North by Northwest

Play trailer

2:02

North by Northwest

Released Jul 17, 1959

2h 16m

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

97%

Tomatometer

115 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.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

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

Read Critics Reviews

Wendy Ide

Times (UK)

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

Aug 29, 2022

Full Review

Pauline Kael

New Yorker

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.

Jul 6, 2022

Full Review

Barbara L. Wilson

Philadelphia Inquirer

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.

Jun 9, 2021

Full Review

Zach Youngs

InSession Film

In spite of a few flaws, North by Northwest remains an unqualified triumph. It’s got some of the best humor, dark and otherwise, in any Hitchcock film and it never lags for a second of its run time.

Rated: A

Jul 25, 2024

Full Review

Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

A splashy adventure...a precursor for the kind of jet-setting, debonair intrigue that would become ubiquitous...

Sep 22, 2023

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

It’s lighter, flashier, and more stylish than some of Hitch’s other classics, but those are the things that make it a unique but fitting part of Hitchcock’s wonderful filmography.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 24, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Joan

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

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/22/24

Full Review

Marco A

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.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/23/21

Full Review

Audience Member

This was a very good film. I expected it to be good because of the ratings on this website, and yeah pretty good. My only issue is with the ending, the ending was building to be this super suspenseful thing right? Then pulls the carpet from beneath your feet and cuts to them on the train. I thought that was lame. Other than that, I really enjoyed the cinematography, the acting was kind of meh… felt very stilted. Specifically the romance stuff, they talk like good friends not like lovers obsessed with one another. If you haven’t seen this film then definitely watch it.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/02/24

Full Review

Audience Member

As far as thrillers go, this as good as it gets. As far as film's in general go, this is as good as it gets. It has stood the test of time and is easily one of the greatest films ever made, combining humor, suspense, and mystery together unlike any other.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/08/24

Full Review

julie b

Lovely blend of fun yet suspenseful. Acting and dialogue are both slick and silly without being gimmicky, which I find is often hard for old movies, and it’s accompanied by a classic eerie score. It felt a little long in the last third as I kept waiting for it to have a shocking twist, but it pays off in the end

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/23/24

Full Review

Fer S

I loved the fast pacing. The cinematography is excellent and ending has great suspense. The plot however gets absurd plenty of times.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/08/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Alfred Hitchcock

Director

Cary Grant

Roger O. Thornhill

Eva Marie Saint

Eve Kendall

James Mason

Phillip Vandamm

Leo G. Carroll

The Professor

Martin Landau

Leonard

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Gaslight

89%

90%

Gaslight

Watchlist

Telefon

44%

47%

Telefon

Watchlist

Vertigo

93%

92%

Vertigo

Watchlist

The Bat

17%

47%

The Bat

Watchlist

Marnie

81%

72%

Marnie

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Doug Liman’s Five Favorite Films

Five Favourite Films with Greg Kinnear

AFI Announces Top 100 Movies of All Time … Again

North by Northwest: Trailer 1

2:02

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

0:30

View more videos

View more photos

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)

Most Popular at Home Now