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Four-star movie: North by Northwest
North by Northwest
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
1959
This is a classic idiot plot. It's not the protagonist who's an idiot (mostly), it's everyone around him -- the evil mastermind's henchmen, who fix upon the wrong person as a spy; the evil mastermind, who takes over someone's house and gaslights everyone into believing he owns the place; Eva Marie Saint, who's playing a double agent and nearly kills the protagonist; and the CIA (or some other TLA) guy who cares more about the McGuffin than any of the people involved. All idiots.
Listening to the commentary track by Ernest Lehman (the scriptwriter), it all becomes clear. Both Lehman and Hitchcock were more interested in including a number of set scenes (chase on Mt. Rushmore, attack by cropduster) and having an exciting plot than worrying about any coherence. The theory was that if it moved quickly enough, no one would examine it too closely. Given the popularity, and the fact that it's on my 4-star list in the first place, I guess it worked.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
1959
This is a classic idiot plot. It's not the protagonist who's an idiot (mostly), it's everyone around him -- the evil mastermind's henchmen, who fix upon the wrong person as a spy; the evil mastermind, who takes over someone's house and gaslights everyone into believing he owns the place; Eva Marie Saint, who's playing a double agent and nearly kills the protagonist; and the CIA (or some other TLA) guy who cares more about the McGuffin than any of the people involved. All idiots.
Listening to the commentary track by Ernest Lehman (the scriptwriter), it all becomes clear. Both Lehman and Hitchcock were more interested in including a number of set scenes (chase on Mt. Rushmore, attack by cropduster) and having an exciting plot than worrying about any coherence. The theory was that if it moved quickly enough, no one would examine it too closely. Given the popularity, and the fact that it's on my 4-star list in the first place, I guess it worked.