North by Northwest (1959)
Average Rating: 9/10
Reviews Counted: 62
Fresh: 62 | Rotten: 0
Gripping, suspenseful, and visually iconic, this late-period Hitchcock classic laid the groundwork for countless action thrillers to follow.
Average Rating: 7.8/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 0
Gripping, suspenseful, and visually iconic, this late-period Hitchcock classic laid the groundwork for countless action thrillers to follow.
liked it
Average Rating: 4.2/5
User Ratings: 74,030
Movie Info
While having lunch at the Plaza Hotel in New York, advertising executive Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant) has the bad luck to call for a messenger just as a page goes out for a "George Kaplan." From that moment, Thornhill finds that he has stepped into a nightmare -- he is quietly abducted by a pair of armed men out of the hotel's famous Oak Room and transported to a Long Island estate; there, he is interrogated by a mysterious man (James Mason) who, believing that Roger is George Kaplan, demands
Sep 17, 1959 Wide
Aug 29, 2000
Turner Entertainment
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Cary Grant
Roger O. Thornhill -
Eva Marie Saint
Eve Kendall -
James Mason
Phillip Vandamm -
Jesse Royce Landis
Clara Thornhill -
Leo G Carroll
The Professor -
Martin Landau
Leonard -
Philip Ober
Lester Townsend -
Josephine Hutchinson
"Mrs. Townsend" hous... -
Adam Williams
Valerian -
Edward Platt
Victor Larrabee -
Robert Ellenstein
Licht -
Les Tremayne
Auctioneer -
Philip Coolidge
Dr. Cross -
Patrick McVey
Chicago Policeman -
Edward Binns
Capt. Junket -
Andy Albin
Farmer -
Ernest Anderson
Porter -
Malcolm Atterbury
Man on Road -
-
Baynes Barron
Taxi Driver -
John Beradino
Sgt. Emile Klinger -
Sara Berner
Telephone Operator -
Walter Coy
Reporter -
-
Patricia Cutts
Bit -
Jack Daly
Steward -
John Damler
Lieutenant -
Tommy Farrell
Elevator Starter -
Jesslyn Fax
Woman -
Sally Fraser
Attendant -
Paul Genge
Lt. Hagerman -
Ned Glass
Ticket Seller -
Tom Greenway
Detective -
Len Hendry
Police Lieutenant -
Bobby Johnson
Waiter -
Madge Kennedy
Housewife -
Doreen Lang
Maggie -
Alexander Lockwood
Judge Anson B. Flynn -
Ken Lynch
Chicago Policeman -
Frank Marlowe
Dakota Cab Driver -
Nora Marlowe
Anna the Housekeeper -
James McCallion
Valet -
Maura McGiveney
Attendant -
Carl Milletaire
Clerk -
Maudie Prickett
Plaza Maid -
Ralph Reed
Bellhop -
Harry Seymour
Captain of Waiters -
Robert Shayne
Larry Wade -
Olan Soule
Assistant Auctioneer -
Helen Spring
Bidder -
Harvey Stephens
Stock Broker -
Harry Strang
Assistant Conductor -
Dale Van Sickel
Ranger -
Susan Whitney
Girl Attendant -
Frank Wilcox
Weitner -
Robert B. Williams
Patrolman Waggonner -
Carleton Young
Fanning Nelson -
Stanley Adams
Lt. Harding -
Bill Catching
Attendant -
Lawrence Dobkin
Cartoonist -
Howard Negley
Conductor -
Jimmy Cross
Taxi Driver #1 -
Taggart Casey
Shaving Man -
-
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North by Northwest Trailer & Photos
All Critics (64) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (62) | Rotten (0) | DVD (32)
Hitchcock breezes through a tongue-in-cheek, nightmarish plot with a lightness of touch that's equalled by a charming performance from Grant.
Smoothly troweled and thoroughly entertaining.
Top CriticA great film, and certainly one of the most entertaining movies ever made, directed by Alfred Hitchcock at his peak.
At times it seems Hitchcock is kidding his own penchant for the bizarre, but this sardonic attitude is so deftly handled it only enhances the thrills.
All in all, an improbable classic.
Top Critic... a colorful and exciting route for spies, counterspies and lovers.
...a tenuously engaging thriller that could've used a few more passes through the editing bay...
The iconic actors give memorable performances, the story is perfectly pitched and fiercely clever and under the astounding directorial eye of Alfred Hitchcock - American Cinematic God - it's nearly flawless.
It has all the classic elements of a Hitchcock film - well timed suspense, an overall mystery, a compelling cast and some brilliantly conceived scenes.
Witty Hitchcock thriller. Not for little ones.
ideal introduction to the Master and all his basic fears and craftsmanship
The picture is hugely pleased with itself, but it's too funny and expertly calibrated to mind in the least.
One of Hitchcock's most enjoyable and entertaining films is also one of his most quintessential works, dealing with thematic and visual ideas well ahead of their time, as for example the notion of fluid identity.
North by Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock's very own adrenalin-fuelled action blockbuster.
The romcom suspense caper is a cinematic recipe that Alfred Hitchcock took with him to his grave; certainly I can't imagine anyone now succeeding in blending thrills, spills, caresses and laughs the way he did in this sublime classic from 1959.
Hitchcock succeeded in wanting to give popcorn munchers a movie to smile at. And he was never this playful again.
North By Northwest is the quintessential Hitchcock thriller and one of the most exciting movies of all time. So there.
Welcome and much needed proof that great action movies don't have to be meaningless and moronic.
Cary Grant's suave adman Roger O Thornhill finds himself in mortal peril as the innocent man-on-the-run, yet the tone throughout is buoyantly, almost insolently, comic.
The velvety villainy of James Mason, the crop duster chase and the thrilling finale scrambling around Mount Rushmore are just part of the pleasure in a classic that deserves to be seen on the big screen.
See it again and you'll come away marvelling.
Not Hitchcock's most profound work, but a tightly conceived, expertly executed thriller from the master of suspense.
Certifiable classic territory, Hitchcock's glossiest entertainment is the closest the trickster ever came to an action movie.
The great suspense director was at his most entertaining, creating a helter skelter action film where the hero is propelled from one breathless situation to the next.
Audience Reviews for North by Northwest
Super Reviewer
Movies Like North by Northwest
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- Eve Kendall: What happened to your first two marriages?
- Roger O. Thornhill: My wives divorced me. They said I led too dull a life.
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- Roger O. Thornhill: Have you poured any good drunks lately?
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- Woman: One thing we know, you're no fake. You're a genuine idiot.
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- Roger O. Thornhill: Hello Mother, this is your son, Roger Thornhill.
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- Man on Road: That fella's dusting crops where there ain't no crops.
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- Roger O. Thornhill: I could use a drink..a pint of Bourbon will do.
- The Professor: Mind if I join you?
- Roger O. Thornhill: Better make it a quart.
Discussion Forum
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Foreign Titles
- Der unsichtbare Dritte (DE)
- North by Northwest (1959) (CA)
