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North by Northwest - free to the public... When I was a little girl, the only director whose name I knew was Alfred Hitchcock. Though I didn't see any of his signature films of the era in a theater - Rear Window (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959) - I must've seen the trailers, because I was well aware that he made exciting, colorful and glamorous movies.

Psycho (1960) was the first Hitchcock film I watched on in a theater. I saw Psycho (a far cry from his elaborate VistaVision/Technicolor creations of the 1950s) second-run (I was finally old enough) at the local movie house, the Ritz Theater, with a friend who'd already seen it. Pal that she was, she nudged me just as Arbogast, the detective, reached the staircase landing of the Bates home and a figure with a knife darted toward him...naturally, I shrieked long and loud...

I was fortunate enough to see Rear Window when it was re-released into theaters in 1984, but have seen most of Hitchcock's films on television. There's no question that his work comes through powerfully on TV, but his films were made – carefully - to be seen on full-size theater screens.

Last July the nearby Rafael Theatre screened the silent version of Hitchcock’s Blackmail (1929). The film exceeded my expectations in just about every way possible. I was surprised that it as well-crafted and fluid as it was and that it contained so many elements that were to become Hitchcock trademarks. Live accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra underscored the action and added dimension. And it was thrilling to be surrounded by an appreciative SRO audience.

Six weeks later, at noon on Sunday, September 5, the Rafael presented North by Northwest, free to the public, as part of its quarterly "Everybody's Classics" series. At 11:40 a.m. the line was long, but good seats were still to be had. By show time Theater 1 was packed and anticipation ran high.

I'd seen North by Northwest countless times and felt I knew the film well, but to finally see it on a movie screen was akin to seeing it for the first time.

Afterward, I couldn't help wishing I'd been able to see North by Northwest back in 1959 at the Ritz. The kid I was then would've come out of that theater exhausted and elated, convinced she'd just been on the greatest rollercoaster ride of her life. Posted by The Lady Eve at 10:42 PM Labels: Alfred Hitchcock, Bernard Herrmann, Cary Grant, Ernest Lehman, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, Martin Landau, North by Northwest, Rafael Theatre, The Lady Eve (author)
