Eva Marie Saint and Martin Landau Discuss Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest

Robert Osborne talks with Oscar winners Eva Marie and Martin Landau on making the classic picture North by Northwest with Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock. Presented at the first ever TCM Classic Film Festival in 2010.
--
Look for these films on Watch TCM at tcm.com/watch.
Connect with Turner Classic Movies:
Visit TCM WEBSITE: myt.cm/TCMwebsite
Follow TCM on INSTAGRAM: myt.cm/TCMinsta...
Like TCM on FACEBOOK: myt.cm/TCMfacebook
Follow TCM on TWITTER: myt.cm/TCMtwitter
Subscribe now to watch more classic film content from TCM spr.ly/6017cTBT

[@jenniferwhitewolf3784]

This film is an absolute masterpiece. Such a wonderful interview.. Blessings to Eva, still with us as she approaches 100 years of age.

[@captsteampunk2773]

It blew my mind finding out she's 96. She looks and sounds so much younger than that.

[@Qwerty789LL]

@@captsteampunk2773 98 now in three days.

[@lnl3237]

Turned 99 on July 4th, 2023. What a star!

[@morganfisherart]

@@captsteampunk2773 She's 86 in this video. The interview is from 2010.

[@stephencampbell9886]

North by Northwest is one of my favourite movies.

[@nhmooytis7058]

One of my absolute favorite films, have lost count of how many times I’ve seen it over 60 years! PS Eva is now 95. RIP Robert Osborne and Martin Landau.

[@lnl3237]

P.S.S. She just turned 100!

[@nhmooytis7058]

@@lnl3237 wow! Bless her heart!

[@lnl3237]

@@nhmooytis7058 So glad you're still here, too! Truly a remarkable life-abundantly loved and admired by family, friends and fans.

[@nhmooytis7058]

@@lnl3237 and a true lady.

[@jackwhite1678]

10:33 when she says "lower your voice," she says it in exactly Eve Kendall's voice. Amazing!

[@GA-1st]

Eva Marie Saint was 86 y.o. when this was recorded. 86!

[@paulfleming715]

Wow, she looks great.

[@lnl3237]

She marked her 100th birthday on July 4th, 2024.

[@monicadasilva9288]

A movie with the likes of the fabulous Cary Grant, the beautiful Eva Marie Saint & James Mason (such a great villian) AND directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is one made in heaven. What a wonderful interview with Eva Marie & Martin Landau.

[@johnscanlan9335]

I recently saw North By Northwest in a movie theater for the first time after seeing it many times on television. Needless to say it was a far more engaging experience to see it in the format it was originally made for. I would strongly encourage anyone who has the chance to see it that way to do so!

[@zvonimirvidovic1714]

You people are so lucky being able to see these movies in a movie theatre. We in Croatia unfortunately still don't have that privilege, only occasionaly, during film festivals, but that's also somewhat narrow selection, usually without these classics. With a whole world going towards abyss I'd say that kind of movie theatres would be sort of a "cultural come back", not just for film, but for art in general.

[@RickTBL]

I once saw Psycho in a theater with many screaming girls in the audience. A wild experience, nothing like watching it on TV. If you ever get the chance...

[@alanex5225]

I just watched North by Northwest again just now and what a wonderful film. Eva Marie Saint as Eve Kendall certainly stole the show, especially in that red dress. What a fine actress with many credits. Many blessings, Eva Marie Saint

[@noeldown1952]

Eva Marie Saint is still with us at the ripe age of 98. Long may it last.

[@Bob-1802]

99 at this writing. Heading for century-old.

[@gynandroidhead]

And made it!

[@Bob-1802]

@@gynandroidhead 👍

[@bygoneyears4859]

I have watched all of A. Hitchcock's movies.North by Northwest is one of my favorites.

[@jenniferwhitewolf3784]

It is not only among the very best of Hitchcocks works, it is among the very best of all films. ... a magnificently well told story.

[@HomeAtLast501]

I rewatched this film two weeks ago. Never gets old.

[@judithmoore8692]

So awesome on the big screen. Lucky enough as a teenager to see it in1959 at Radio City Music Hall. 😻🥰

[@KentAPeterson]

Lucky you, indeed! I am sure you have vivid memories of the experience.

[@judithmoore8692]

Yup! And now back again on my big screen in living room. Any Cary Grant film is awesome 😎🥰😻

[@bkynbiker]

Had the good fortune to have met all three of them (well, Landau not really met, just passed by him briefly at a MoMA screening some years back), and Eva Marie is every bit as grounded, charming and genuine as you would expect - refreshing

[@unowen-nh9ov]

Pls. tell @ HomeAtLast501.

[@lnl3237]

So nice to hear!

[@poetcomic1]

Here in St. Louis we had this and other classics shown in the magnificent old movie palace The Fox and it was GLORIOUS. You have not seen these movies till you have seen them on The Big Screen.

[@nhmooytis7058]

poetcomic1 agreed! I used to see it at the Stanford in Palo Alto, the Twenties movie palace redone by David Packard of Hewlett-Packard fame. Even had a Wurlitzer organ!

[@unowen-nh9ov]

TRUE! Wide-screen print I watched you could see the detail in the hotel lobby broadloom vs. Fox affiliate cutting ENTIRE TRAIN SCENE for commercials & 2 hr. airtime. Like Murray & The Marx Bros. on MTM.

[@Marcel_Audubon]

glad this was captured. 2 of the 3 of them have since passed away.

[@paulfleming715]

The Chase over Mount Rushmore was one my all time favorite action scenes. I always wondered if that was set piece or done on location. But, Bernard Hermann's score absolutely brilliant.

[@georgesenda1952]

Much of it was on a set.

[@bkynbiker]

@@georgesenda1952 National Parks Service, or US government, wouldn't allow them to shoot on location for the monument scene. YOu'd never know it watching the film though

[@spactick]

a combination of optical and model settings, but mostly shot in studio and not on the park itself

[@captainkev10]

I'd have loved to be at this screening, but I appreciate the upload. One of my top favorite Hitchcock films and both Ms. Saint and Mr. Landau gave excellent performances.

[@waynej2608]

They certainly did. And, Cary Grant, to state the obvious, was awesome in it, too. Sure, he was an iconic film star, but I'm not sure he gets the credit he deserves, as a pure actor.

[@unowen-nh9ov]

​@@waynej2608He retired because they wouldn't let him quit playing romantic leads.

[@jchow5966]

One of the best movies ever made. 💟💟💟💟💟

[@jchow5966]

I hope that AH will be loved & appreciated forever. 💟

[@georgesenda1952]

I had the pleasure of seeing the film again before the pandemic and it’s still riviting.

[@rtfe83able]

A masterpiece!

[@p_nk7279]

I have watched NbyNW so many times. Love the lines, the looks, the humor, the action, the intrigue - just everything!! I have 3 ex-wives and several bartenders depending on me....!!

[@roquefortfiles]

How much have you had to drink?

[@fergalhughes165]

Such a quotable film. "No they didn't give me a chaser!"

[@unowen-nh9ov]

Think thin!

[@judithmoore8692]

@@p_nk7279 in real life Cary grant had all of those !😀😀😀

[@donnawilcock5774]

Wonderful interview.

[@JT-rx1eo]

Well now I know what I'm going to be looking for next time I watch N by NW. Ive seen it many times recently. Both Eva Marie and Martin Landau sound and seem so different from their younger selves in that movie. Im trying to identity Leonard the secretary henchman in Martin Landau on stage here and its really difficult. Like two different people.

[@archelaus1598]

She's about to be 100 years old. My fingers are crossed she reaches the milestone.

[@gynandroidhead]

She made it.

[@georgesenda1952]

Leo G Caroll as the spymaster. Eva was incredible in this & Martin made you hate him.

[@johnlorenzen4633]

Are these the tcm film festivals in LA? Heard they are very popular . Love to go.

[@sw9618]

I’m currently watching it for the first time as I write this. Train scene as she and Thornill are flirting

[@sheilamacdougal4874]

The remarkable thing about the film is that the narrative makes virtually no sense, yet that hardly matters because of its charm.

[@12classics39]

The same could be said about Vertigo, although that film has more artistry than charm.

[@sheilamacdougal4874]

@@12classics39 I agree, and have thought that about Vertigo. Come to think of it, The Man That Knew Too Much only barely made sense. The Birds, of course, didn't need to make sense except on its fantasy level. Overall lesson: coherence is only a minor and not very essential virtue in at least some great films (Casablanca another famous case in point).

[@lynnturman8157]

That can be said about a lot of Hitchcock's movies. Many of them have plot holes big enough to drive a mack truck through them, NBNW being one of the biggest. But we're so entertained & swept up in the story, that either we don't notice the plot holes or don't care.

[@sheilamacdougal4874]

@@lynnturman8157 Indeed. One of my favorites, The Man That Knew Too Much, only barely hangs together, but the drama and tension still work, in part due to the brilliant performances. Dial M For Murder, on the other hand, has a careful, intricate plot borrowed from the play it was based on, and the entire film is practically a play set almost entirely in one room. After some 30 viewings, I'm not completely certain the plot has no holes, but that's more than sufficient. A non-Hitchcockian classic, Casablanca, is notorious for the basic senselessness of the plot, without that having detracted from the dramatic effect or charm.

[@unowen-nh9ov]

​@@sheilamacdougal4874 CASABLANCA DIDN'T HAVE A FINISHED SCRIPT WHEN FILMING, Bergman didn't even know which man her character ended up with.

[@histubeness]

This was great, but why the edit at 10:00? --What got cut out?

[@lesamisdelacuisineprovenca9534]

I never talk about love on an empty stomach

[@jchow5966]

💟

[@davidkennerly]

It is a myth that Jessye Royce Landis was younger than Grant. Because she lied about her age, she was eight years older than he having been born in 1896 and Grant in 1904.

[@scottthompson7817]

Hitchcock also believed Stewart was in some way responsible for the cool reception to the release of Vertigo and refused to work with him again.

[@northernbohemianrealist1412]

This is the best TCM can do? A guy standing in the crowd recording on his cell phone? Seriously.

[@annmacleod1099]

Loved the colours used in this film But who was she calling a lyer at the end of the movie when she was being pulled up by Cary grant. Eva don't tell people they are a lier when they are not you weren't there .

[@markwood3389]

I thought James Mason's character looked a lot more gay than Landau's. Was he supposed to be gay too? Were they supposed to be lovers?

[@lynnturman8157]

Hitchcock had such a mischievous sense of humor, it wouldn't surprise me if he had directed that little boy to put his fingers in his ears before the gun shot. Or at least saw it in dailies, found it amusing, and decided to leave it in the film.

[@captainharris8980]

It was fun to work on movies, but I'm glad my career never worked out.

[@HomeAtLast501]

"Libations".

[@guru6831]

NBN ranks in the greats, but Hitchcock's injection of sexuality (both varieties!) taints the film.

[@HomeAtLast501]

She's a bit overbearing, and it's quite unbecoming.

[@MrDavey2010]

Yes she is. Almost taking over the event. Martin Landau does well confronted with this barrage.

[@mikern2001]

I felt just the opposite.

[@HomeAtLast501]

@@mikern2001 Thanks for sharing your feelings.

[@waynej2608]

I think she's delightfull. Landau was engaging, and seemed fine with the interview. Imho. Of course, Osborne was the right person for these things.

[@HomeAtLast501]

@@waynej2608 And that's OK --- we need imperceptive people in the world too --- there's a place for all of us. Smiley face.