Just saw this Hitchcock classic for the first time this weekend. I have to say that mostly I found it entertaining but not as good as some of his other films. Frankly, the south of France was the true star of the flick with just remarkably beautiful vistas and elegant trappings everywhere. Cary Grant was good, but he wasn’t half as debonair as he thought he was. It didn’t help that he had tan from the days before spf that made him look like an oiled catcher’s mitt. For a movie about a cat burglar there was surprisingly little cat burglary, but I suppose the jewelry heist is really just there to provide an interesting context for the romantic repartee between Grant and Kelly. Speaking of Grace Kelly, she is so unbelievably beautiful in this film it’s worth watching for the privilege of seeing her alone. And she manages to be charming and witty to boot. All in all, glad I saw it.
I don’t know about the real France, but I’d love to live in movie France.
Jessie Royce Landis played the mother of Cary Grant’s love interest; in North by Northwest she played his character’s mother. In fact, she was only eight years older than Grant.