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North By Northwest - It's Gonna Be Loud!
During the scene at the Mount Rushmore visitor center - when the blonde is just about to shoot Cary Grant a little boy in the background sticks his fingers in his ears because he knows the blanks that will be fired are going to be loud. Obviously took a few takes before the final "shot" was printed!
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Rated 7.5/10 (55 ratings) Your opinion?
Special Requirements: Easier with frame by frame on vcr
Contributed By: Anonymous on 10-19-1999 and Reviewed By: Webmaster
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Comments:
warren writes:
If you think in life terms the boy could have been covering his ears so he didn't have to listen to his mother, or anything like that. i.e. What was his character doing. All in all, some one should have noticed. I still vote 7.
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warren writes:
Saw it again on the tele and it is very noticeable when you are looking for it. Forget what I wrote about the character. A definite slipup!!!
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shawn writes:
This could happen in real life. If the boy sees someone is about to shoot a gun, maybe he covers his ears so he won't hear the shot.
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spotore writes:
According to an interview with Eva Marie Saint this was a definate slip-up.
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Nora Jean writes:
Also you can obviously see the boy put his fingers in his ears, looking at the couple and at least 10 seconds before the gun was shot.
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Iforgetus writes:
Was it before she pulled out the gun.
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MovieBuff writes:
This is a very "famous" slip-up. In the scene no one knows she has a gun until she shoots Roger (Cary Grant). The boy was reacting to the gunshot from having been through several takes. There is no way he would have seen the gun before it goes off. As finicky as Hitchcock was, it's surprising he didn't catch this.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
david baldwin writes:
actually Hitchcock may have more clever that you think. If you closely watch the odessa steps sequence in the Battleship Potempkin, you will find another little boy who is doing the same thing. Additionally there is also a scene of a man being shot in which the camera only focuses on his shoes; the same shot hitch uses when martin landau is shot on MT. Rushmore. Hitchcock was a careful student of the pionneering directors that went before him and he pays homage to Eisenstein in North by Northwest.
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Rob West writes:
I think Hitchcock left this in as a little joke. In "Strangers On A Train" Hitchcock appears on the train with his back to the audience playing cards with other passengers. A close-up shows his hand with 12 cards, one of every card in the deck, 2 thru king. This is obviously not a slip-up, just a little joke that he included in an otherwise totally serious movie.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes

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