Verdict:
There is one problem with this movie and that’s the storyline. It is too convenient and far-fetched. Characters are a little too stupid for the sake of the plot, especially the main character. There is a scene where the main character gets attacked by an airplane, which make it look very cool, like a James Bond film, but the occasion does not call for such an attack at all, except for the purpose of showing off a cool scene.
Some movies like L.A. Confidential have several layers of subtle narrative that may end up losing the viewer, while this film goes the opposite direction, as far as to make its characters clarify out loud what had just occurred when it is not at all necessary.
Having said that, you may not care about the contrivances because the general structure of the film is so nice. It is so well shot and the performances are so great that the issues with the screenplay fade into the background.
The tension can be cut with a knife, and once it starts, it continues with barely a break until the end. Even though the movie can be predictable, you cannot wait to see what happens next anyway.
This is one of the more original and better looking movies. There are neat little tricks with the camera that keep surprising and this is all done in the 1950s, may I remind you. The vibes of each location are conveyed with excellency, like the vast middle-of-nowhere shot from a height with long perspective lines.
Perhaps a minor note, but this film also has quite a few good-looking night scenes for the time. There are no obvious day-for-night techniques used, which always look fake. North by Northwest does this much better, through a variety of other techniques.
Perhaps one visual issue is that it tends to use a lot of matte paintings to fill out the background, and unfortunately, they are quite noticeable.
A brief word on the music: it goes a long way to help the movie feel tense. You hear those careful brass tunes pulsating and keeping up the pressure.
This film has good actors all round, especially the villains, who aren’t full of anger or fake laughter, but are polite, intelligent and sharp looking. Especially the young Martin Landau has a brilliant expression on his face, which can turn very devious while hardly changing at all.
North by Northwest is, despite its plot issues, is a captivating movie. This is the sort of film that makes a person want to find and watch every Hitchcock movie there is out there.