What does the O stand for?

Today's imdb poll asked the question Favorite Alfred Hitchcock-Cary Grant movie? North by Northwest has remained in first place all day but number two is frightening and chills me to my very core. Currently coming in at number two with 2916 votes is "I am not familiar with Hitchcock-Grant movies" brrrrrr. Oh people, people, people of the internet, you don't know what you're missing. You know what, I refuse to get mad about this, no here is an opportunity to teach and start many people on a path of cinematic love that will endure all their lives. The sooner you familiarize yourself with these films the more you'll want, nay, demand more from your movies. Hitchcock was rarely better than when he teamed with Grant, well, I suppose rarely more entertaining, Here's a quick run down of these films to get you pumped to see them at a revival house or college campus or send them to the top of your netflix q double quick. Below I'll provide a brief synopsis to entice you and then follow up with the film's trailers (many of which were created and designed by Alfred Hitchcock himself). If a tug from Alfred Hitchcock can't get you to see a movie than in the words of Angela from the Office "God help you."

North by Northwest-The thriller that all other thrillers should be measured against. Grant is a cool executive type who gets mistaken for a secret agent. Now with the bad guys after him Grant must clear his name, find out who this George Kaplan guy is that everyone keeps mistaking him for and figure out whether he can trust the sexy and alluring Eva Marie Saint. NxNW propels the first time viewer forward by not only entertaining you but making you shout to the heavens, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?!?! Returning viewers can apprecaite the exemplary craftsmanship on display from the script on up. I don't think Cary Grant was ever more definitively Cary Grant than he was in this movie (he's very suave, but he is still flappable and that makes him worth rooting for). A lot of James Bond's outings was inspired by this film so fans of that series would do well to scope out this one. Oh and the Bernard Hermann score is pure ear-porn. Good lord I love this film.
Notorious-Sleek, sexy and intense, the film features Grant as a government spy-master who has the daughter of a former Nazi, played by the ravishing Ingrid Bergman, integrate herself with another former Nazi played by The Sickness Cinema's favorite character actor of the 40's Claude Rains. The integrating gets a little intimate and Ingrid's Alicia is torn between Rains and Grant (what a dilemma?) while the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Alternatively romantic, erotic (check out the censor smashing extended kiss between Grant and Bergman) and thrilling (the scariest tea cup in all of cinema, trust me).

To Catch a Thief-A sexy, glamorous spree, think Ocean's Eleven. Though a bit fluffier than the two previous films, TCAT revels in it's decadence. Check it out: Grant is a retired jewel thief who's vacationing in the French Riviera, as Grant tries to clear his name for the crimes he encounters MIKA inspiring actress Grace Kelly. A very sexy time ensues.


I kind of wish all directors introduced their films in trailers. "Hi I'm Brett Ratner and what your about to see will assuredly keep me rolling in coke and playboy bunnies for years. Enjoy two hours of broad racist characters."