title sequence of North by Northwest

Not to nitpick, but I'm not sure I'd refer to this movie as a "comic thriller". As with most of Hitchcock's movies, they were directed with Hitchcock's wry sense of humor. Also, the ones with Cary Grant particularly reflected his urbane wit.

ah, saul bass' work is great! I'm studying him in my graphic design class! I love the obligatory cameo by alfred at the end! good stuff!

55-year-old Grant was FAR too old. They should have cast a better, younger actor like William Holden. Grant looked the same age as his "mother"!

move laterally across the screen suggesting land movement. The filmed images of NY's traffic and commuters at rush hour is frenzied, perhaps commenting on our way of life...the reflection of traffic is locked in a prison of grids, perhaps in the modern life we've locked ourselves in...certainly Roger Thornhill is about to be locked in a situation not of his own choosing. The lines at the begining also intimate the grid of a map-foreshadowing the travel in the movie. Saul Bass's finest moment.

As the titles move on and off they exhibit a slight blur. This possibly migth have been done on purpose to give them a movement blur, or was a byproduct of the animation movement. The NxN opening is one of the more outstanding in film history. There are a number of symbolic allusions in the graphics and images...major being that of omenous and exciting fast paced movement and travel. The titles start as elevator movements with a countermoving counterweight retangle. Later, the titles...

The titles would be done as reverse artwork, possibly with a presstype, and then actually filmed on an animation stand in the perspective seen. The exposure of these titles would be longer to get the length of the titles all in focus. They'd be on a moving stand and the exposure would be calculated. After, a matte would be devloped from the filmed type to drop out the background when the film of the buildings is faded in. The film of characters, matte, and buildings would be combined.

Although Hitch had more remembered films later, I believe NxN is his magnum opus. The opening titles, with Hermann fandango-like fast tempo music was made with animation. In those days, the film of the buildings in NY was done first. A photographic enlargment would be made to prepare the artwork for the line that "draw themselves" and the titles that appear and in the proper persepective to match the building. Initially the titles mimic the movements of an elevator with a counterweight retangle.

I can't wait to see this sequence on Blu-Ray.

I love it too. I always wonder if this score in particular, with its wonderful hemiola rhythms, was an inspiration for Philip Glass.

There's nothing wrong with Hans Zimmer.