I know because I was there. March 14, 2014 at 7:26PM, Edited September 4, 8:56AM. Every passing car could be a potential killer. Will he be attacked by the mysterious stranger? North By Northwest's expert pacing, intriguing characters and outlandish plot are often cited as the reason for its enduring popularity. On-route maps, 1,000s of photos, special research targets! North by northwest of Bakersfield, CA (and east of the town of Delano), is the filming location for the cropduster scene from North by Northwest. the second most famous in Hitch's 53 films, behind Psycho's shower scene (both edited by George Tomasini) - lasts nine . with this post, location or person. By Ben Cosgrove Nov. 16, 2012. The crop duster sequence in North by Northwest is not only one of the most memorable scenes in Alfred Hitchcock's body of work (second only to the shower sequence in Psycho); it is arguably one of the most iconic sequences in all of American film. North By Northwests crop duster sequence is widely considered one of Hitchcocks defining moments in his storied career, but its nevertheless the subject of criticism due to a seeming lack of logic. Ah, hes going to be shot at from a car. And even deliberately, with tongue in cheek, I let a black limousine go byNow, the car. This puts the viewer in Cary Grants place. Try My Sights, Roadside America app for iPhone, iPad. In the film's most-renowned and brilliant sequence, the crop-dusting sequence, Roger is lured into the flat countryside (of Illinois or neighboring Indiana) by enemy spies on the pretext of meeting and connecting with the fabled Kaplan - his non-existent double. Only when it flies menacingly towards Thornhill and swoops low enough to slice his head clean off his shoulders does the danger become apparent. Switch it out for a crowded city block, a parking lot at night, or a vast forest, it's not going to work the same. #NorthbyNorthwestStream North by Northwest on HBO Max: http://it. Although the classic North By Northwest is considered one of Alfred Hitchcocks greatest films, its most iconic scene is often criticized, despite making more sense than it seems. Location filming for North by Northwest took place between late August and mid-September 1958. My father, character actor Robert Ellenstein, played Licht, one of James Masons two henchmen in the film. Essay about North by Northwest, by Alfred Hitchcock. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. North by Northwest (1959) . Hitchcock uses these eerie sound effects to ratchet up the tension a notch. Reader Bob Cooley of Crown Point aroused my curiosity months back, after writing about an interesting tidbit describing a famous movie scene, which had escaped my attention for decades. Picked out by a hidden sniper? Reading this on mobile? . Time to hear from Alfred Hitchcock again: There is no cover until he gets into the cornfield. No, they didn't give me a chaser.". Learn how your comment data is processed. If you have never seen the film, here it is: Incidentally, the Blu-ray of North By Northwest which Warner Bros brought out last year is easily one of the finest to come out in the new format. My favourite Hitchcock: North by NorthwestNorth By Northwest: No 2 best action and war film of all time, The suspense of Cary Grant's unflappable businessman on the run from a low-flying plane is the stand-out moment in Hitchcock's stand-out thriller, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. But a combination of them creates an idea., Avid movie lover, reader, and writer. What Can You Learn From 'The Mass,' a Short Film Made by AI in 24 Hours, The Philosophy of Grant Petty and the Future of Blackmagic Design. However, the actual on-location filming in the fields happened in California along Highway 155 just north of Bakersfield near the town of Delano. Just north of Bakersfield is the location of the famous crop-dusting scene in which Cary Grant is chased by an airplane in North by Northwest. Change). So now youve got the third phase. This location is the exact spot that the movie "North by Northwest" conducted the filming for the crop duster scene. We still have the plaster of paris head they made of my dad to create the life mask on. The crop-duster scene cheerfully took all of these elements and combined them with masterful editing to create a truly unforgettable action sequence and a wonderful piece of cinema. 12168 Corcoran road and Garces highway is the intersection made famous in the Alfred Hitchcock classic. With any & every B&H purchase You will automatically be entered into the Monthly Gift Card Raffle. Alfred Hitchcock's film North by Northwest (1959) is famed as a classic man-on-the-run thriller, following protagonist Roger Thornhill as he flees across state lines in a mad dash to save his life and unravel the mystery to his extraordinary predicament. One of the ways he made it work so well was his use of rear projection & shooting on a sound stage as well as on location which gave him the ability to directly match his vision shown in his storyboards. He said that Cary Grant mentioned they were staying at a motel in McFarland, but moved to a hotel in Bakersfield because the McFarland motel bar closed at 10:30p. Related: Alfred Hitchcock Made The First James Bond Movie 3 Years Before Dr. No. The crop duster scene with Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcocks North by Northwest was filmed along Highway 41 in downstate Indiana, Cooley explained. The "Trio" scene fromThe Good, the Bad, and the Ugly? 2023 NONETWORK, LLC. If both parties, Thornhill and his attacker, were able to hide from each other, the nature of their initial confrontation would be a surprise, or a "bang," which wouldn't result in much tension. Presumably Saul Bass was closely involved in designing this timeless sequence? Then, when the confrontation occurs and Thornhill runs for cover, we're still forced to "stay with him" in a way, because there isn't a song or score to elevate us from the on-screen moment. One of the keys to this is again in the quick cutting. This sequence opens with a dissolve, from a close-up of Eva Marie Saints concerned face, to an overhead shot of a desolate, empty field, flat to the horizon. Now hes left alone with the man. Nothing unusual there, however, when you add the fact that the man is wearing a business suit, everything suddenly changes. Hitchcock and the film's screenwriter Ernest Lehman could so easily have let this scene descend into Looney Tunes territory. What comes to mind? Question about famous crop-duster scene in "North by Northwest". He says: That film was -- un rve, comme un mauvais rve [a dream, like a bad dream]. What Can You Learn From 'The Mass,' a Short Film Made by AI in 24 Hours, The Philosophy of Grant Petty and the Future of Blackmagic Design. Silver Screen Collection / Getty Images. Thanks! Rushmore scene is, the sequence where a crop duster nearly runs down the main character is one of the most iconic scenes in all of film. Even the rows of dried cornstalks were prop designs, with all the close-up shots of Grant in a ditch, and cowering among the cornrows, shot inside on a studio soundstage at MGM in Los Angeles. If you have never seen the film, here it is: Garces Highway 1/10th mile East from Corcoran Road and Kern National Wildlife Preserve, Kern County, California, USA (cropduster attack) . So, succes must be no problem. Even people who have not seen the film recognize the image of Cary Grant sprinting across a dusty field with the plane closing in from behind.What is it that makes this scene so memorable? In the book/interview "Hitchcock/Trauffaut," he said that the very basic set up is to (1) film an actor looking at something (2) show what they're looking at, (3) show their reaction. The iconic Hitchcock film scene of Gary Grant running from a crop dusting plane was filmed mostly on an MGM studio sound stage and in a California desert highway stretch intended to look like rural Indiana. When Grant first addresses the man (played by veteran character actor Malcolm Atterbury, who appeared in well over a hundred movies and TV shows) the sequence has gone on for 4 minutes and 10 seconds with no music and no dialogue. The back-and-forth cutting between Cary and his point of view continues, but now the shot length is getting shorter; many of the shots now are averaging less than 3 seconds in length. I'm going Welles for number 4. The "Here's Johnny" scene fromThe Shining? Where Cary Grant Fled from the Crop Duster in "North by Northwest". North by Northwest Imagery The Desolate Prairie and the Rogue Crop Duster North by Northwest contains one of the most iconic images in the history of American film. your blog is very interesting and I wonder if the scene of the plane in north by northwest n, was not filmed on the Garces highway just at the place where there is today the Kern national wildlife reserve, as well as the photo I am trying to attach to you would demonstrate . The next shot returns to Cary Grant. But now, as Grant walks across the road to the man in the brown suit, the camera tracks towards him, again in the form of a point of view shot. You smoke him out with the very instrument that youre using, a crop duster. However they did make a plaster cast of his head, which was supposed to be on the flaming mannequin. Thornhill causes the plan to crash during one of its strafing runs, but audiences have ridiculed Alfred Hitchcock's famous scene for decades, pointing out that there are far simpler and more efficient ways to assassinate Thornhill. The logic behindAlfred Hitchcocks famousmovie scene isnt watertight, but it actually makes sense within the context of North By Northwests narrative. He has little dialogue throughout the scene and no supporting cast members to back him up, but is utterly skilful at making the audience feel every ounce of fear and blind panic that his character feels as he ducks, dives and runs for his life. Hitchcock's 1959 classic was ahead of its time in many ways, but the tense few moments in which suave ad executive Roger Thornhill (played by Cary Grant) is terrorised by a murderous crop-dusting pilot is the film's biggest triumph. North by Northwest (1959) is a suspenseful, classic Alfred Hitchcock caper thriller. A guy in a suit steps off a bus in the . As you'll hear in this interview from 1965, the director explains something quite profound -- something that captures the heart and nature of filmmaking in a palpable way. Take your career and your day rate to the next level. There is no question that you are really seeing Cary Grant, running at full speed, sweat on his brow, his tailored suit getting dusty and his tie flapping over his shoulder. Moreover, Vandamms bombastic approach to killing Thornhill could plausibly be due to him overthinking his opponent following multiple failed assassination attempts inAlfred Hitchcock's movie. Location filming for North by Northwest took place between late August and mid-September 1958 . The cutting between the studio shots and the location shots is fluid and seamless. Is Canon RF the Future? (La Mort aux Trousses is the French title forNorth by Northwest.) Grant runs into the road and tries to flag down a truck. Any idea if the original telephone polls are still there? Im not sure, but I think it might be the case . Roger Thornhill has found himself thrown into a situation that leaves him completely at a loss, without reference point or help. window.__mirage2 = {petok:"4tb3PsmUyHYA9ew3ReLEH62Gi7qgH7EXJJyEuwT0DQc-86400-0"}; Alfred Hitchcock famously hand waved these criticisms by saying that viewers would forgive such an illogical assassination attempt due to the excitement of the scene, which has proven to be correct, for the most part. When is the last time you saw a movie that had no dialogue or music for over 4 minutes? Why is everyone so in love with this scene? "The crop duster scene with Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock's 'North by Northwest' was filmed along Highway 41 in downstate Indiana," Cooley explained. This is the 49th shot of the sequence, occurring about three and a half minutes in. With any & every B&H purchase You will automatically be entered into the Monthly Gift Card Raffle. Thornhill escapes in stolen truck the wrong direction. According to a well-researched post on the AlfredHitch Blog published on WordPress, the cornfield scene is a sequence that is 9 minutes and 45 seconds long, and contains 133 editorial cuts, which means the average shot length is only 4.4 seconds as planned by Hitchcock and film editor George Tomasini., Director Hitchcock, when interviewed, also explained his intent for the building suspense of the scene: Now the local bus comes and just as it pulls up and this is a matter of timing just before it gets to the stop, the man (also waiting at the stop) says to Grant Thats funny. And Grant says Whats funny? He says That planes dusting crops where there are no crops. Before this can be gone into in any way at all, that man is on the bus and gone. The sequence ends with Cary Grant stealing the pick-up truck of an onlooker, and finishes as it began with another dissolve, this time to the abandoned truck on the streets of Chicago. March 12, 2014 at 11:44AM, Edited September 4, 8:56AM. I recently watched "North by Northwest" (1959), and I was surprised this film is regarded as one of the all-time greats of American cinema. Was it on highway 155 or Dairy/Corcoran Rd or Highway 46?? Well of course, this is such a cliche thing, you see, that one has to fight shy of it and run as far away from it as one possibly can because its all predictable. I'm just working on a film it's a nightmare! The scene was meant to take place in northern Indiana, but was actually shot on Garces Highway (155) near the towns of Wasco and Delano, north of Bakersfield in Kern County, California. (MGM Archive / HANDOUT), Like so many people, Ive used some of the time of the past 11-months of the COVID-19 global pandemic to catch-up on films that have always been on my must-watch list.. That intersection hasnt changed at all. The actual location is closer to Hwy 46 on Dairy/Corcoran Rd than it is to Hwy 155 our of Delano. (100 years!? Where do you run? This is crucial because, up until this moment, Thornhill has managed to charm, bribe or bluster his way out of whatever danger is about to befall him. There are definitely too many great ones to mention, ones that probably made you want to be a filmmaker because of their masterful storytelling through the cinematography, editing, as well as theactors' performances. As for the now infamous cornfield crop-duster scene, as the film plot explains, while Grant is on the lam from police as he chases International spies, his stopover in the Windy City leads him to the crossroads of Indiana at a cornfield bus stop along U.S. 41 where he is scheduled to have a mysterious meeting. I didnt. (Opening credits & first scene, Thornhill's office building exterior) North By Northwest tells the thrilling story of Roger Thornhill, who runs afoul of Cold War-era spies due to a case of mistaken identity, forcing him to flee his would-be assassins and the authorities after hes framed for a murder. More, Last Supper Museum, Douglas, Arizona (May 1-7, 2023). How to Make Money as a Cinematographer is a new in-depth online course from No Film School, available now. Credits, Media/Business Inquiries First, lets let Hitchcock himself set the scene, explaining why he chose this particular setting to shoot the scene: Now in moviesthe cliche of the man being put on the spot is usually a place of assignation and it takes the form of a figure under a street lamp at the corner of the street with the rain-washed cobbles shining in the nightthis is the cliche atmosphere in which you put a man who has been deliberately placed in danger. LOL why does the fuel truck driver shut the door as the airplane burns in the background? I figured it out., Baseball, softball and girls soccer scores for Aurora, Elgin, Naperville and Lake County, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Take the extreme example of someone who says he hates "The Shawshank Redemption," especially that scene of Morgan Freeman at the stone wall opening the tin can. He can be reached at pmpotempa@comhs.org. Now the audienceasks, "What is a well-dressed man doing in an empty field?" They actually took it from the High School farm and replanted it at the scene. North by Northwest - The Crop Duster: Stranded in the middle of nowhere, Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) runs to survive an attacking crop duster. [CDATA[ I surprised myself when I wrote that just now.) Thornhill already survived two assassination attempts, so Vandamms response could have abandoned any semblance of subtlety for the sake of finally killing his supposed enemy. Which ones do you think added to the tension? In Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 thriller "North by Northwest," a murderous cropduster buzzes Cary Grant at a desolate, supposedly Midwest rural intersection, shot here. It may be a seemingly small contributor to the scene, but Hitchcock proves here that wardrobe clearly has incredible cinematic power. In the infamous crop duster scene, Herrmann and Hitchcock used diegetic sounds to build suspense and uncertainty. Think about the most iconic scenes in cinematic history. Location filming for North by Northwest took place between late August and mid-September 1958. In Hitchcock's case, however, putting Cary Grant through a waking nightmare was his aim, and part of making that look "real" meant breaking away from clichs -- the quintessential scene that takes place in a dark alley, steam rises from a manhole cover, rain pelts the pavement, a single street light illuminates a man in a trench coat and fedora smoking a cigarette, when, from out of the shadows, his killer emerges. Copyright 1996-2023 Doug Kirby, Ken Smith, Mike Wilkins. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. It is not a place where many sophisticated businessmen would choose to spend their afternoons, but there is beauty in such bleakness, as Hitchcock and his longtime cinematographer Robert Burks were only too aware. --. Create and Save Your Own Crazy Road Trip! All Rights Reserved. In this movie from 1959, in this scene Roger Thornhill travels by bus to an isolated crossroads with flat countryside all around. North by Northwest (1959) posted by pete_nice # flag as inappropriate. 5700 South Cicero Ave Chicago, IL 60638 Omni Ambassador East Hotel 1301 N. State Parkway, Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois, 60610 USA (312)787-7200 phone (312)787-4760 fax Omni Ambassador Hotel, Chicago Illinois Driving directions from O'Hare International Airport: (taken from the Omni website) Dansby Swanson, bloodied by his own helmet, helps the Chicago Cubs shake off a weekend sweep with a 5-1 win, Discovery channeled. So now we start a train of thought in the audience. Initially producer Herbert Coleman had scouted for desolate locations in Iowa and Indiana, but was was unable to find anywhere that matched Hitchcock's requirements. Even people who have not seen the film recognize the image of Cary Grant sprinting across a dusty field with the plane closing in from behind. Very real. So now you have a bit of inside info on one of cinema's most famous scenes. Learn more. Up to this point in the sequence, the camera has remained static. Alfred Hitchcock's classic North By Northwest is ridiculed for its seemingly illogical crop duster sequence, but the scene ultimately did make sense. Luke Stulga breaks slump, hits for cycle as St. Laurence stymies Mount Carmel. As far as Vandamm is concerned, Thornhill is George Kaplan, a dangerous and well-trained US government agent whos been a persistent thorn in his side for some time. //]]> All rights reserved. One cut of film is like a piece of mosaic. who was driving the pick-up truck that Roger Thornhill stole after the crop dusting plane was involved in an accident? Have gotten close but not close enough. Let us know down below. What's the MOST iconic image from North by Northwest? With the exception of the crop duster sequence, location filming was shot chronologically: New York City, then Chicago and finally Rapid City, South Dakota where some of the Mount Rushmore daytime scenes were filmed. Published May 6, 2022. Midway through North By Northwest, Thornhill arrives at a meeting spot: a bus stop in the middle of Midwestern farmland. To me, pure film, pure cinema is pieces of film assembled. The coroner reported the brothers had been dead since June 16, about the same time they were last seen driving away in a Cadillac from their Oak Park home in Chicago. Weve dispensed with the menace of possible cars or automobiles., Now a jalopy comes from another direction, stops across the roadway, deposits a man, the jalopy turns and goes back. So this is a process shot, filmed back at MGM studios. ", REAR WINDOW: Deconstruction of a scene - The death of a dog, PSYCHO Deconstruction of a Scene: Arbogast questions Norman Bates, THE BIRDS: Deconstruction of a scene - The death of a farmer, SPELLBOUND: (1945): "Will you love me just as much when I'm normal? Here is Hitchcock again: Now we get him off the bus and we stand him, a little tiny figure, showing, establishing very clearly the complete wasteland everywherethe mind of the audience says Well. Submit your own tip. March 9, 2014 at 7:50PM, Edited September 4, 8:56AM. It is also one of the most emulated action sequences in Hollywood history. The famous "crop duster scene," which in the film takes place in rural Indiana, was in actuality filmed on a highway in central California near the town Wasco. That plane's dusting crops where there ain't no crops.". Hitchcock is called the Master of Suspense for a reason. Thats what youve got in that crop duster scenehe looks around him and cars go by. Barry Ritholtz of The Big Picture shares an image, Casting a Shadow: Creating the Alfred Hitchcock Film, Sequencing the North by NorthWest Crop Dusting Scene --The Big Picture. In the same vein, his attacker has nowhere to hide either, which means that Thornhill, as well as the audience, will see him coming from miles away.

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