North By Northwest: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

What a movie! What a soundtrack!

I first saw this movie when I was about a sophomore in high school. It was hard to follow, to say the least, but I enjoyed the film nevertheless. The music, composed by Herrmann, is fantastic. It goes with the movie quite well, and while listening to the soundtrack, you can picture the different scenes in the film quite vividly. I highly recommend purchasing this soundtrack if you are a lover of this untimely, Hitchcock classic of suspense, romance, and espionage. Enjoy! July 20, 2006

One of Herrmann's best scores for Hitchcock

Along with "The Wrong Man", "North by Northwest" is among Bernard Herrmann's best scores for a Hitchcock film (I'm not listing "Psycho" because, while it's a brilliant score, it's probably not something most folks would listen to for pleasure). Hitch and Herrmann began their collaboration with "The Man Who Knew To Much" and continued on through 8 movies (ending with "Torn Curtain" which, while composed for the film, was never issued with it until the DVD). Herrmann was Hitch's perfect musical counterpoint; he thought cinematically like Hitchcock did and used music much like Hitchcock used all the elements of film to convey impact.

The opening for "North by Northwest" immediately captures your attention with its swirling theme and unusual use of the horn section of the orchestra makes the film both immediately distinctive (providing a perfect counter balance to what you see) but, more importantly, it stands up to listening without the film there and still conveys much of the tension of the film.

The remastering on this marvelous CD sounds quite good although it's clear that many of the mastertapes were somehow damaged (the liner notes make reference to this as well). While this isn't pristine, it's the only full orchetral version involving Herrmann that's available on CD. Rhino has done its usual thorough job in researching and restoring as much of this music as possible. Herrmann's scores need to have as much dynamic range as possible on CD as the quieter interludes are just as important as the busier, bustling fandango that opens the film and the CD. Highly recommended. September 18, 2004

Good Effort Limited by Bad Elements

First off, Bernard Herrmann's contribution to Hitchcock's classic is one of the key reasons it IS a classic. This score represents Herrmann at his lightest and most flamboyant, leaping between ominous underscore and electrified action music, with a little romance sprinkled in. The climactic chase across Mount Rushmore is one of those relatively rare movie moments when you sense everything firing on all cylinders and that every artist involved is at the top of their game. Herrmann here is no exception; his climatic cues represent one of the all-time highs of film scoring, and are equally thrilling with or without the film. Unfortunately, that is where this album is a bit of a let-down...the source elements they had to work with here were just too deteriorated to get the point across, I'm afraid. If these tracks were the only surviving elements, then I would commend Rhino for at least making an effort, but as others have pointed out, the score on the DVD was obviously pulled from a better source and sounds splendid. However, Rhino deserves all credit for doing their best with what they had at the time, along with putting together their usual excellent package. And don't get me wrong, the majority of underscore on here sounds very nice indeed. But, if Mount Rushmore doesn't work, you don't get the payoff to all of that underscore and the whole seems bland, when it is in fact one of the best ever written. (I, for one, am hoping for a Joel McNeely re-recording somewhere down the line.) April 1, 2004

Best available, but still has major flaws

The flaws on this disc are explained very clearly in the enclosed booklet. Out of 50 tracks, a mere five were on a reel that was nearly destroyed when they found it. The tragedy is that they include all the appearances of the main "North By Northwest" fandango theme in "Overture," "The Wild Ride," "On The Rocks" and "Finale." The other damaged track is a minor one, "Goodbye."

As a collector, it's true, this is the CD to buy, it's the original, complete score, including outtakes and source music, that is, the music being played by sources like radios within the world of the movie. And the majority of it sounds great.

That said, if you're buying it, then chances are you're mainly interested in the fandango theme, one of the most unforgettable in cinema. A few people have said they don't notice the audio flaws. If that's the case, then I'm happy for them, but they probably don't know the music that well, because if you're at all familiar with it, you'll notice whole instruments faded almost to nothing. These tracks sound like they're on a radio halfway between stations.

Don't despair, however, because there is a solution. The DVD of the film includes an isolated score of the film. I don't know what source they used for the DVD, which was made in 2000, but it was clearly unavailable to the makers of this CD in 1995. The tracks which are flawed on the CD sound pristine on the DVD, as if recorded yesterday. If you want to hear the fandango theme in all its sonic glory, pick up the DVD, it's actually cheaper than the album anyway.

I guess they haven't reissued the album with these tracks corrected because there's just too little demand for such an obscure catalog title, which is a pity, but if the fandango theme is one of your seminal memories of film music, as it is for me, the DVD is the way to go, with this album just good if you want to be able to listen to the music on the go, or if you want the four minor source cues. November 26, 2003

Wonderful CD

I love "North by Northwest" and am very happy to own the soundtrack - I think the music is wonderful.

I was a bit unsure about buying this one because some of the other reviews seemed to hint that this recording was flawed, imperfect, or otherwise bad. It's not at all. DON'T get the re-recording - there is nothing wrong with this one, so why not have the original, better version?

I found the music much sharper and much less static than the reviews implied, and haven't heard any serious wavering, fuzziness, or anything. I recommend this very highly. If you are a fan of Hitchcock, Cary Grant, or just good music, get this. You will love it. January 19, 2003

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