Maybe I’m stupid…
I’m sometimes disappointed to find that the old classics haven’t held up over time. Yesterday I watched “North by Northwest” first the first time in about 10 years.
Thankfully, this Hitchcock masterpiece still plays pretty well. Sure, it has its share of implausibility and dated language and attitudes, but it’s also chock full of action, suspense, humor and romance. Definitely worth watching.
Anyhow, getting to the point of this bloggage. I don’t quite get the lynchpin plot point of this movie.
If you haven’t seen it: advertising man Roger O Thornhill is mistaken for a secret agent named Kaplan by a bad guy named Townsend (and later revealed to be Van Damme). Due to the mistaken identity, Van Damme tries to do away with Thornhill, thus spinning him into his thrilling adventure.
What I don’t get is: why or how did Van Damme ever arrive at the conclusion that Thornhill is Kaplan? Was this explained while my mind was wandering? I’ve already sent the DVD back to NetFlix so I can’t watch the movie again any time soon.
Anyone? Help a brother out?
Regardless of the answer, the movie is still highly recommended.
about 6 years ago
Hhhmmmmm…….. I saw this on for the first time a few months ago. Great flick. I think he gets them mixed up very early in the movie. Darn, if I wasn’t so hung over I’d be more help to ya.
That movie comes on fewquently on AMC and Oxygen (believe it or not) so lookout for it. If you have TiVo, search by Alfred Hitchcock as a Wish list and maybe it’ll come up.
about 6 years ago
He gets mixed up with Van Damme almost immediately. But I still think the source of Van Damme’s confusion is never revealed. This is, I suppose, in keeping with Hitchcock’s theories about the MacGuffin and its true lack of importance.
about 6 years ago
Probablly. Some of those “non-important” things in his movies are hysterical when you look back on them. The uranium-238 in Notorious is a great one.
about 6 years ago
Robbo: I watched this flick again this weekend (thanks again TiVo!). He gets mixed up with “Roger Kaplan” when in the gentelman’s club. There is a waiter asking if there is a Mr. Kapaln in the room because there is a call waiting for him. The call was placed by 2 hitmen that are waiting for Kaplan to reveal himself. While the waiter is asking around, Thorndike (Carey Grant) gets the waiters attention for another reason, but the hitmen think he’s about to take the call – and therefore believes Thorndike is Kaplan.
I think the McGuffin is this movie is what is on the microfilm or why that is so important.
about 6 years ago
Ah! Good deal. Still a fairly weak nail to hang the whole plot from, but the movie holds up just the same.