The Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto is marking the life of Eva Marie Saint with a 35mm double feature pairing her Oscar-winning film debut in On the Waterfront with her star turn opposite Cary Grant in North by Northwest. The tribute runs Oct. 16-18 and again Oct. 23-25, giving Bay Area audiences two weekends to catch both films on the big screen in their original format.
Saint died Oct. 6 at age 102, as reported by upi.com. The Stanford's programming, detailed by the San Francisco Chronicle, pairs On the Waterfront and North by Northwest in a 35mm double feature at the theater, located at 200 University Ave. in Palo Alto.
According to the Chronicle's reporting, North by Northwest will screen at 7:30 p.m. each night of the run, with additional 3 p.m. showings on Saturdays and Sundays. On the Waterfront is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. nightly. As mercurynews.com notes, the pairing brings together her debut co-starring with Marlon Brando in 1954's On the Waterfront and her leading role sparring with Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest from 1959.
From Stage and TV to a Career-Defining Film Debut
Before she ever stepped onto a film set, Saint had already built a career in television and on Broadway, according to the Chronicle's account. She trained under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio and was 29 years old when she arrived for her first film role — a late start by Hollywood standards that nonetheless produced an immediate triumph.
In On the Waterfront, directed by Elia Kazan, Saint plays the kid sister of a friend killed by the mob, acting opposite Marlon Brando's boxer caught up in organized crime. The film won eight Oscars including Best Picture, and both Saint and Brando won acting Oscars for their performances — a result the UPI report flags as Saint's first film and Oscar-winning role. The Chronicle's account adds that she made just two films over the following six years: that debut and North by Northwest.
A Hitchcock Thriller That Shaped Spy Cinema
North by Northwest, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and released in 1959, cast Saint as a double-crossing spy opposite Cary Grant, in a thriller remembered for its crop duster sequence and Mount Rushmore finale. Per the Chronicle's reporting, the film influenced the James Bond franchise, with Saint cited as a possible prototype for the Bond girl archetype that followed.
The Stanford's tribute arrives amid a wider wave of remembrance for Saint. Turner Classic Movies announced it will air five of her films on Oct. 25, including On the Waterfront at 8 p.m. and North by Northwest at 10 p.m., along with a video of her 2014 appearance at the TCM Classic Film Festival, per the same UPI report. The Library of Congress also marked her death, describing the loss of what it called the oldest living Oscar winner and one of the few remaining actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age, according to a post on the Library of Congress's blog.
Not the First Time Stanford Has Paired These Stars
The Stanford Theatre has leaned on this pairing before. A 2023 retrospective at the venue combined films starring Cary Grant with films directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and that lineup included a screening of North by Northwest, starring Grant and Saint, scheduled for Aug. 19-20 that year, according to Chronicle Datebook's earlier coverage of the theater's reopening. The tribute gives her signature performances a run in the format many of her fans remember best.
