IMDb > North by Northwest (1959)
North by Northwest
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North by Northwest (1959) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 59 | slideshow) Videos (see all 8)
North by Northwest (1959) -- Alfred Hitchcock gives a tour of the film in this trailer for the Special Edition DVD and Blu-Ray release.
North by Northwest (1959) -- Trailer two for this Hitchcock classic
North by Northwest (1959) -- AllTrailers.net - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 32% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
Ernest Lehman (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for North by Northwest on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
17 September 1959 (Japan) more
Tagline:
Alfred Hitchcock takes you.... North by Northwest! more
Plot:
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. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 3 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(67 articles)
GreenCine Holiday Gift Guide! 2009
 (From GreenCine. 13 December 2009, 4:09 PM, PST)

Short Film Corner: Brent Bishop & Gregory Tuzin's Without
 (From ioncinema. 12 December 2009, 6:25 PM, PST)

User Comments:
From The Master of Suspense Came the Daddy of the Modern Adventure Thrillers more (366 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (USA) (complete title)
Breathless (USA) (working title)
In a Northwesterly Direction (USA) (working title)
The Man in Lincoln's Nose (USA) (working title)
more
Runtime:
131 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System) | Dolby SR | Dolby Digital
Certification:
Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (2000) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:A (1959) | USA:Approved (PCA #19156) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Iceland:L | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | South Korea:12 | Netherlands:AL (DVD rating) | Netherlands:12 (re-rating) | Netherlands:12 (2008 re-release) | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:G (1959-1998) | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:12 (re-rating) | Peru:14 | UK:PG | West Germany:16 (original rating) | Norway:16

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The final chase scene was not shot on Mt. Rushmore; Alfred Hitchcock couldn't gain permission to shoot an attempted murder on a national monument. The scene was shot in the studio on a replica of Mt. Rushmore. Everything is shot carefully, so as to avoid associating the faces of the monument with the violence. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Thornhill is writing the message on the matchbook, the message takes up three lines and reads "They're onto / you - I'm in / your room." When Eve opens the matchbook below, the message takes up four lines and reads "They're on to / you / I'm in your / room." more
Quotes:
Roger Thornhill: The moment I meet an attractive woman, I have to start pretending I have no desire to make love to her.
Eve Kendall: What makes you think you have to conceal it?
Roger Thornhill: She might find the idea objectionable.
Eve Kendall: Then again, she might not.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Twelve Monkeys (1995) more
Soundtrack:
It's a Most Unusual Day more

FAQ

How does the movie end?
Was VanDamm's mountain home a real home? Was it designed by Frank Lloyd Wright?
What route does Thornhill follow as he travels north by northwest?
more
25 out of 40 people found the following comment useful.
From The Master of Suspense Came the Daddy of the Modern Adventure Thrillers, 7 February 2004
10/10
Author: Dorian Tenore-Bartilucci (dtb) from Whitehall, PA

Many feel this is Alfred Hitchcock's greatest American movie, and I agree! NORTH BY NORTHWEST is the Hitchcock film to end all Hitch films, with all his pet themes covered with maximum wit, panache, and suspense, as well as a romance between Cary Grant and a soignée Eva Marie Saint that's as tender as it is sexy. Grant has never been more engaging and dashing (literally and figuratively :-), though the smoothly villainous James Mason nearly out-suaves him. My husband and I have joked that if Mason had played Thornhill, the film would have been over in mere moments. With all due respect to Grant, if the imperious, unshakably confident Mason asked the Glen Cove police, "Do you honestly believe that this happened the way you think it did?" they would immediately reply, "No, sir, you must be right, you're free to go, sorry we bothered you." :-) Also boasts a great early performance by a reptilian young Martin Landau as Mason's possessive henchman, as well as one of Oscar nominee Ernest Lehman's best screenplays (in fact, he borrowed liberally from it for his script for the film version of THE PRIZE starring Paul Newman) and one of Bernard Herrmann's finest scores. Anybody who wants to write or direct a chase thriller should watch NORTH BY NORTHWEST first to see how it's done!

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The Ending... webswingin_kwt
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