A 1959 American spy thriller about a Madison Avenue advertising executive mistaken for a government agent and pursued across the country.
Production
Alfred Hitchcock directed from an original screenplay by Ernest Lehman, shot in VistaVision and Technicolor for MGM. Cary Grant starred as the wrong-man hero, with Eva Marie Saint and James Mason in support.
Reception
The film earned around $13 million on a $4 million budget and drew strong reviews on release. It received three Oscar nominations but did not win.
Legacy
The crop-duster attack and the Mount Rushmore climax are widely cited as set pieces of Golden Age studio filmmaking. The plot template — innocent man pursued by both villains and authorities — was openly borrowed by the Bond series and countless thrillers that followed.
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North by Northwest starts with N and ends with T. Browse other movies along the same letter.
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