North by Northwest (1959)

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writer:

Ernest Lehman (written by)

Release Date:

17 September 1959 (Japan)

Genre:

Adventure | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

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

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.

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Advertising | Agent | Government Agent | New York

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

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
Ed Binns	...	Captain Junket (as Edward Binns)

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)
Intriga internacional (Argentina) (Mexico) (original subtitled version) (Uruguay) (Venezuela) [es]
La mort aux trousses (Belgium: French title) (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Der unsichtbare Dritte (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Intriga Internacional (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Észak, északnyugat (Hungary) [hu]
Con la muerte en los talones (Spain) [es]
De dood op de hielen (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
I sista minuten (Sweden) [sv]
Intrigo internazionale (Italy) [it]
La nord prin nord-vest (Romania) [ro]
Med hjertet i halsen (Norway) [no]
Menneskejagt (Denmark) [da]
Na sever severozápadní linkou (Czechoslovakia: Czech title) [cs]
Pólnoc, pólnocny zachód (Poland) [pl]
Perseguit per la mort (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Sever-Severozapad (Serbia) [sr]
Sjever-sjeverozapad (Croatia) [hr]
Sti skia ton 4 giganton (Greece) [el]
Sti skia ton tessaron giganton (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
Vaarallinen romanssi (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

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) | 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

Filming Locations:

Bakersfield, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

While the film was in pre-production, Alfred Hitchcock jokingly said that the film was to be called, "The Man in Lincoln's Nose", obviously a reference to the finale at Mt. Rushmore.

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."

Quotes:

Roger Thornhill: No. No, Mother, I have not been drinking. No. No. These two men, they poured a whole bottle of bourbon into me. No, they didn't give me a chaser.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 50 Films to See Before You Die (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Singin' in the Rain

"That wasn't very sporting, using real bullets."

Cary Grant handles the twisted expressions of his face, his astonished look, his impulsive smile with professional self-assurance and charm while taking us right in the middle of confusion on a breathless 2000-mile cross-country chase which has its gripping showdown across the giant faces of the presidents sculptured on Mount Rushmore high above Rapid City, South Dakota…

Grant plays Roger Thornhill, a stylish publicist, mistaken for a fictitious Federal agent, plunged into a world of crime and intrigue, hunted down by villains who want to eliminate him because he seems to be on their dishonest dealings…

When questioned by bland Phillip Vandamm (James Mason), Thornhill is unable to convince him that he is a victim of a mistaken identity… His three thugs fill him with bourbon, and place him in a stolen car expecting him to have a drunken accident… After narrowly escaping death, no one believes his story including, obviously, his skeptical mother (Jessie Royce Landis).

In an effort to discover the agent he is being confused with, and using the clues he collected, Thornhill returns to the United Nations Headquarter looking for George Kaplan… There, somebody falls into his arms and unthinkingly, Thornhill draws the blade out of the victim's back and is photographed holding the weapon in mid-air… And thus became a fugitive from justice, pursued by the cops and had to skip by boarding a train to Chicago…

While on the run, he is caught by a provocative platinum blonde (Eva Marie Saint), who comes out as a glamorous woman and a delightful charmer…

James Mason, a polished mastermind spy showed too well to be threatening... His menacing henchman, Martin Landau is also convincingly hurtful...

In his fifth Hitchcock picture, Leo G. Carroll is suave and calm as the devoted intelligence chief…

Directed by a genius behind the camera, "North By Northwest" remains a genuinely exciting film for the dangerous world of spies and counterspies…