An Affair to Remember (1957)

4/5

Leo McCarey's An Affair to Remember is a surprisingly affecting and powerful tale of true love and bad timing. Nickie Ferrante (Grant) is a notorious playboy Lothario, who is finally settling down and marrying the heiress of a fortune (Patterson). Terry McKay (Kerr) is a professional night club singer, and also currently engaged (Denning). They meet on a transatlantic ocean liner and, of course, fall in love. Once they realize this, unfortunately, the boat is about to dock, and they promise each other that they will meet again in 6 months at the Empire State Building and marry each other then. But things do not quite work out as planned.

The first half of the movie was, I'll be honest, forgettably straightforward. Nothing really stood out, except one scene where they visit Nickie's grandmother (Nesbitt), and I almost stopped watching the movie halfway through. I'm glad I did not give up, however, as the second half is uniquely fascinating and tragically beautiful. The scenes where they break off their respective engagements is ferociously brutal, heart-rending, and touching. What perfect filmmaking, where Kerr walks out onto the balcony and you see the bay door reflecting an image of the Empire State Building by her side. And the final scene brings you to the breaking point--you cannot help but feel with all your heart when you watch it. It is overflowing with regret, with mercy, with pride, and with so much human imperfection as to make your whole body tingle with emotion. Despite any issues I have with the first half of the movie (and all the cheesy singing), I can't help but remember all the good things it delivers on. For any romantic out there, you need to watch this film.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050105/

North by Northwest (1959)

4.9/5

Hitchcock's North by Northwest is a genuinely satisfying movie from start to finish. It is probably not one of Hitchcock's best, but it is certainly one of his most enjoyable. The plot follows everyman Roger Thornhill (Grant) after getting kidnapped by Mr. Vandamm (Mason) and his goons. They have confused him for a spy named George Kaplan and thus attempt to murder him. But he escapes (in an exhilarating and hilarious getaway) and then retaliates by trying to find out who his assailants were and who the real George Kaplan is. But they are one step ahead of him and frame him for murder! He leaves town on a train that is crawling with cops, but he gets to Chicago undetected with the help of Eve Kendall (Saint), who we later learn is not at all the stranger she appears to be.

The plot is surprisingly complicated in its typed-out retelling, but it's actually quite easy to follow when you're watching the movie. That is one of Hitchcock's strengths: to think in the shoes of someone watching the movie for the first time, to tell it exactly according to what they are thinking, and to engage the audience every step of the way. The acting is pitch-perfect as you can expect from the stellar actors. Cary Grant is witty in his jokes and charismatic in his delivery. Eva Marie Saint is just the right amount of sexy in her subtle innuendo without being slutty and just the right amount of hurt in her furious indignation without being melodramatic. The special effects are a bit dated, but they still work because they're not essential to the story/experience--they just add to it. Hitchcock flexes his suspense muscles and puts them to good use in this film. Overall, this is an incredibly engaging and stimulating movie by the true master of suspense.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053125/

Notorious (1946)

5/5

Hitchcock has been named the master of suspense, and for good reason. Notorious remains one of the most nail-biting movies I have ever seen. It is one of Hitchcock's finest films, without a shred of doubt. The plot follows Cary Grant as a federal agent involved in the German spying business and Ingrid Bergman as the daughter of a German recently found guilty of treason. He has been told by his superiors to enlist her help, and after meeting they quickly fall in love. The job she is requested to do involves spying on a man who used to love her, played expertly by Claude Rains, and so the complicated web of emotions begins. I will let you enjoy discovering the rest of the plot when you check it out yourself.

The more I watch Hitchcock's Notorious, the fonder I grow of it. The first time I saw it I gave it 4 stars, the second time I gave it 4.9 stars, and finally I've come to my senses on this third viewing and given it the 5 stars it deserve. Watching it again, I am struck by its subtle expert touches. Hitchcock uses common, everyday items and images to generate suspense: wine bottles on ice, keys on a keychain, coffee cups on saucers. He uses restrained editing and long takes with unerring camera movement to build that suspense, instead of rapid-fire cutting or close-ups on sweating faces. He uses silence and our own imagination to terrify us instead of trite musical chords or gratuitous violence found in modern movies. He uses intelligence to craft the ending instead of cheap twists, and the result is something that absolutely cannot be forgotten. That walk down those stairs is awe-inspiring in its simplicity; that return trip to the house remains haunting in its condemnation.

But the spying is only part of the movie. There is an equally memorable romance that both flabbergasted me with its brutality and floored me with its beauty. The performances by all three leads are compelling and believable, heart-breaking and redemptive. The love story and espionage tale are not two discrete parts of one movie, but are intertwined in both plot and emotion. Each makes the other more fulfilling and rewarding. The suspense is more terrifying because we care about those involved, and the romance is more powerful because the stakes are so high. Can you imagine what that kiss outside the wine cellar must have been like for them? Can you imagine?

Notorious is unrelenting in many departments. It succeeds because it traps us in its world, it envelops us in its terrifying environment, and it softens us with empathy for its characters. We feel everything we are supposed to because Hitchcock is such a deft magician with the art of film. He absolutely controls us in this movie, but he does it with heart and humor. And we walk out of this movie thankful for his talent, thankful for the entire experience.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038787/

To Catch a Thief (1955)

4/5

To Catch a Thief feels like North by Northwest lite. It is an entertaining film by a man who knows how to entertain, but nothing more. It is neither realistic nor relevant. Instead, it is escapism at its best, extravagant people doing extravagant things on extravagant sets wearing extravagant clothing and extravagant jewelry. Cary Grant's charisma and Grace Kelly's beauty are unparalleled in this film and work wonderful together here. Though the plot focuses on Grant as a reformed cat burglar who is suspected of new thefts and has to clear his name, it's not a heist movie at all. It is closer to a romantic comedy with an adventure/James Bond-style overtone. And it works so well. There are so many funny scenes to love in this movie, but my personal favorite is when Grant "accidentally" drops a chip into a woman's cleavage at the casino. I think I enjoyed the movie a little bit more than I should have because it takes place at Cannes, and I'd just been there earlier this summer. While watching the movie, I recognized the beach and the Carlton Hotel that Kelly's character and her mother were staying at--the same one that I saw Jerry Seinfeld zipline down as a promotion stunt for Bee Movie!

It does have its problems though. Hitchcock seems to overindulge in many shots, loving his relatively new color photography and not wanting to cut any of it out. There are so many lingering, unnecessary shots of countrysides and the like. The plot isn't perfectly cohesive and half the dialogue is in French, untranslated. There are a lot of side plots and plot holes and an unsurprising "twist" as to the identity of the copycat burglar. Still, a very entertaining movie and worth checking out for Hitchcock fans, Grant fans, and Kelly fans.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0048728/

Suspicion (1941)

3/5

The one word to describe Suspicion is disappointing. The plot follows Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine as they embark on a relationship together, only for her to find out that he's not all that he seems. She gets suspicious of him and soon begins to fear for her life. Like any Hitchcock, the thrills and suspense are there in full force. The tension ratchets up as the movie slowly but deliberately evolves from an air of unease to outright fear and paranoia, as only Hitchcock knows how to do. The acting was actually quite good (subtle and not overly sensational). I really really loved the character of Beaky--what great comic relief while still maintaining a naturalistic air of realism. He's a caricature, but never feels like it because of the brio and verve in his role.

Being a Hitchcock, albeit an early one, the movie has a lot to live up to. And it does. Up until the final 60 seconds of the film, where it falls completely flat and disgraces itself with a silly, dissatisfying ending. Underwhelming seems too tame a word to describe it. It is so out of left field, coming from such a strong start and from such a standout director, that you are completely blown away by how such a bad ending could have sneaked its way into an otherwise stellar film. I also though the beginning was a bit slow compared to his later, better pieces. Instead of heightened tension, the film started out in an eerily unsettling way because everything about Grant's character was off just a little but you couldn't put your finger on what it was about him. It paced itself well from there and, while it was interesting and effective, it wasn't exactly what I wanted or expected from his movie. Also, the music was a little more gimmicky and less appropriate than in his later ones. I would like to point out that the same basic plot can be found in Nicholas Ray's phenomenal noir In a Lonely Place, which stars Humphrey Bogart. I was enraptured much more and found it thematically richer than this film; I highly recommend it. If Suspicion's plot attracts you to it, go see In a Lonely Place instead. You will not regret it.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0034248/