North by Northwest (1959) | |
| Director(s) | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Producer(s) | Herbert Coleman (associate), Alfred Hitchcock (uncredited) |
| Top Genres | Action, Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller/Suspense |
| Top Topics | Mistaken Identity, Romance (Drama), Spies |
Featured Cast:
North by Northwest Overview:
North by Northwest (1959) was a Adventure - Mystery Film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by Alfred Hitchcock and Herbert Coleman.
SYNOPSIS
This is one of Hitchcock's greatest, with suspense, action, and comedy in one non-stop motion picture. In one of his patented ordinary-man-in-exceptional-circumstances plots, advertising executive Grant gets kidnapped from a business engagement and winds up in a baffling, twisting battle with enemy agents and on the run from both police and the agents. This technically superb film yielded some of Hitchcock's best-known images: the crop duster bearing down on Grant in a remote cornfield, Grant and Saint dangling from Mt. Rushmore, Saint's frank seduction of Grant on a train. Essential viewing. The laserdisc includes an audio commentary by Frank Danielle, dean of USC Film School, with special screenplay analysis.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.North by Northwest was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1995.
Academy Awards 1959 --- Ceremony Number 32 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Art Direction | Art Direction: William A. Horning, Robert Boyle, Merrill Pye; Set Decoration: Henry Grace, Frank | Nominated |
| Best Film Editing | George Tomasini | Nominated |
| Best Writing | Ernest Lehman | Nominated |
BlogHub Articles:
4K UHD Blu-ray Review: North by Northwest
By Devon Powell on Nov 12, 2025 From Hitchcock MasterDistributor: Warner Brothers Release Date: November 19, 2024 Region: Region Free Length: 02:16:22 Video: 2160P (HEVC, H.265 ? HDR10) Main Audio: English Dolby Atmos Audio 7.1 English Dolby TrueHD Audio 2.0 English DTS-HD Master Audio Alternate Audio: Spanish Mono Dolby Digital Audio French Mono Dol... Read full article
The Directors’ Chair: North by Northwest
By Theresa Brown on May 16, 2020 From Classic Movie Hub BlogThe Directors’ Chair: North by Northwest (1959) ….. NORTH BY NORTHWEST ( 1959 ) ~ TO BE or NOT TO BE THE SPY WHO LOVED ME A case of mistaken identity takes a dull Madison Avenue advertising exec on a journey across the United States, hooking up with a cool blonde, biddin... Read full article
HITCHCOCK & HERRMANN: "NORTH BY NORTHWEST" COMES TO THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY
By The Lady Eve on Nov 24, 2017 From Lady Eve's Reel LifeOn Friday, December 1 and Saturday, December 2, The San Francisco Symphony will present the Alfred Hitchcock blockbuster, North by Northwest, featuring Bernard Herrmann's iconic score. As with all film series presentations, North by Northwest will be screened with its score scrubbed from the soundtr... Read full article
North by Northwest (1959)
on Apr 12, 2017 From Journeys in Classic FilmIf you’ve looked at my previous coverage on Alfred Hitchcock then you’re aware of the glaring omissions in his filmography for me. Well, cross one of the biggies off the list for I’ve finally seen North by Northwest. Hitchcock’s Bond-esque story of the man who wasn’t th... Read full article
Chicago Film Club field trip: “North By Northwest” April 2 at ShowPlace ICON at Roosevelt Road
By Stephen Reginald on Mar 25, 2017 From Classic Movie ManChicago Film Club field trip: “North By Northwest” April 2 at ShowPlace ICON at Roosevelt Road Directed by Hitchcock—“The Master of Suspense”—and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason, North By Northwest is one of the classiest espionage films... Read full article
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Quotes from
Phillip Vandamm: Games? Must we?
Roger Thornhill: Not that I mind a slight case of abduction now and then, but I have tickets for the theater this evening, to a show I was looking forward to and I get, well, kind of *unreasonable* about things like that.
Phillip Vandamm: With such expert playacting, you make this very room a theater.
Roger Thornhill: Apparently the only performance that will satisfy you is when I play dead.
Phillip Vandamm: Your very next role, and you'll be quite convincing, I assure you.
Ticket Seller: (to Thornhill, who is wearing sunglasses to hide his identity) Something wrong with your eyes?
Roger Thornhill: Yes, they're sensitive to questions.
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Facts about
In a TCM interview, according to screenwriter Ernest Lehman (who worked in close collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock), the working title was "In A Northwesterly Direction." The head of the Story Department at MGM said, "Why don't you call it 'North by Northwest'?" Lehman says that he and Hitch adopted that as the new working title, always assuming that they'd come up with something better.
In one scene, Vandamm jokingly suggests Thornhill to try out for the Actors' Studio. Both Eva Marie Saint and Martin Landau were from the Actors' studio.
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