The Most Dashing Man in the World Has Been Framed: A M/U Film Chat
The M/U Film Soiree got together REMOTELY on May 8 to screen Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest. This is the transcript of our live chat, lightly edited for clarity.
Chris: hit play
Ali: Ah, sexy opening credits!
Allison: Love the green
Chris: one of the best ever
Jay: Yes! Very smart looking.
Dave: Reminds me of David Fincher, Panic Room
Kellie: How many of you have seen this before?
Chris: Dave, didn't the guy who did these credits do Vertigo too?
Dave: I've seen it
Chris: I have
Dave: Yes the legendary Saul Bass
Jay: Or maybe my tv is sideways? Ahahahaaha
Zoë:Not me!
Dave: Chris, did you set this up on purpose? Today is Saul Bass's birthday. His hundredth birthday
Jay: First viewing for me.
Allison: Not me either
Leah: I’ve seen it but it’s been a long time
Chris:NO WAY
no I didn't - Kellie picked this
Dave: Soulbounce died in 1996, but this would have been his hundredth birthday. He was born May 8th in 1920
Ali: I saw it maybe 12 years ago?
CAMEOOOOO!
Chris: Honestly I've watched this every year or two for a long time
Zoë: Is Soulbounce a real nickname?
John: There’s the cameo
Dave: Lord no, I dictate all the time into my phone and Google provide some curious translations
Zoë: Hahahaha
Dave: But Soulbounce isn't a bad nickname at all for Mr. Bass
Allison: I’m such a pause-happy viewer it’s gonna a be hard for me to not pause
Need subtitles
Zoë: I thought it was cool!
Dave: Subtitles good idea
Kellie: Oh yeah subtitles are on
Chris: "I have a very sick woman here"
Jay: Yes, I always watch everything with subtitles.
Kellie:Think thin
I’ll try that
Chris: John, is Mina watching with you
Dave: He's an ad executive in 1959. Not far removed from Draper at all
John: Yes
Chris: yeah good point
John: For now lol
Chris: should I bring her in here
John: She shook her head at me.
Chris: Minaaaa
Leah: No self-respecting cabbie would just take a wad of cash without making sure the fare was actually covered.
Chris: he knew it by the FEEL of it
David: Great architecture
Allison: Bring this lady back where she belongs...the whoah house
Jay: Wow! Beautiful hotel!!
I want to go for fancy drinks!
Allison:
Ali: No one names their kid Herman anymore.
Kellie: Me too!
Ali:
Leah: Just wait... Herman’s coming back
Ali: G&T
Jay: I want to send a wire when I am there too!!
To Chris!
Dave: BRB laundry
John: Mina likes the “colors”
Chris: 
I mean technically you CAN still send a wire can’t you?
Allison: Cozy cab ride
John: Back when you could wear a fedora and not be confused for a libertarian
Jay: Rather cozy indeed
Kellie: Townsend
Chris: Headed to Townsend
Allison: Townsend woot woot
David: Nicely mowed lawn
Ali: I wish I could make my hair that shiny.
Kellie: He’s so handsome even with his shiny hairs
Jay: You need whale grease to really make it shine.
Chris: you need like brylcreem or whatever
Leah: Dapper Dan!
Allison: Nice dismount
Jay: Straight rendered whale blubber makes it the shiniest.
Leah: I want a library like that
Chris: me too, it's like a major dream
Jay: Yes. Very nice!
Me too
Joy: His poor mother is going to worry about him!
David: Book it, Danno
Ali: Kellie, is it just me, or is that housekeeper how I'll look in 10 years?
Or maybe 5 at this rate...
Kellie: Hahaha, Ali
Chris: 25
Kellie: You’re definitely more chipper
Joy: Who's the actor playing Townsend?
Ali: Oh I'm pretty salty today.
Chris: James Mason I think
Ali: LET'S BRING BACK "WHAT THE DEVIL"
Chris: yeah James Mason
Allison:Leonard’s creepy af
Zoë: Leonard is another underutilized name
Leonard and Herman
Leah: Gonna use that on my kids, Ali
Chris: I definitely do like Leonard as a name (and the character)
Ali: YEAH!
Kellie: I have a great uncle Leonard. Lenny.
John: Lenny is an underrated name
Chris: I had a great-uncle Lenny but only by marriage and there was a lot of weirdness with those two
Allison: Was James Leonard the main dude in Lolita?
Ali: It makes me think of Of Mice and Men
Chris: Yeah James Mason
Dave:Young James Mason is a fox. You should see some of his stuff from the 40s
Zoë: Smoking your cigarette like that is a reallll quick way to look creepy as fuck
John: I like the way they hold cigarettes
Chris: hahahahaha
Jay: Classic fully stocked sixties liquor cabinet.
Ali: I hold my burritos that way
Allison: Holy smokes!
I like the noise he made when he looked over the cliff
Ali: He's certainly accustomed to his Bourbon!
Kellie: I love this facial expressions
Allison: Great drunk acting
Leah: There is nothing in New York or Long Island that would look like this while driving.
Jay:AAHahahaha These driving scenes rule!
Kellie: I was just thinking that, Leah. It’s all expressways and shit
Joy: Long Island!
Allison: It’s called acting, Kellie
Shit it’s the pigs
Kellie: Although driving in LI is terrifying enough ha
Joy: Glen Cove is an actual town
Leah: I’ve been there!
Dave: Boy that was not a smart plan on behalf of the villains
Let's put them in a car, and make him drive away!
*him
Allison: Seemed foolproof-ish?
Ali: Somebody call the police!
Joy: Assault with a bourbon!
Jay: It's Cary Grant, so he's not acting drunk, he's drunk.
Chris: that perfect gray suit
Allison: Gray flannel suit
Ali: Cary Grant is the color of perfect waffles.
Allison: So true
Jay: That's what it sounds like when I call my Mom drunk too.
Zoë: A bourbon-soaked waffle
Dave:You'd never tell he lives in California
John: “No they didn’t give me a chaser”
David: Too much hair.
Ali: Zoë, that sounds delicious.
Chris: That's the Chief from “Get Smart”
Joy:Wow!
Jay:Oliver Platt!
Wait, is that his name?
The chief?
Chris: Edward I think
Dave: No, Oliver Platt hasn't been born yet
Jay: Yeah, Oliver is his son.
He acts too
He's in Species
Ali: Is it just me, or does his lawyer have a beautiful nose?
David: Hangover
Dave: Paintings are all neoclassical
Fitting for big stuffy house
Jay: Very nice.
Dave: *manor
Joy: Oh no!
Chris: yeah I want those neoclassical paintings
Jay: ME too
Ali: AND BIRBIN.
Kellie: Nassau county is where my mom’s family is from
Jay:
I spent a summer in Northport Long Island on the sound house sitting once.
Ali: I want there to be GIFs of Cary Grant's incredulous look.
Leah: Yessss, Ali!
Chris: The $2 DUI fine
Allison: Dang
He’s a gardener and a kidnapper? Such range!
John: Taxi Cabs should still look like that
Jay: Heady marble again.
Allison: Phones should look like that
Ali: Absolutely.
GIMME DAT FITTY, BOIIIIII
David: Don’t pee in the sink
Ali: (sorry, it's the G&T)
Chris: I don't think I realized you gamble in bridge
Jay: Classic split beds!! 60s couples were the first to socially distance even at home.
Allison:
It’s a hotel !
Jay: I know
Ahahahaahaha "I love you honey. Now, please don’t ever touch me."
My line about 60s couples, not a quote in the movie; so there is no confusion.
Allison:Get outttta there Kaplan!
Kellie: I love how his mother is here for all this
Jay: Ahahaahahha
Zoë: Listen to your mom!
Allison: Ride or die mom
Jay: Heady hallway.
Chris: "I think I'd like to meet these killers"
Jay: Gutsy!
Chris: hahahahahha
Allison: Sheeeeeeet
David: Ups and downs
Dave: Heh heh
Jay: Ahahaahahahah
John: Old elevators were neat
Dave: This movie is absurd
Joy: So much suspense already!
Jay: The guy who invented the intertwined metal rope of elevators helped design the suspension of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Dave: That's a relief
Chris: wow really?
Ali: I stayed at an old hotel in Wales that had its original elevator, like with the gate and lever and everything. It was so cool.
Jay: Yes, I saw it in the Ken Burns NY documentary from the 90s.
It is on Amazon right now.
Whoa!!! trippy spot!!!
Zoë: Love that lobby
Chris: they used to have one of those elevators in the Mass State House and I once got briefly stuck while riding it in 4th grade
Jay: Cool!
Allison: Was I there?
Jay: Yeah, that is a super groovy lobby!
Leah: The UN building has never changed. Wow!
Ali: Is it just me, or was the upper 3/4 of that lobby a painting?
Chris: I don't know, it was like some kind of technology expo or something
David: Saw a man looking over the bannister once — the counterweight hit him in the neck.
Jay: I think it is.
Allison: I zoned out for a second, is he at the UN now?
Leah: Yes
Dave: It was absolutely a large matte painting
David: Friend lifted his legs high preventing breaking his neck.
Leah: Don’t grab the knife, dude!
Zoë: Oh SHIT
Kellie: I love the absurdity!!
Jay: WHOA
Jesus!
Chris: that shot from above is amazing
Dave: Hahaha
Jay: Yeah!
Dave: That is a great f****** headline
Allison: Love it
Dave: For that particular newspaper I mean
David: Interesting plot
Zoë: He looks dashing even in his crazy newspaper picture
Chris: a stray knife in his back
Jay: AHAHAHAHA
John: I like how they’re the “intelligence agency” and getting their information from a newspaper
Joy: What is happening?
Allison: Ya I’m a lil lost
Joy: Damn! Who is Van Damm!
David: me too
Jay: He is being set-up.
Allison: Ok he’s kinda explaining it
Chris: yeah exactly
The spies created an imaginary guy named George Kaplan to trap Van Damm but he somehow thought the nonexistent person was Cary Grant
and the spies are like shrugging about it
Leah: His mother doesn’t seem to actually like him very much.
Allison: Who is Van Damm
Ali: His mother is just a peach.
Joy: I think Van Damm is the James Mason character
Chris: he's the James Mason guy who was at the mansion and ordered Leonard to give him the bourbon
Allison: Gotcha thanks
Ali: Noooooo!
Leah: I have spent more hours than I can count in that train station. I miss it.
Jay: Cool shot
John: He’s not gonna have a ticket!
Allison: Was it own station? I missed it? This is why I pause a lot lol
Jay: Narrow hall of the train
Kellie: Stowaway
Jay: i want to stowaway on something at least once.
David: smoking on train
Ali: That actress reminds me of a more attractive Christine Baranski
Allison: Jump a train Jonel! Lol people still do it
Jay: Maybe our serf characters can stowaway on something.
Allison: But you may die
Jay: I am going to become a hobo. Bye!
Allison: ✌️
Zoë: Don't forget your gray suit
John: As a train conductor I really get a kick out of seeing my profession on film
Kellie: What’s a Gibson
Allison: Dining Carts are so cool
Jay: Yeah, I don;t know.
Leah: It’s a martini with an onion instead of an olive
Chris: it's a little trouty but quite good
Ali: Every trout I've tried has been trouty
Kellie: Ew
Why would you do that to a martini
Chris: I kinda like the idea
Leah: Because you’re Cary grant?
Ali: DAYUM, GIRL!
David: that’s me
Allison: Really putting it out there
Jay: 😃
Chris: the original line there was "I never make love on an empty stomach" but they made them censor it
Kellie: Ohhhh snap
Zoë: That makes a little more sense!
Allison: “Oooops!”
Jay: This chick wants to party, man.
David: blow job
Allison: I like the “discuss love on an empty stomach” better I think
Ali: Yeah she do
Allison: She’s down to clown
Ali: Hahahaha
Leah: He sure carries a lot of cash
Ali: I haven't heard that one in a while
Jay: Trains are so cool.
This one, and all trains.
David: I've been training for years
Allison: Darn I really liked those shades
Dave: Wow that sure worked out
John: I want a hidden bed like that
David: nice teeth
Allison: Big girl in all the right places lol
Chris: haha followed by sexy murder banter
Allison: Murder is hot
Jay: AHAHAHAHAHA
Ali: SHE WANTS THE LITTLE DEATH
Zoë: Hahahhaha
Leah: We kind of knew that at dinner
David:I hope he lives in a condominium
Jay: Nothing gets me more turned on then stowin' away and murder plans.
Dave: Well it is a Hitchcock film, that's the sort of woman that populates it
Allison: “Let me hold the back of your head like I’m about to lob a bowling ball between my legs”
Zoë: Well that razor is just adorable
Allison: I want it!
Ali: I have one like that for shaving my fingers with.
Allison:Lol
Uh oh
Zoë: 😮
Ali: DOUBLE (D) CROSSER!
Kellie: Haha!!
Allison: Biotch!
Joy: What's with the water on the wrong side of the train?!
David: It's in England
Allison: Speaking of bowling balls
Chris: very classy to compensate him for stealing the uniform
Ali: HEY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?!
Zoë: John, is that style of underwear part of the uniform?
Dave: Fat lot of good it did
Kellie: Time for the tiny razor
Leah: He’s using the tiny razor!
Dave: Haha
It's like a toothpick razor
Leah: For hairy toothpicks
Ali: Shave me closer, tiny razor
John:Zoë, yes it is
Though those are redcaps not conductors huge difference
Chris: what IS a redcap
Zoë: I mean I figured you'd be the guy to ask about anyone's train underwear
Leah: They take your bags
John: Well you see their hats are red
Chris: yeah ok hahaha besides that
Ali: I thought it was a euphemism for condom
Allison: Maybe it’s a class distinction of some sort
Ali: Just look her up on Facebook, bruh!
Allison: Slide into her DMs
Leah: Is Indiana really like that? Bus stops in the middle of nowhere at intersections with no stop signs?
John: I hope so
Kellie: I’ve never been but imagine so
Allison: Seems to happen in the movies all the time
Chris: hahaha probably in the 50s
Zoë: That's Ol' Johnson's Field, super important transit stop
Leah: It does!
There’s nowhere to hide and that makes me nervous
Allison: What was her reasoning for him going there?
Kellie: She told him Kaplan would meet him there
Allison: Ah
Leah: Why does he think this is normal?
Zoë: Keeping that patch of corn unharvested so they could hide behind it just shows how long they've been planning this
Allison: I don’t think he does but maybe I’m wrong
Social distance shot
Leah:
Oh God, Zoë NEVER run into a cornfield!
Jay: Unless your in Field of Dreams
Then do.
But only if you're dead.
Zoë: I thought that car had been hiding behind it!
Jay: This man is mysterious.
Dave: He's just a businessman living in the middle of nowhere with a long commute
Allison: Get on the bus yo
Jay: This is the scene I saw parodied in the Simpsons.
Dave: Awesome nightmare imagery
Allison: Geez Louise! Rude
Ali: HEY. I AM NOT A CROP.
Jay: WHOA
Kellie: Like Leah said.... no where to hide!
David: This movie is filled with people who are terrible at killing other people
Or they just need to be all theatrical about it
Ali: I mean, if I could pick one thing for everyone to suck at, it would be killing people.
Zoë: They're spraying him with DDT, playing the long game
Allison: Git in the corn
Lol
Leah: Should have worn his mask!
Ali: PPE FTW!
Dave: Haha
Excellent direct shot of approaching truck
Jay:WHOA
Allison: Jesus
Jay: YIKES
Leah: Where are all these people coming from? There’s nothing THERE
Chris: the other fields
Ali: "Gosh, I wonder if anyone was hurt?!"
Dave: Maybe it took them a few minutes after they saw a plane doing something crazy
Allison: He’s gunna get set up again somehow....
Oh or he’s just gunna steal a car
Dave: Film looks so bloody good (opposed to digital)
Joy: I just saw alfred Hitchcock again!
Jay: Yes, it has a crisp look.
Allison: Good thing this guy was presumably dead when 9/11 happened
That joke made more sense in my head
Jay: This film has pre-9/11 mentality I personally find offensive.
Allison: I guess I just meant that his plane ptsd would throw him off the deep end
Ali: SO SAY WE ALL.
Jay: Another sweet headline!!!
Dave: Boy this guy just makes the headlines
Jay: AHAHAHAHAHA
Kellie: For someone who is working with spies she isn’t very convincing
John: Because she’s in love!
Dave: It's like for a solid week this random guy makes every single front page headline in the country
Leah: You mean rubbing your nose on a suit jacket isn’t convincing?
Allison: They used to pronounce the t in valet huh?
Ali: Everybody deserves a good sponging and pressing.
Allison: A big boy in all the right places
Dave: His skin is such a different color from hers
Ali: He is waffle. She is...cracker.
Allison: I bet he’s not in the shower
Chris: creepy neck massage
Kellie: Ugh so creepy
Jay: That is!
Ali: shudder
Dave: Before that shot pulled out, I was guessing it was Hitchcock's hand
Leah: Yeah, that’s totally threatening
John: I’ve always wanted to go to a fancy auction house
Dave: Yeeeeah
Ali: SICK BURN.
Dave: Art or survival
Jay: Me too!! And make outrageous bids: "I bid 29 billion dollars for the cot."
Ali: That thing had a penis nose.
Allison: Ali HIS NAME IS LEONARD
David: Who’s the Republican
Ali: BWHAHAHAHA
Kellie: Burn!
Jay: What a crazy line!
Ahahahahaha
Dave: Hahaha
Ali: SMORT
Jay: WHOA!
Allison: Very smort
Kellie: Indeed
Chris: PANDEMONIUM
Allison: Auctions are fun
Jay: Total bedlam!
Dave: Why do I smell another headline
Ali: HA!
Allison: Thank pen bite
Dave: Front page news "DRUNKEN LOUT AT SWANKY AUCTION"
Zoë: Hahaha he's writing his own headlines!
Jay: The cop in the back looks like Jean Claude Van Damme
A bit
Chris: You oughtta be ashamed of yourself
Joy: Midway airport!
Chris: hahahhaa I'm dying
Ali: OH SNAP
John: “A mother, two ex-wives, and several bartenders dependent on me”
Jay: Ahahahahahaha
Allison: I thought the Rushmore shot was the end for a split second
Dave: The end is going to make everyone laugh
Chris: haha yes
Jay: 11
AHAHAHAHAHAHA
Dave: This is a comedy after all
Zoë: This whole movie has been cracking me up
Jay: Me too. It's fun--in its way.
Allison: Same
Chris: yeah that's why I love this!
it's very fun
Kellie: Yes it’s fun! It’s purely entertaining that’s what I love about it
Jay: WHOA
Ali: AHHHHH
Jay: Squinx!!!!
Allison: Geee
Dave: This is the final shot you were thinking of that's going to make everyone laugh outside of Mount Rushmore
Har har
Allison: Nice he’s not dead
😎
Dave: Boy that shadow of hers on the car
The shadows in this scene are just nuts
There are like 50 light sources
Ali: A girl scout who had to give away the cookies, A-YO!
John: I like her yarmulke
Ali: Professor and his damn tooting.
Allison: Look at her hair waves
Zoë: Damn VanDamm
Chris: I like it that they note she was attractive
Jay: AHAHAHAHAHAH
Dave: This guy lives in New York City and spends 100% of his free time tanning
Allison: Lol
Ali: He looked ready to break into a tap dance.
Dave: Actually I think this movie could be classified as an adventure
Chris: totally an adventure!
Dave: A thoroughly "modern" and "smart" adventure
Allison: Love the forest shots. The light is really cool in this movie
Dave: For the modern Man on the go
Allison: This suspense music rules
Chris: Bernard Hermann
Dave: Bernie Hermie
Zoë: Two more baby names you don't see often anymore
Allison: Feel the Bern Herm
Dave: After the Sanders surge there'll undoubtedly be a few more
But yeah not too many Hermans out there.
*Hermen
Zoë: I really want to see VanDamm's entire waistcoat collection.
Dude must have the full rainbow of colors and fabrics
Ali: GREAT SHOT
Allison: The punch that shook the world lol
Dave: Mathau is doing a good job of looking like a psychopath
Allison: Snap
David: Burglar
Allison: Smort again
Dave: Well now she has to wash her hands
Chris: god bless you
Allison: What’s microfilm
Jay: It's like microfiche, but film.
Leah: We need more comedy/adventures like this one.
Allison: Yeah not like over the top goof
Joy: What is the deal with the statue? I missed it
Leah: It has the microfiche
Or microfilm
Ali: Whompwhomp
Allison: Pumpkin?
Zoë: Do we know what kind of documents are on the microfilm? Or do we just assume they are Important
Ali: SPY DOCUMENTS
Chris: "government secrets"
Leah: They are important COLD WAR documents
Chris: I love the climbing in dress shoes
Jay: Ahahaahahah
Leah: While carrying a maglite
Jay: Super slippery Italian loafers.
Allison: I love the climbing chase scene
And that she still has her purse lol
Ali: THESE ARE NEW PANTS, JEEZ!
Allison: Oh Nevermind
Kellie: And her silk gloves
Dave: Modern woman doesn't sacrifice style
Joy: Sound track is so great!
Ali: What a leap!
Jay: Jesus!!
Allison: Lol her face
Dave: Nice
Yeah kind of an adventure
Just a little
Ali: LEONARD
That's not nice!
Chris: that wasn't very "sporting" hahahaha
Zoë: Not very sporting lol
Jinx
Joy: Yea!
Dave: Lol
3 2 1 MARRIED
Ali: applause
Chris: Welll wasn't that fun!
Jay: AHAHAHAHAHAA
Kellie: Hooray!!
Leah: Hahahaha! The kiss and the train into the tunnel
David: Amazing movie!!
Jay: Yes! I loved it!!
Zoë: Hahahah that was hilarious
Jay: Great pick, Kellie!!!!
Kellie: Wasn’t that fun!?!
Ali: Excellent pick.
John: that was very good
Jay: Yes, excellent.
Allison: So the end was in the future?
Loved it!!! Thanks for letting me join the party
David: I love it that we can all enjoy making comments
Zoë: Allison, thanks for joining, nice to "meet" you!
Joy: Hahaha we haven't stayed up this late for a long time!
Allison: U too!
David: No coffee yet!!
Chris: Thank you all for joining!!
Ali: Thanks for having us!
Jay: It was great! Good night everyone!!!
Chris: we'll do this again very soon