North by Northwest (1959)

A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies.

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writer:

Ernest Lehman

Stars:

Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason

Top Rated Movies #76 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cary Grant	...	Roger 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
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 | mount rushmore | government agent | fugitive | on the run | 

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Taglines:

Alfred Hitchcock takes you.... North by Northwest!

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Genres:

Adventure | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

26 September 1959 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest

Filming Locations:

Garces Highway 1/10th mile East from Corcoran Road and Kern National Wildlife Preserve, Kern County, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,101,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$13,275,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$22,213,000

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:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie has been referred to as "the first James Bond film" due to its similarities with splashily colourful settings, secret agents, and an elegant, daring, wisecracking leading man opposite a sinister yet strangely charming villain. The crop duster scene inspired the helicopter chase in From Russia with Love (1963).

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Goofs

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." The matches also change from being half full to totally full.

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Quotes

Eve Kendall: I tipped the steward five dollars to seat you here if you should come in.
Roger Thornhill: Is that a proposition?
Eve Kendall: I never discuss love on an empty stomach.
Roger Thornhill: You've already eaten!
Eve Kendall: But you haven't.

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Crazy Credits

Right after his credit as director during the opening credits, Alfred Hitchcock is running toward the door of the city bus just as it slams shut on him!

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Alternate Versions

The print originally had an acknowledgement for the cooperation of the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service. But they requested it be removed after MGM violated the agreement that no violence would take place near the Mt. Rushmore monument. Some prints, however, were released with the acknowledgement still in.

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Connections

Referenced in Le confessionnal (1995)

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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

Worth it just to see the the crop duster chase

I can't quite understand how anyone can dislike Alfred Hitchcock's films. Personally, he's one of the few old school talents I find interesting and watchable, even if his work is dated and set in its era (the era when most sets were hopelessly phony). I guess you have to appreciate his themes - dysfunctional relationships between a man and his mother, flawed by essentially innocent men caught up in a web of intrigue, beautiful blonds, comments of authority figures, black humor, etc - to really appreciate Hitchcock.

Interestingly, James Stewart was Hitchcock's original choice for the role of Roger Thornhill, the hapless ad man who is mistaken for a spy who doesn't even exist to begin with and is chased half way across the country by villains and authorities for a murder he didn't commit. For one reason or another, Stewart was unavailable and the part went to Cary Grant instead. Grant seems better suited to the character and the situation than Stewart would have been, but I can easily picture Stewart being chased in the cornfield by the crop duster.

Like all Hitchcock films, there are hundreds of things that aren't realistic though set in the real world and lots of highly improbable stuff going on everywhere, but if you give it a chance you'll enjoy it and won't care. Don't miss Eva Marie Saint having to dub over a then lewd line about love, a full stomach and sex. The use of a crop duster may not be the most practical way to kill a man, but it's a great visual representation of the great Hitchcockian examination of "nowhere to run, nowhere to hide". The music and clinging to Mount Rushmore is also memorable. Did I mention the innuendo?