Cary Grant
Roger O. Thornhill/George Kaplan
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North by Northwest is a tale of mistaken identity, with an innocent man pursued across the United States by agents of a mysterious organization trying to prevent him from blocking their plan to smuggle microfilm, which contains government secrets, out of the country.
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.
- (348K)
- Action, Adventure, Mystery
- Alfred Hitchcock
- 1959-12-18
- IT WAS CONCEIVED WHILE ITS WRITER AND DIRECTOR WERE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING ON SOMETHING ELSE. MGM hired Ernest Lehman (Sweet Smell of Success) to write the movie version of a novel called The Wreck of the Mary Deare, with Alfred Hitchcock assigned to direct.
- THE MOVIE WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT BERNARD HERRMANN. The legendary film composer, a Hitchcock collaborator since 1955's The Trouble with Harry, is the one who introduced Hitchcock to Ernest Lehman, thinking they'd hit it off.
- JAMES STEWART WANTED TO PLAY THE LEAD. Stewart had been in four Hitchcock movies at this point, and he wanted North by Northwest to be the fifth. But while Hitch loved him, he didn't think he was right for the glibly debonair Roger Thornhill.
- CARY GRANT HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON. The star found the screenplay baffling, and midway through filming told Hitchcock, "It's a terrible script.
North by Northwest (1959) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.
Jan 15, 2021 · North by Northwest is a tale of mistaken identity, with an innocent man pursued across the United States by agents of a mysterious organization trying to prevent him from blocking their plan to smuggle microfilm, which contains government secrets, out of the country.
- 136 min
- 34.8K
- The Alfred Hitchcock Project
Jun 21, 2024 · North by Northwest is widely regarded as the classic Hitchcock film. It features taut suspense and black humour—the script was by Ernest Lehman, who received an Academy Award nomination—and has all the hallmarks of a Hitchcock movie, including the theme of mistaken identity.
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. 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.
