Editor’s Pick: Hitchcock Classics at Landmark’s E Street Cinema
metroweekly.comLandmark’s E Street Cinema screens a classic film as part of its “Retro Replay” series, and each month brings a different organizing theme.On Tuesdays in July, for example, the venue screened a different road movie in its #RoadLife series, with films as varied as Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, The Hangover, and Mad Max: Fury Road.August brings with it a celebration of Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s cinematic achievements, not least for the fact the Master of Suspense was born on the 13th of the month in east London.Kicking off the “Happy Birthday, Mr.
Hitchcock” series at downtown D.C.’s E Street Cinema is a screening of one of the filmmaker’s most ambitious and entertaining works, North by Northwest (1959).Cary Grant plays a Madison Avenue ad man who is mistaken for a CIA operative by some very bad men, led by the silken-voiced James Mason, while Eva Marie Saint steps into the role of blonde femme fatale.
A thin, equine Martin Landau is chilling as Mason’s No. 1 (and yes, there is a distinct whiff of homoeroticism between the pair).The movie is known for its larger-than-life set pieces, including a silent seven-minute stunner set in a cornfield, and a breathtaking scuffle atop Mount Rushmore.
Bernard Herrmann’s memorable score all but shoves the action forward, and Saul Bass’s opening credits rank among his finest. (Aug.
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