WEEK 5: North by Northwest

            The ending of the movie, North by Northwest was rather peculiar to me. Unlike many other Hitchcock movies, which leave’s you with an inconclusive conclusion where you are left guessing like Rope, or an unexpected ending like 39 Steps or Shadow of a doubt, this one according to me falls into the realm of cliché. At the end we see Thorhill struggling to hold on to Eve as she is about to fall from Mt. Rushmore to the extent where he is ready to ask the man trying to kill him for help but then suddenly after the man is shot and he falls to his death, a cut takes us to Roger calling Eve, Mrs Thornhill and getting her to bed. This end immediately relieved the suspense that was building up about whether the girl would fall to her death. The ending doesn’t provide us with a resolution to the story as a whole as we do not know what was to happen to Mr. Van Dam and his men or the professor and his plans, all we are left with is a conclusion that provides a resolution of their relationship. The ending comes with an element of humor, which immediately takes away the suspense that has built up. The actor who play’s Roger Thornhill, Carrie Grant is known for his roles in Romantic comedies. The end with him calling Eve, Mrs. Thornhill and pulling her up to bed was funny in that aspect as its something you would find in Romantic comedies. Even when the man who has his feet on Mr. Thornhills hand is shot one of Van Dammes men makes the remark “that it was not fair that the police had used bullets this time.” I found these two elements of the ending humorous but according to me it took away from all the suspense that had just reached its peak.