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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Ernest Lehman (written by)
Release Date:
17 September 1959 (Japan) more
Tagline:
Alfred Hitchcock takes you.... North by Northwest! more
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. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 3 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(54 articles)
This week's DVD and Blu-ray releases
(From The Guardian - Film News. 13 November 2009, 4:05 PM, PST)
North by Northwest (50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Book) - Blu-ray Review
(From Monsters and Critics. 13 November 2009, 4:45 AM, PST)
User Comments:
I finally get how great it is: Hitch infuses his wrong-man caper with ironic movie language and reality-be-damned escapism and suspense. more (364 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)Additional Details
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)
more
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
131 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
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) | Brazil:14 | 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:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The title might refer to Hamlet's line "I am but mad north-northwest," where he tries to convince people of his sanity. The airline that they travel on (westbound) is called "Northwest (Orient) Airlines." more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: When Cary Grant leaves the train in Chicago, the Redcap uniform he is wearing is a perfect fit (if anything with the sleeves a little long). Yet when you see the man he got the uniform from, he is a very short little man whose clothes would never fit Grant, who of course is very tall. more
Quotes:
Roger Thornhill: I don't like the way Teddy Roosevelt is looking at me. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock (1973) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
Singin' in the Rain more
FAQ
How does the movie end?Where can I find screenshots from this film?
What is the title "North by Northwest" supposed to mean?
more
more (364 total)
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Its Hitch's most briskly entertaining movie, and one of his most comic, adventure-caper type movies, largely thanks to the persona of Cary Grant. But its also one of his most suspenseful - in the fact that Grant is being recognised as someone else, and that he may be put in jail for someone else's crime.
I've finally come to realise just how great North by Northwest is. The reason you should love Hitchcock is he put entertainment upfront. Hitchcock was not interested in whether this or that would happen in real life: he was interested in what would make the most entertaining scene for the movie. North by Northwest is a peak in this regard. The dialogue and situations intentionally throw reality to the wind - the double-entendre dialogue in the love scenes is not supposed to be the way people talk!
If you said to Hitchcock "as if he'd keep driving" or "as if she'd do that" - he would just laugh at you and say you've missed the point. This is 100% movieland, and once you get used to the fact, and that this is not a fault in the film, but done intentionally, you'll love it. Its expressionistic - everything happens in movie language: the people laughing at Grant in the elevator, the way he keeps driving drunk near the beginning, the way he grabs the knife and everyone stares at him after someone's been stabbed.
It flirts with the idea of identity. I thought it was interesting how Grant first is dismissing, then incredulous that people should be calling him by another name; then, as the tries to find out who this guy is, he enters the hotel room of this new identity, then he puts the suit on, and finally he identifies himself as George Kaplan.
A succession of fantastic, memorable scenes, a great leading man in Grant, and one of Hermann's essential Hitch scores make for a movie i can put on at any time.
10/10