The Film:

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. The picture for which you are about to read a review for, contains suspense, murder, and intrigue.

That’s what I love about Alfred Hitchcock, the fact that he delivered films that were A-list at the time of their production, featuring some of the biggest stars at the time as well, yet, treated each picture as if he was making a Drive-In B-movie. He was a showman through and through. But that doesn’t cheapen his films, in fact, North by Northwest is a superb film, and a film they don’t make anymore. The film is filled with great scenes after great scenes, but what it all comes down to is the actors. Hitchcock used some of the biggest stars to headline his films, but usually they were challenged by unknown, but still quality actors. Cary Grant is a Hollywood star we really don’t have anymore, as he carries himself with dignity, grace, wit, humor, and almost all of those things are displayed here.

Again, as great as Grant is here, his banter between Eva Marie Saint is the driving blood of the film. Saint, who up until 1959, was mostly a television actress, holds her own against the charismatic Grant. Hitchcock, who’s known for picking blonds for he lead roles for women in his films, might be noted for his great staging of scenes and suspense, needs more credit for his casting choices. Eva Marie Saint is radiant here, both as a beauty and an actress. The scene worth watching, if you want to see a good verbal sparing, with each of them not revealing too much, is the one on the train.

Eve: I tipped the steward five dollars to seat you here if you should come in.

Roger: Is that a proposition?

Eve: I never discuss love on an empty stomach.

Or…

Roger: The moment I meet an attractive woman, I have to start pretending I have no desire to make love to her.

Eve: What makes you think you have to conceal it?

Roger: She might find the idea objectionable.

Eve: Then again, she might not.

There’s a lot of great exchanges between them, and let’s credit the screenwriter, Ernest Lehman, for giving them such sexually charged, and fun dialogue. The dialogue is so good in this film, and not just with Saint and Grant. Grant and Jessie Royce Landis, who plays Grant’s mother in the film, have plenty of great banter.

Hitchcock reached this so-called pinnacle in the late 1950s to early 1960s, with Vertigo, Psycho, Birds, and his TV series, but some recognize North by Northwest as a great film, but pass over it when talking about this time frame. Not a chance for me. This film is as good as any Hitchcock, perhaps the benchmark for his wrong man genre, crafting a film that is a whirlwind experience of suspense, intrigue, and comedy. Hitchcock is known as a master, and absolutely true, but even when he has a brilliant composer, like Bernard Herrmann, Hitch tells him to stop during the cornfield sequence. A scene deliberately set-up for suspense, and without music, it’s still thrilling. This is a textbook example of how to make a thriller. See, they really don’t make them like they use too.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: This is North by Northwest‘s 50^th Anniversary, and having owned the older DVD version from the late 1990s, all I can say is: wow. This is a beautiful restoration, hands down. Colors are rich and alive (man, how I miss Technicolor), details are extremely high (I can see the fabric in Grant’s suit!), and no print damage. Most importantly, it looks like it should. No digital manipulation. You know it’s film. Take a look at the cornfield scene: it’s so rich and detailed, this is why Blu-ray exists.

The audio is pretty robust too, for an older film. The original mono track is remade into a Dolby Digital 5.1 track, and impressively, it rocks. Music swells from all speakers, loud and in your face, and even some rear speaker activity. You won’t mistake this for a modern sound design (oh, how foley mixes have come a long way), but when all things are considered, it’s a superb attempt.

Warners have put North by Northwest in one of those fancy digibooks. There’s a pretty cool 40-some odd page book, filled with information on the cast and crew, rare photos, and fun quotes.

Commentary: Screenwriter Ernest Lehman is here providing a soft, but informative track. This track was on the old DVD release, but for Hitchcock fans and fans of the old Hollywood way of making films, here’s a great lesson.

The Master’s Touch: In SD, this is a great hour long documentary on everything Hitch. From his style, to his films, to his career, Scorsese, del Toro, and Friedkin offer up analysis that’s really worth the watch. While it’s surface level at times, especially for long-time Hitch fans, it’s worth the time, regardless.

Cary Grant: A Class Apart: This 90-minute PBS film on the British actor never sugar coats anything from Grant’s life. From failed marriages, to L SD use, to his legendary career, nothing is missed. Fans of the actor will find no better documentary on the man. Perhaps the disc’s best extra.

Destination Hitchcock: Eva Marie Saint hosts this look back at the making of the film with Lehman and Hitchcock’s daughter. Great insights, rare stills and video, and a fantastic piece. Runs 40 minutes in SD.

North by Northwest: One for the Ages: Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential and White Dog) pairs with William Friedkin and others for an examination of the film from start to finish, with 20 some minutes. This is a gift for all you film school students. Full of great analysis and topics of discussion.

Trailers, a wonderful Music Only Track for Herrmann’s score, and some HD Stills round out this fantastic package.

Conclusion: The first Hitchcock film on Blu-ray is a radiant success. This great film is beautifully restored, with a wealth of quality extras. A must own.

The Film: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Looong run time aside, do you think you would attend the screening if you had the chance? Note, no word yet if intermissions will be given during the 150 hour film.

Source: UK Telegraph

The Film:

I don’t really say this much but I’m glad a film like White Dog exists. Call me naïve or whatever, but I had no idea certain people would corrupt a young puppy into a raging racist to hurt and kill only black people. That’s the premise of this “forgotten” Sam Fuller 1982 film. White Dog is a gripping, pleasing, intelligent film about the worst deeds on man: racism. It’s an anti-racist movie with a great message and its amazing Paramount didn’t know what to do with it at the time and shelved it until now.

Julie (the adorable Kristy McNichol) one night accidently hits a German shepherd as it crossed the street. Doing what any good natured person would do, she takes it to a near by veterinarian clinic and decides to keep it as no one has claimed it after she put up flyers for the lost dog. After a series of some odd incidents it is concluded that the dog is a white dog, an animal trained to kill black people on sight. A daring animal trainer (Paul Winfield) makes it his mission to break the dog of this thinking.

Keys, the animal trainer, is the heart of the film. Sam Fuller knew how to up tension and suspense in every film and by making Keys a black man determined to train the dog not to be racist adds much power to the film. Even scenes like when the dog is roaming the streets after breaking out of its kennel, there’s one where the dog is sniffing some trash looking for food, as a little black boy plays with his ball. Right when the dog walks away the mom grabs the boy inside, just missing making eye contact. What a terrifying scene without any real narrative purpose. But back to Keys, Winfield is pretty amazing as him and his one scene to shine he does. After he goes looking for he dog after it broke out of the kennel, he stumbles upon it after it murdered a black man in a church. Keys is conflicted. Does he report the murder and essentially ending the dog’s life or does he cover it up and break this dog’s ideology?

Julie wants the dog dead now. Too many people are getting hurt. Keys calls her out. He says this is how people are; let’s sweep racism under the carpet getting rid of it instead of educating those who are. That’s why he must train the dog, even if it’s one small victory; it’s one that could go a long way. It’s a powerful scene. The dog is merely a victim, despite murdering people because of their color. It’s the trainers that were corrupt, forcing some hideous ideology on such an innocent animal. If they can do this to man’s best friend, imagine what they could teach children?

This might not be Sam Fuller’s best film or work with racism, a topic he visited a lot in his career, but it’s an incredibly interesting, moving, thoughtful film filled with some fun dialogue, amazing dog attacks, and enough little horror elements to keep it all in an interesting package. It’s a shame we had to wait 25 years to see it.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: The audio is okay, nothing impressive. It’s a decent stereo presentation. Same with the video as Criterion is known for making their films the best looking they can get, so I expect this is the best White Dog will ever look.

Interviews: This 45 minute piece is really good. Criterion interviews Fuller’s wife, Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) who wrote the screenplay and the film’s producer Jon Davidson as they all remember Sam Fuller, the film, the shooting, and the aftermath of Paramount shelving the project. It’s really informative and a great retrospect.

Interview with Dog Trainer: Using still photos and text, Karl Lewis Miller explains how they got the dogs to do what the script needed them too and working with Fuller. He explains an impossible shot that Fuller wanted and in three takes got. Fuller loved the five dogs that played the White Dog and gave each one a screen credit. Pretty cool extra.

Gallery: Rare photos from the production.

Essays: Criterion always dazzles with their essay books and his is no different. Covering Fuller use of the subject of racism and anti-racism, Fuller interviews the dog, and a look at the film’s meaning is all included.

Conclusion: White Dog is another great Fuller film. Criterion delivers a great disc and extras and now we can see his long forgotten film and see what idiots Paramount were back then. They called it a racist picture. Did they see it? Fuller was never racist. A must see.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

As with any month, studios are primed to release some of their biggest hits, and with Christmas coming up, competing for your holiday dollar is their goal. There’s perhaps no bigger release this month, actually in the last five years (easily) than The Dark Knight. Warner is shipping over one million copies of the Blu Ray, priming the film to be the biggest Blu Ray release ever. I suspect they’ll hit that goal with incredible ease as this was the most anticipated summer film in years so why not the DVD/Blu Ray? It’s a must own just based on the quality of the film alone, but I’m sure WB will make the extras worth it too.

The other big releases are Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Mamma Mia! The Movie and Horton Hears a Who! Some of the release dates are screwy so keep with me on the New Release Tuesday lists to plan your buying accordingly. For DVD, the two I’m most interested in are Criterion Collection’s White Dog, the rarely seen, so-called “lost” film of Sam Fuller. Long time readers should know of about my excitement level for this release. The other film is Man on Wire, a fabulous documentary about the art crime of the century. A haunting tribute to the man who wire-walked from one World Trade Center building to the next. It’ll most likely be Oscar nominated, but documentaries aren’t known on DVD to be filled with extras, so I hope for something worthwhile.

One the Blu Ray side, last month’s Criterion titles were delayed for some reason and now are finally released this month. Expect The Third Man, Bottle Rocket, and a few more titles. Of course like I mentioned The Dark Knight is the title to own, but I’m interested in The Day the Earth Stood Still, X-Files: Fight for the Future, and the aforementioned Criterion titles. Some key catalogue films are being released in high def like the immortal classic Casablanca, which should be one heck of a Blu Ray to own. The Grindhouse films from Tarantino and Rodriguez, Deathproof and Planet Terror, make a long awaited Blu Ray release, unfortunately the extras are the same as the DVDs.

Well, as you can see December looks stacked. There are plenty more big releases this month, so visit us here at Killer Film every Tuesday to see what’s coming out and possible reviews for these titles too. Until then Press Play…