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 #95 | 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:

A 2000 MILE CHASE . . . That blazes a trail of TERROR to a gripping, spine-chilling climax !

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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)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$55,597

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

It tied with Anatomy of a Murder (1959) as the sixth highest grossing film of the year.

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Goofs

The location of the "United States Intelligence Agency" building in Washington contains several errors. First, there is no building of any kind on the Mall opposite the Capitol. Second, when the Professor walks by the window in his office, the traffic seen driving past on the street immediately to the left of and beside the building is so close that the side of the building would have to run through the far side of the office to comport with the location of the street and the angles shown (the office door would either not exist or open into mid-air above the street).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Roger Thornhill: [coming out of the crowded elevator, dictating to his secretary] If you accept the belief that a high Trendex automatically means a rising sales curve...
Eddie: Mr. Thornhill?

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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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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 Night City (2015)

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Soundtracks

Singin' in the Rain
(1929)
(uncredited)
Music by Nacio Herb Brown
Lyrics Arthur Freed
Whistled by Cary Grant in Eva's apartment

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?