North by Northwest

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North by Northwest

1959

2h 16m

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

97%

Tomatometer

119 Reviews

94%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

This classic suspense film finds New York City ad executive Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant) pursued by ruthless spy Phillip Vandamm (James Mason) after Thornhill is mistaken for a government agent. Hunted relentlessly by Vandamm's associates, the harried Thornhill ends up on a cross-country journey, meeting the beautiful and mysterious Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) along the way. Soon Vandamm's henchmen close in on Thornhill, resulting in a number of iconic action sequences.

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Critics Consensus

Gripping, suspenseful, and visually iconic, this late-period Hitchcock classic laid the groundwork for countless action thrillers to follow.

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Wendy Ide

The Times (UK)

08/29/2022

The plotting is tightly wound and the thrills are executed with devilish panache.

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

07/06/2022

Though not as cleverly original as Strangers on a Train, or as cleverly sexy as Notorious, this is one of Hitchcock’s most entertaining American thrillers.

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Barbara L. Wilson

Philadelphia Inquirer

06/09/2021

Alfred Hitchcock's new thriller, North by Northwest, is one of those no holds barred films. For better than two hours, he lets the Technicolor melodrama ramble across the VistaVision screen while gleefully setting traps for his hero.

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Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

Jul 23

5/5

Made just a year after "Vertigo" and a year before "Psycho," it's a breezy and dashing thriller with very little of the typecast weird and grotesque symbolism that sometimes alienates Hitchcock films from centrist audiences.

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Chris Barsanti

PopMatters

01/08/2025

The last time Alfred Hitchcock delivered a big success of a film with stars on the marquee and an A-lister behind the typewriter.

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Harry Solomons

Loud and Clear Reviews

01/08/2025

4.5/5

One of Hitchcock’s crowning achievements, North By Northwest remains as fun as ever and serves as the finest example of a genre it helped to create.

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Feb 28

Amazing to see on the big screen!

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12/11/2024

One of Hitchcock's best!! Great story, suspense, drama, romance!

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09/22/2024

Classic Hitchcock and Cary Grant! Suspenseful and we'll written and directed! Not to be missed on the big screen!

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05/23/2021

My favorite Hitchcock movie and one of my all time favorites overall. Just pure fun and enjoyment, perfect balance of thrills/adventure/comedy/romance with great dialogues. A film that had the style of Bond before Bond, but that would have been one of the top Bond films all time as well.

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Romas M

@Romas Jan 5

Greetings from Lithuania. "North by Northwest" (1959) is more like an adventure with some mystery and thriller elements than a real thriller - it has this lightness that separates it from more serious approach of the material. And maybe that's is the strangeness and at the same time the weakness of this great and exciting movie. It is superbly photographed, features splendid cinematography (the scene with the plane in the fields is simply amazing, still after first time seeing this movie in 2015). Acting is very solid but not very serious, you won't believe for a second that one of the characters were experiencing a real peril, it is more like acting in front of the camera, not "being there sort of acting". While the story is intriguing at first, it becomes more or less intriguing by the end, and although i really enjoyed the last sequence on the monument, some acting in there weren't just that good or realistic.

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Noah H

Dec 31

Ending was a little abrupt and the villain was pretty forgettable but I still really enjoyed it. I am personally not a massive fan of Hitchcock's work, but I think this may be my favorite movie of his. The sets still look AMAZING by today's standards. The action scenes were fun and really well done. I'll admit, Alfred Hitchcock sure knows how to make a good thriller.

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Alfred Hitchcock

Director

Cary Grant

Roger O. Thornhill

Eva Marie Saint

Eve Kendall

James Mason

Phillip Vandamm

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North by Northwest: Trailer 1

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North by Northwest (1959) Presented by TCM: Fathom Events Trailer

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Synopsis

This classic suspense film finds New York City ad executive Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant) pursued by ruthless spy Phillip Vandamm (James Mason) after Thornhill is mistaken for a government agent. Hunted relentlessly by Vandamm's associates, the harried Thornhill ends up on a cross-country journey, meeting the beautiful and mysterious Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) along the way. Soon Vandamm's henchmen close in on Thornhill, resulting in a number of iconic action sequences.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriter: Ernest Lehman
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 17, 1959, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): May 19, 2024
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 17, 2009
Runtime: 2h 16m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.66:1)

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