North by Northwest

1959
Approved
2h 16m

IMDb RATING

8.3/10

353K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,425

Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock, Eva Marie Saint, and Philip Ober in North by Northwest (1959)

Alfred Hitchcock gives a tour of the film in this trailer for the Special Edition DVD and Blu-Ray release.

Play trailer3:25

7 Videos

99+ Photos

Spy Action Adventure Mystery Thriller

A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.

Director
- Alfred Hitchcock
Writers
- Ernest Lehman
- Gerald Devriès
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.3/10

353K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,425

Director
- Alfred Hitchcock
Writers
- Ernest Lehman
- Gerald Devriès
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Top rated movie #103

Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 9 wins & 7 nominations total

Videos7

Trailer 3:25

North by Northwest

Clip 1:19

'North by Northwest' | Anniversary Mashup

Clip 1:19

'North by Northwest' | Anniversary Mashup

Clip 2:27

A Guide to the Films of Alfred Hitchcock

Clip 2:05

North By Northwest: 50th Anniversay Edition (Airplane Explosion)

Clip 1:48

North By Northwest: 50th Anniversay Edition (Scene At The Auction)

Clip 2:04

North By Northwest: 50th Anniversay Edition (Run For Your Life)

Photos256

+ 250

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Storyline

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Trivia
While filming Vertigo (1958), Sir Alfred Hitchcock described some of the plot of this project to frequent Hitchcock leading man and "Vertigo" star James Stewart, who naturally assumed that Hitchcock meant to cast him in the Roger Thornhill role, and was eager to play it. Actually, Hitchcock wanted Cary Grant to play the role. By the time Hitchcock realized the misunderstanding, Stewart was so anxious to play Thornhill that rejecting him would have caused a great deal of disappointment. So Hitchcock delayed production on this movie until Stewart was already safely committed to filming Otto Preminger's "Anatomy of a Murder (1959)" before "officially" offering him the role in this movie. Stewart had no choice but to turn down the offer, allowing Hitchcock to cast Grant, the actor he had wanted all along.

Goofs
During the scene in the diner at Mount Rushmore, a young extra boy in the background anticipates the surprise gun shot, fired by Eve. The diners are supposed to be unaware this is going to happen but the young extra boy covers his ears way before she draws the gun. The young extra boy must have known there would be a loud bang from the blank-filled pistol from previous takes and therefore covered his ears on the "printed" take.

Quotes
[Thornhill is wearing sunglasses to hide his identity]
Ticket Seller: Something wrong with your eyes?
Roger Thornhill: Yes, they're sensitive to questions.

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!

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.

Connections
Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Le contrôle de l'univers (1999)

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 reviews776

Review

Featured review

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