Return to Intro to Film syllabus
Updated 6 October 2006
ENGLISH 114: INTRODUCTION TO FILM, Fall 2006
Section 3: Thursday, 6:00-9:30 p.m., Professor Larsson
Week 6, October 5
6:00-6:15
Review of mise-en-scene
Backgrounds on North by Northwest
6:15-8:30
View North by Northwest
8:30-9:20
Discuss North by Northwest and mise-en-scene
9:20-9:30
Quiz 3
See Barsam’s Case Study on North by Northwest at the textbook website:
http://www.wwnorton.com/web/movies/chapters/ch3/case_study.asp
Questions for North by Northwest:
1. What is Roger Thornhill like when we first meet him? Does he go through any changes in character in this film? If so, what are they and how do they happen?
2. What is Eve Kendall like? Why does she behave as she does in this film? What information is given us to explain her behavior? What is Van Damme like as a character? Does he ever seem at all sympathetic?
3. How do the different events in the narrative tie together in a causal pattern? How does the spy story interact with the love story in the film? Which is more important?
4. Note down any aspects of mise-en-scene that catch your attention. How and why does Hitchcock make use of such design elements as setting, costume and lighting in this film?
5. Although
this film combines aspects of thriller, spy film, and love story, does it have
anything to say? What, if any, meanings does the film state or imply?
Narrative in North by Northwest
Plot Duration = 4 days and 4 nights (+ a little later at end?)
Story Duration = Several years
Plot Events:
Day 1 Roger Thornhill is mistaken for spy “George Kaplan” and
kidnapped, nearly killed, spends night in jail
Day 2 Thornhill discovers that kidnappers have disappeared
Tries to find George Kaplan at hotel, goes to U.N.
Real Mr. Townsend is murdered, Thornhill becomes suspect
Thornhill escapes New York on train
We
learn that “Kaplan” is fictitious, created by US agents following
Phillip Van Damm, Thornhill’s kidnapper
Meets Eve Kendall, spends night with her
We learn that Eve is working with kidnappers
Day 3 Chicago: Eve sends Thornhill to appointment with Kaplan in
Country
Thornhill is nearly killed by crop duster
Return to Chicago, follows Eve to auction house, arouses Van
Damm’s suspicions, the Professor reveals the truth about
Kaplan and that Eve is a double agent
Day 4 Mt. Rushmore: Eve pretends to shoot Thornhill
Eve and Thornhill reconcile, she’s to leave with Van Damm
Professor restrains Thornhill, but he escapes, learns that Leonard
and Van Damm now realize Eve’s duplicity
Thornhill and Eve escape, chase on Mt. Rushmore
Leonard killed, Van Damm caught
After: Train: Thornhill and Eve are now married, train enters tunnel
Story Events:
Several years ago: Van Damm begins spy operations against U.S.
Eve Kendall meets Van Damm and is attracted to him
Van Damm kills other American agents
Professor reveals Van Damm’s activities, Eve agrees to
work as double agent
“George Kaplan” created to distract attention from Eve
Plot begins: Thornhill is mistaken for Kaplan
Characters and Goals in North by
Northwest
Roger O. Thornhill:
§ Advertising executive, successful, glib, tells lies for a living
§ Married several times, attached to mother
§ Worried about weight (“Think thin!”), reputation as heavy drinker
§ Can think and act quickly when necessary (cab, elevator)
§ Low self-esteem? (“My initials: ‘ROT’” The O stands for “nothing”)
§ Lacks significant purpose in life, but finds it by chance
Eve Kendall
§ Name “Eve” suggests betrayal but redeemed by actions and motives
§ Working for Professor gave meaning to her life (Thornhill sees similarity: “Has it really been like that?”)
§ Hitchcock motif: the cool blonde who’s actually passionate
§ Betrayer revealed to be someone who is risking her own life for ideals
Van Damm
§ Spy without conscience, selling to the highest bidder
§ Ready to kill Thornhill without remorse
§ But genuinely in love with Eve, hurt by her betrayal
The Professor
§ Unnamed head of government spy agency
§ Willing to let Eve and Thornhill risk their lives for own purposes
Leonard
§ Suggestions of homoerotic jealousy of Eve
§ “He’s a good-looking one,” “Call it my woman’s intuition”
Characters
form circle of mutual betrayal
Hitchcock themes in characters:
§ Heroes with flaws
§ Villains who can be charming and often sympathetic
§ Transference of guilt: Man accused of a crime he did not commit (The Lodger, The Thirty-Nine Steps, Saboteur, I Confess, The Wrong Man, Frenzy)
Other Hitchcock themes and film motifs are suggested through the
mise-en-scene:
§ Use of famous landmarks as settings: Plaza Hotel, United Nations, Chicago Palmer House and Michigan Avenue, Mt. Rushmore (Compare the British Museum in Blackmail, Radio City Music Hall and Statue of Liberty in Saboteur, Royal Albert Hall in The Man Who Knew Too Much)
§ Danger and suspense in unusual settings: flat prairie for crop duster attack
§ Implication: No place is safe
§ Sexuality linked to danger: Eve and Thornhill embrace in the railroad car, intimations of violence
§ Modes of transportation as motif suggested during credits: cars, taxis, subway (later, trains and airplanes), Hitchcock himself misses the bus!
§ More self-referentiality: Thornhill and the Professor fly north by Northwest (Airlines)
Specific props appear as motifs and plot devices:
§ Martini glass in foreground at Plaza bar associates Thornhill with drinking, foreshadows liquor bottle used by Leonard, Thornhill gets Professor out of hospital room by sending him for liquor
§ Thornhill’s matchbook is first a statement about his character, later a warning to Eve
§ Microfilm in statue:
o motivates plot—“Oh, government secrets, perhaps”
o The “McGuffin”—important in motivating story but not important in itself
o but does refer to contemporary spy events—Alger Hiss and Whitaker Chambers: “I see you’ve got the pumpkin”
Van Damm’s house: http://www.jetsetmodern.com/modatmovies.htm