As a love story, North by Northwest is full of surprises.
In a movie where everything, including dialogue, is so thoroughly amped-up, why should love be any exception? The love story heats up pretty quickly and manages to overcome some serious obstacles like mistaken identities and betrayal. Just when we think all is lost, Hitch's plot twists make a happy ending possible, and our lovers become Mr. and Mrs. That amazing last edit from Roger pulling Eve up off the cliff to pulling her into the bed on the train—well, we're just a puddle of Jell-O here.
Hitchcock wanted to make some steamy romantic scenes but had to deal with the Hays production code that set lots of limits on what could be shown onscreen. There's a lot of kissing and sighing and extremely suggestive talk, but until Roger and Eve are married, no shots of them in bed. Hitch got the last laugh though, in the famous scene loaded with Freudian overtones, of the train entering the tunnel just as Roger pulls Eve into bed.
Questions about Love
- What's the significance of the "proposition" in North by Northwest?
- What do you make of the fact that Thornhill has been married twice before when the film begins, but Eve is "twenty-six and unmarried"?
- Explain how the "phallic symbol" in the film's final shot works. Did you get it the first time you watched it?
Chew on This
Love in North by Northwest is compatible with adventure. True love, Hitchcock suggests, isn't about settling down; it's a high-speed, risky venture.
North by Northwest's relatively frank depiction of sex masks more old-fashioned attitudes about gender, made clear in the film's characterization of Eve, who ultimately has to be married off.