Rating of
3.5/4
Sheer joy from start to finish!
MovieAddict - wrote on 12/26/12
Roger O. Thornhill (the O stands for nothing) is a Madison Avenue Advertising hotshot who dictates his letters to his secretary as he steals cabs, frets about his theater tickets, fusses over his mother and his two ex-wives. By raising his hand at an inopportune moment at drinks in a restaurant, Thornhill is mistaken for spy George Kaplan and is kidnapped by two thugs working for a crafty criminal, Phillip Vandamm (James Mason) who grills him on what he knows. And true to his middle name, Thornhill knows nothing!
As Thornhill becomes wrapped up in the life of his double, George Kaplan, he finds himself soon taken with Eve Kendall, a beautiful-yet-cold woman (but can he trust her?) played excellently by Eva Marie Saint and becomes embroiled in a tale of international intrigue as he attempts to find his true identity-and of course, Mr. Kaplan.
The three settings (New York, Chicago, and Mount Rushmore) contribute to the intrigue of the movie. The climb around Mount Rushmore is tense, though, of course, it is not the real mount itself, just a large, convincing replica.
Riveting: From the scenes in the corn fields where Thornhill is being chased by a crop dusting plane to the final show down on Mount Rushmore - This movie made my heart pound every second. Cary Grant must have inspired many actors as Roger O. Thornhill who delivers one funny line after another. And, yes that is Hitchcock during the opening credits who misses the bus.
