Tired of holiday socializing and the oh-so-numerous obligations to fulfill? Well, here's a low-key idea for the next holiday, MLK Jr. Birthday weekend: Friday Night Movies! All you have to do is sit there, watch the tube and eat food! Those of you who attended "Psycho," the last FNM at my place, may remember my 27" TV temporarily blacking out in the middle of the movie. The bad news: the picture tube totally blew a week later. The good news: it was replaced by 32" flat screen TV!!! Come and launch its maiden voyage at the next movie night. Complete with champagne! *RSVP*!!! Due to limited seating capacity, attendance will be limited the first 12 respondents. Special prize to the first person who spots the director's cameo!!! ********************************************************************** The next presentation at Kevin's Friday Night Movies Friday, January 14th, cartoon shorts to start promptly @ 8:00pm *** North by Northwest *** The Master of Suspense presents a 3000-mile chase across America! (Original 1959 tagline) (USA, 1959) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Cary Grant, Eve Marie Saint, James Mason, and Martin Landau. Awards: Oscar Nominations: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration. Won Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Motion Picture. Inducted into the National Film Preservation Board's National Film Registry in 1995. Listed #40 on the American Film Institute 100 Greatest Movies list. Memorable Quotes: Roger Thornhill: I have two ex-wives, a mother and several bartenders depending on me. Roger Thornhill: And what the devil is all this about? Why was I brought here? Phillip Vandamm: Games, must we? Roger Thornhill: Not that I mind a slight case of abduction now and then, but I have tickets for the theater this evening, to a show I was looking forward to and I get, well, kind of *unreasonable* about things like that. Roger Thornhill: No. No, Mother, I have not been drinking. No. No. These two men, they poured a whole bottle of bourbon into me. No, they didn't give me a chaser. Roger Thornhill: When I was a little boy, I wouldn't even let my mother undress me. Eve Kendall: Well, you're a big boy now. Roger Thornhill: In the world of advertising, there's no such thing as a lie. There's only expedient exaggeration. [Thornhill is wearing sunglasses to hide his identity.] Ticket Seller: Something wrong with your eyes? Roger Thornhill: Yes, they're sensitive to questions. Eve Kendall: I'm a big girl. Roger Thornhill: Yeah, and in all the right places, too. Roger Thornhill: I don't like the games you play, professor. The Professor: War is hell, Mr. Thornhill, even when it's a cold one. Roger Thornhill: How does a girl like you get to be a girl like you? Roger Thornhill: I didn't realize you were an art collector. I thought you just collected corpses. Trivia: James Stewart was very interested in starring in this movie, begging Hitchcock to let him play Thornhill. Hitchcock claimed that Vertigo's lack of financial success was because Stewart "looked too old". MGM wanted Gregory Peck, but Hitchcock cast Cary Grant. Jessie Royce Landis played Thornhill's (Cary Grant's) mother, yet he was 10 months older than her. Thornhill appears on the left side of the screen for almost the entire movie. The title might refer to Hamlet's line "I am but mad north-northwest," where he tries to convince people of his sanity. The airline that they travel on (northbound) is called "Northwest Airlines." The song that's playing in the lobby of the hotel before Thornhill enters the Oak Bar is "It's a Most Unusual Day". Goofs: Revealing mistakes: In the Chicago P.D. patrol car after Thornhill's arrest at the auction house, the cop on Thornhill's right forgets to lean as they simulate a turn. Cary Grant can be seen giving the errant actor a poke in the arm. Errors in geography: The chase scene in which Thornhill's car almost goes over a cliff is set on a coast road near Glen Cove, Long Island (New York). The coast is portrayed as rocky with cliffs several hundred feet high and crashing ocean waves below. However, no such stretch of coast exists on Long Island and Glen Cove is on the relatively placid Long Island Sound, not the Atlantic. Factual errors: The car's rear wheel was over the cliff, thus wouldn't have been able to drive away. Continuity: Notice the position of the wine glass during the dinner on the train. Continuity: Thornhill's suitcase disappears from under his arm while getting off the train. Hope to see you there. I'll save you some leftover Y2K bubbly! Vote for the next Friday Night Movie in February: A) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) B) The Last Emperor, Director's Cut (1987) C) Rebel Without a Cause (1955) D) Viewer's Choice _______________________ **********************************************************************