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 action movie (creating the template for later James Bond and Indiana Jones films), the film is a cross-country roller-coaster ride with Alfred Hitchcock at the helm. The film is duly famous for several classic and indelible scenes, including the desert biplane encounter and the Mt. Rushmore climax. The original title was THE MAN IN LINCOLN'S NOSE, which was replaced by a reference to a line from William Shakespeare's HAMLET (in which Hamlet says, "I am but mad north-north-west."). The magical combination of Hitchcock and the debonair Grant--who made four wonderful films together--makes NORTH BY NORTHWEST a suspense-filled standout.

When Thornhill finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, the world as he knows it comes to an end. Suddenly danger threatens as the hapless businessman is targeted as an American intelligence agent and set up as a killer. All of Thornhill's attempts to straighten things out only make matters worse--and soon the desperate man is on the run from murderous foreign operatives, the CIA, and the police. The supporting cast, including Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, and Martin Landau, is uniformly excellent.

Hitchcock cameo: The director can be seen missing a bus at the opening.

Shot in studios and on location on Long Island, New York, and in Chicago, Rapid City, and South Dakota.

Ernest Lehman received the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Screenplay of 1959.

NORTH BY NORTHWEST is number 40 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.

NORTH BY NORTHWEST was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1995.

In 2001, Ernest Lehman received the first honorary Academy Award ever presented to a screenwriter.

DVD Features:

Region [unknown]
Special Edition
Widescreen
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, French
Subtitles - English, French

Cary Grant: American actor, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
Eva Marie Saint: American Actress
James Mason: British actor, A STAR IS BORN (1954)
Leo G. Carroll: British Actor/"Mr. Waverly"
Jessie Royce Landis: American Character Actress
Philip Ober: American Character Actor
Josephine Hutchinson: American Actress
Martin Landau: Oscar winning actor, ED WOOD

Alfred Hitchcock: Director/screenwriter/producer, VERTIGO, THE BIRDS, PSYCHO

Alfred Hitchcock: Director/screenwriter/producer, VERTIGO, THE BIRDS, PSYCHO

Ernest Lehman: Screenwriter/Prod./Director

Bernard Herrmann: Film Composer, PSYCHO, CITIZEN KANE

George Tomasini: 

"...NORTH BY NORTHWEST is sequence after sequence of breathlessly exciting and amusing entertainment..." -- 5 out of 5 stars
"...One of Alfred Hitchcock's most durable entertainments..."
"...The master's greatest toy..."
"...NORTH BY NORTHWEST is the paragon for every action caper that's followed."