North by Northwest (1959)

DanDare May 20, 2017

★ 7/10

North by Northwest is famous for its famous action sequences such as hanging on Mount Rushmore and the crop duster plane scene. Essentially it is a film of mistaken identity as advertising executive Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is mistaken for George Kaplan by some bad guys in league with a foreign power presumably Russian. The trouble is Kaplan is a made up operative created by the CIA to flush out the film's villain, the urbane but deadly Vandamm (James Mason) and his cronies such as the fey henchman Leonard (Martin Landau) who are out to get Thornhill. Thornhill in order to prove his innocence must evade capture from the bad guys and also the police as he is wanted by everyone. Only a beautiful blonde Eve (Eva-Marie Saint) aids him in this cross country chase but she is more than an innocent bystander as she might be in league with Vandamm. This is an escapist action film …

tmdb47633491 April 7, 2018

★ 9/10

I hate user/critic review websites strictly because of movies like this. People will go see like, Gran Torino, be entertained, admire a couple symmetrical shots and smooth camera pans or whatever, and rate the thing a 4.5/5, 9/10, 95%, etc. But then there are movies that have a ten minute chase scene with Cary Grant scaling down Mount Rushmore, every second of which you're screaming at the screen. Of course my most pompous entry is for an Alfred Hitchcock. But please, for progeny's sake, save the high ratings for ones that earn em

John Chard April 22, 2019

★ 10/10

Sometimes the truth does taste like a mouthful of worms. Roger O Thornhill is a harmless and amiable advertising executive who is absurdly mistaken for a government agent by a gang of ruthless spies. Forced to go out on the lam, Thornhill lurches from one perilous scenario to another. Can he survive to prove his innocence? Is the gorgeous blonde who is helping him really a friend? All will be revealed in Alfred Hitchcock's majestic thriller. If deconstructing it you find that this isn't a perfect Hitchcock movie, for it under uses James Mason's coolly vile Phillip Vandamm (which is a crime), and it also doesn't have a female lead acting with any great urgency since Eva Marie Saint as Eve Kendall fails to fully fulfil the promise of Kendall's arrival in the movie. Yet this film rightly earns the right to be on any critics top 100 list, to be a favourite amongst the legion of Hitchc…

Wuchak December 26, 2019

★ 6/10

***It has its points of interest, but any 60’s Bond flick is a better choice*** When an ad executive in Manhattan (Gary Cooper) is mistaken for a government agent by a foreign spy & his cronies (James Mason, et al.) he finds himself a fugitive traveling by train to Chicago wherein he meets a woman that seems to have his favor (Eva Marie Saint). After a curious encounter with a crop dusting plane everything culminates at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota. "North by Northwest" (1959) is an adventure/thriller by Hitchcock with a huge reputation. It obviously influenced the James Bond flicks of the 60s, which started three years later with “Dr. No” (1962), but it’s very toned down by comparison because the hero in this case is not a trained spy. It’s entertaining to a point, but also seriously overrated due to some glaring problems… Jessie Royce Landis plays the protagonis…

James October 20, 2023

★ 7/10

Not one time did I think “This is good enough to deserve being on his (Hitchcock’s) filmography.

CinemaSerf December 28, 2023

★ 7/10

"Thornhill" (Cary Grant) is your typically fast-talking advertising executive who is meeting some folks for a drink when he is mistaken for a "Mr. Caplan". Whisked off at gunpoint to meet "Vandamm" (James Mason) and his henchman "Leonard" (Martin Landau) his protestations of innocence just get him pumped full of booze and put behind the wheel of a car, the likely suspect of a murder investigation. He has to stay one step ahead of the pursuing police now as he tries to get his life back, a task made more difficult by his encounter with the charmingly enigmatic "Eve" (a rather static Eva Marie Saint) whom he is not entirely sure he can trust. What Hitchcock delivers now is a slowly unravelling adventure mystery with loads of red herrings, plenty of well written and executed humour from Grant and a gradually accruing sense of menace as we finally realise just what is going on. The photograp…

JPV852 November 25, 2024

★ 9/10

Seen this one a few times over the years and still is one of Hitchcock's best though personally Rear Window is still my favorite of his. Still, a great espionage thriller with solid performances from both Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. **4.5/5**