North by Northwest ranks among the most popular and highly praised of all the suspense motion pictures directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The movie, released in 1959, blends comedy with thrills, romance, and sudden plot twists. It also includes some of the most famous scenes in motion-picture history.
North by Northwest features a brilliant performance by Cary Grant as a New York City advertising executive who innocently is mistaken for an American secret agent. He is framed for murder by enemy spies and finds himself running for his life from both the spies and the police.
The film is essentially one long chase that recalls some of the techniques and plot devices of Hitchcock’s earlier suspense films. In one famous scene, Grant is trapped in an Indiana cornfield trying to escape from a crop-dusting airplane hired by the spies to kill him. In another scene, spies chase Grant and an American government agent across the face of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. During the motion picture, Grant flees his pursuers using any transportation he can find, including railroad train, taxi, private automobile, airplane, and truck.
North by Northwest co-stars Eva Marie Saint as an American agent who becomes romantically involved with Grant as their paths repeatedly cross. James Mason plays the head of the enemy spies, and Martin Landau is his nasty assistant. Leo G. Carroll plays the head of the government forces trying to destroy the spy network.
See also Grant, Cary ; Hitchcock, Alfred .
