Short plot
summary |
|
Roger O Thornhill
(Cary Grant) is mistaken for George Caplin, a fictitious spy. He is kidnapped,
made to drink a bottle of Bourbon and then drives off... he is stopped by the
police, returns to the scene of his kidnapping, but nobody seems to believe a
word he says... especially when one of his abductors seems well connected and
is about to give an address at the United Nations... |
Hilarious
Working Title (Source: IMDB) - REAL |
| The
Man in Lincoln's Nose |
What our
panel of critics thought |
|
"I bet
if Grant had chopped a tree down in that suit and tie it would have remained pristine." "Is
Grant wearing one of those
self cleaning suits that were so popular in comics in the 1950's? Self cleaning
Brylcream too me thinks." "There
is something about Cary Grant's voice that hypnotizes me... I aa--mmm- ffeeeeeling
sllleeeeeepppyyy.... " "This
is real classic super groovy cinema." "Did
I hear that blonde say the 'Brook trout is a bit trouty, but good?' What the hell
was she expecting, after ordering trout and all?" "There
is something amiss about the whizzing scenery while our heroes sit in the train
eating their 'trouty trout'. When looking at her it's all bushy, when cutting
to him its just the sea..." "Uhm...
small tip here. If you are standing talking to someone and they are killed by
the method of a knife thrown in the back. Don't pull it out and stand there holding
it so a photographer can take a picture of you..." "Love
Hitchocock's telegraphing of the love act by the train entering a tunnel at the
end. Perfecto!" |
Please
tell me the ending or plot details if necessary
|
George
Caplin never existed, he was a front for a mysterious group's law enforcement
dealings, could be CIA, FBI, who knows... The blonde love interest, Eve Kendall
(Eva Marie Saint), is a secret agent (working for
the CIA, FBI or whoevers) and
she seems to have gotten herself into a spot of bother... Thornton/Caplin
(Cary Grant) has fallen for Eve and tries to help her out when he discovers her
predicament. She is working undercover with a group led by Phillip Vandamm (James
Mason) - they have just realized that she is not to be trusted and are about to
kill her. In
an attempt to protect her cover, Kendall supposedly kills Thornton but she only
fires blanks at him. Thankfully, this is the only gun the baddies have so whenever
they hold anyone up it's possible to just walk away - he he he. Our heroes eventually
escape by climbing over that South Dakota mountain with the president's faces
carved in... The
last we see of our love birds is that they are about to start boinking on the
train again... but don't worry 1950's folk - he calls her Mrs Thornton!!! Que
train going into tunnel - oohh ahhh missus... |
Quotable quote |
|
Cary Grant,
just after being kidnapped: "Don't tell me where we're going, surprise me!" |
Justify
this movie's existence in the classic strand. From
theVoiceof Reason.com's Veritable Cornucopia |
|
A
rattling good screenplay with Hitchcock really only needing to film it by numbers.
A few nice touches: - looking
at the traffic going past in the reflection of mirror-windowed high-rise buildings
-
the camera sweeping supposedly through the train from the outside to inside the
carriage (although it is a bit clunky)
- and
that crop sprayer scene, filmed to perfection
It's
all a load of old nonsense and you have to suspend your disbelief at times (it
was lucky the guy wrestling Thornton on the President's mountain was such a butter
fingers or he could have held on a bit longer rather than plummeting to his death
so easily like he did). Our heroes are also saved just in the nick of time at
the end. All
in all it's a classy movie and Cary Grant's voice is truly hypnotic - completely
calm and yet believable. However, I don't remember seeing him smile more than
a couple of times. |
What
snack should I eat while watching this movie? |
|
Brook trouty
trout©®.
|
What
should I wear while watching this movie at home? |
| Gray
suit, white shirt and gray tie. |
Is there enough licky love in this film? |
|
Nothing is shown,
but there is what probably was a reasonably shocking hint at a sex scene between
strangers for the late 1950's. Lots of goldfish all-mouth fighting fish type kisses
and hands round the backs of necks. Not much pash, although the train cabin scene
is surprisingly erotic. |
How
funny is this film? |
|
A superbly darkly
comic at times effort. Grant is completely convincing as the completely in charge
man out of control. |
Does
this film stand up to rigorous reality testing? |
|
A few moments
let the movie down: a)
Thornton is put in the driving seat when he is made drunk by the baddies - he
easily manages to push his kidnapper out of the car... b)
Thornton hides in the pull down bed compartment on the train: how likely is that? c)
There is seemingly only one gun in the baddies possession and it only has blanks
in it. d)
Grant is on his back wrestling with his attacker on the mountain and manages to
push him off with a quick flick. e)
Just in the nick of time, while he is standing on Grant's hand to get him to fall
off the mountain, the baddy is shot.
|
Could
you make out while watching this movie? |
|
This is, at
times, a nicely erotic movie. The relationship between the 55 year old Grant and
the 26 year old spy is well done. |
What
can I take from this movie to make me a better person? |
| How
to shave with a dinky single blade safety razor without needing any small piece
of tissue paper to stem the inevitable blood. |
Estimate
number of deaths in this movie. |
|
4 |
Other
comments |
| This
is real classy cinema. It's got a story that pulls you in and keeps you rooting
for the hero right up until the end. The ending is what you would have hoped for
and you will have been happy you made the journey. Popular amongst critics. |
Date
of review |
| December
20 , 2004 |