North by Northwest (1959)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:56
Fresh:56
Rotten:0
Average Rating:9/10
Consensus: Gripping, suspenseful, and visually iconic, this late-period Hitchcock classic laid the groundwork for countless action thrillers to follow.
Runtime: 4 hrs 32 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Synopsis: NORTH BY NORTHWEST is a suspense thriller that finds Cary Grant in the role of Roger Thornhill, a Manhattan advertising executive mistaken for a spy. Considered by many to be the prototypical pure... [More]
Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Leo G. Carroll
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
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Reviews for North by Northwest
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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 4/4 |
The picture is hugely pleased with itself, but it's too funny and expertly calibrated to mind in the least. Full Review |
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Click to read the article Full Review |
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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. Full Review |
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4/5 |
Hitchcock breezes through a tongue-in-cheek, nightmarish plot with a lightness of touch that’s equalled by a charming performance from Grant. Full Review |
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5/5 |
North by Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock’s very own adrenalin-fuelled action blockbuster. Full Review |
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5/5 |
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. Full Review |
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5/5 |
Hitchcock succeeded in wanting to give popcorn munchers a movie to smile at. And he was never this playful again. Full Review |
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5/5 |
North By Northwest is the quintessential Hitchcock thriller and one of the most exciting movies of all time. So there. Full Review |
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5/5 |
Welcome and much needed proof that great action movies don't have to be meaningless and moronic. Full Review |
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5/5 |
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. Full Review |
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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. Full Review |
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5/5 |
See it again and you'll come away marvelling. Full Review |
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Smoothly troweled and thoroughly entertaining. Full Review |
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4.5/5 |
Not Hitchcock's most profound work, but a tightly conceived, expertly executed thriller from the master of suspense. Full Review |
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5/5 |
Certifiable classic territory, Hitchcock's glossiest entertainment is the closest the trickster ever came to an action movie. Full Review |
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4/4 |
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. Full Review |
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A great film, and certainly one of the most entertaining movies ever made, directed by Alfred Hitchcock at his peak. Full Review |
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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. Full Review |
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Rich imagery, with many links to Vertigo. Full Review |
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All in all, an improbable classic. Full Review |
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