North by Northwest (1959)

A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive.

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writer:

Ernest Lehman

Stars:

Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason

Top 250 #42 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cary Grant	...	Roger O. Thornhill
Eva Marie Saint	...	Eve Kendall
James Mason	...	Phillip Vandamm
Jessie Royce Landis	...	Clara Thornhill
Leo G. Carroll	...	The Professor
Josephine Hutchinson	...	Mrs. Townsend
Philip Ober	...	Lester Townsend
Martin Landau	...	Leonard
Adam Williams	...	Valerian
Edward Platt	...	Victor Larrabee
Robert Ellenstein	...	Licht
Les Tremayne	...	Auctioneer
Philip Coolidge	...	Dr. Cross
Patrick McVey	...	Sergeant Flamm - Chicago Policeman
Edward Binns	...	Captain Junket

Storyline

Madison Avenue advertising man Roger Thornhill finds himself thrust into the world of spies when he is mistaken for a man by the name of George Kaplan. Foreign spy Philip Vandamm and his henchman Leonard try to eliminate him but when Thornhill tries to make sense of the case, he is framed for murder. Now on the run from the police, he manages to board the 20th Century Limited bound for Chicago where he meets a beautiful blond, Eve Kendall, who helps him to evade the authorities. His world is turned upside down yet again when he learns that Eve isn't the innocent bystander he thought she was. Not all is as it seems however, leading to a dramatic rescue and escape at the top of Mt. Rushmore.

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Plot Keywords:

spy | advertising | agent | murder | government agent | 

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Taglines:

The Master of Suspense presents a 2000-mile chase across America!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 September 1959 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest

Filming Locations:

Bakersfield, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,101,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) Dolby SR Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Roger Thornhill's mother tells him jokingly, "Pay the two dollars," after he futilely attempts to shed light on his kidnapping and be exonerated from his DWI charge. The line is a reference to a Depression-era Willie Howard vaudeville sketch written by Billy K. Wells. A man is in court to pay a $2 fine for spitting on the subway, but his lawyer insists on fighting the case. As the lawyer incurs greater and greater sentences, his defendant keeps pleading, "Pay the two dollars!" This sketch also appeared in Ziegfeld Follies with Edward Arnold portraying the attorney.

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Goofs

As Thornhill walks along the 20th Century Limited at Grand Central Terminal, he passes a car that's numbered 10006. But after he gets on the train and looks out the window, we see on the adjacent track another New York Central passenger car that also is number 10006. Two passenger cars of the same railroad will never have the same number.

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Quotes

Roger Thornhill: [to Eve] Who are you kidding? You have no feelings to hurt.

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Crazy Credits

The Leo the Lion/MGM trademark preceding the credits is on a green field, to match the green field used in the credits proper.

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Connections

Featured in The Race to Save 100 Years (1997)

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Soundtracks

"It's a Most Unusual Day"
(1948)
(uncredited)
Music by Jimmy McHugh
Lyrics by Harold Adamson
Played as background music at the Plaza Hotel

User Reviews

A perfect film for a rainy, cold October day

I saw this film for the first time when I was a freshman in college as part of an english class I took entitled "writing and the movies". Little did I realize that I would be seeing a film that would stay with me to this day and in essence become one of my all time favorites. Then, a few years ago, I caught it on the big screen at the Fine Arts theater in downtown Chicago. I remember that it was a rainy, cold October day. Perfect weather for a Hitchcock film I thought to myself.

For me, half of the fun of North by Northwest is its incredible story. This film has something for everyone within it: a little comedy, a little romance, great snappy dialogue and more action than any Bruce Willis Die Hard film combined. Hitchcock was a master at this and in North by Northwest he lets his genius shine through totally. It seems to me that whenever I watch it, everyone who made this film from Cary Grant on down had nothing but sheer fun making it. Perhaps my two favorite scenes are the infamous "crop-duster" sequence and the last twenty minutes or so at Mount Rushmore.

I must give special mention to Ernest Lehman who yet again managed to write a screenplay that totally knocks your socks off. How he came up with the idea, I've not a clue, but what an idea it is. The screenplay itself was nominated for an Academy Award that year, but lost to Pillow Talk. North by Northwest was also nominated for Best Set Decoration and Best Film Editing, but lost to Ben-Hur in both categories.

All in all, what a film. If you haven't seein it, do so ASAP. North by Northwest just reinforces my belief that Alfred Hitchcock was one of the greatest directors of all time. Period.

My rating: 4 stars