thomson, 2010). In addition “..it is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest forays into “wrong man” territory..”, (Monahan, 2015). The lead actor in the film is Cary Grant, who plays the advertising executive named Roger O. Thornhill. In the film, criminals mistakenly think that Thornhill is a spy named George Kaplan. The spy, however, does not exist. The criminals kidnap Thornhill, and bring him to their leader, the foreign criminal Philip Vandamm. The criminals try to assassinate Thornhill, but when this fails, they frame Thornhill for murder. Consequently, Thornhill is on the run from the police, but he manages to get on board of 20^th Century Limited bound for Chicago. On this train, Thornhill meets the beautiful, blond Eve Kandall. Eve helps Thornhill by lying to the police. Eve, however, is not as innocent as she seems. The film ends in an exciting rescue and escape at the top of Mount Rushmore.

The scene where Roger Thornhill is being chased by a crop duster, and the scene where the climax on Mount Rushmore happens, are both considered to be some of the most iconic scenes of all time. The climax on Mount Rushmore being the increasing danger for Thornhill and Eve, which results in a near-death-experience for both characters, when they almost fall of the mountain together. These scenes are best remembered by the viewers after watching the film. In these scenes, Hitchcock uses shots and multiple cinematography styles to convey information to the viewer. Through the use of one-point perspective, the viewer knows where to look within the shot. The perspective is very clear and logical, making the scenes and the shots understandable.

The film really shines in cinematography, script, complexity, editing, directing, and mise-en-scene, but what gives a film the right amount of action, suspense, and romance are script and special effects. Thanks to the razor-sharp writing by Lehman, the expertise as a director from Hitchcock, and the amazing delivery from Grant, the viewers find themselves sitting on the edge of their seats, while watching the iconic scenes in North By Northwest. The scene where Thornhill is being chased by a crop duster is very exciting, due to the amazing shots and special effects. The plane really seemed to be chasing Thornhill, which was an amazing experience and special effect, at that time of the film industry. The scene and the special effects aged amazing. Viewers are still excited while watching this scene. The special effects do not seem to be too old, or too fake for modern viewers. In the Mount Rushmore scene, the film is at its top of excitement. The viewer can hardly be relaxed, since the two main characters, who we got to know very well, seem to be losing their lives. The scene has a climax in excitement, therefore, viewers get more involved in the film, since they feel like they have something to lose.

There are a lot of differences between the iconic scenes in North By Northwest and for example, the iconic shower scene in Psycho, that prove that North by Northwest has superior scenes. In the Psycho scene, the leading female character is taking a shower, when all of the sudden she gets brutally murdered. Compared to the North By Northwest scene, the Psycho is very short. The character we care for dies in this scene. In the North By Northwest scenes the characters we care for get in trouble and they have near-death-experiences, causing the viewer to be more involved, but also relieved when the characters manage to survive. The scenes are also much longer in North By Northwest. Both scenes have a climax in excitement. We know the danger, the danger increases, the character has the near-death-experience, and then the character manages to survive the situation. Thanks to these climaxes the viewer gets more involved since the viewer knows that there is danger that comes closer. That involvement lasts longer, since the scenes and climaxes are longer.

These scenes, out of all scenes in the film, are remembered the most, because they are exciting, create suspense and make sure that the viewer is completely involved in the story. These scenes are considered to be iconic now. The crop duster scene was such a success that it became the referring scene when someone wanted to talk about the film. The scenes offer everything that a good action scene could possibly offer. Hitchcock made the scenes in a very unique way, that was never done before the film came out. Therefore, these scenes are now considered to be the best scenes that Alfred Hitchcock ever made.