North by Northwest (1959)

North by Northwest (1959)

starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason

written by Ernest Lehman

directed by Alfred Hitchcock

136 minutes

Two armed men, employees of Lester Townsend (James Mason), kidnap Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) thinking that he is George Kaplan. Thornhill tries to explain to them that he isn't Kaplan but they refuse to listen. Thornhill is taken to see Lester Townsend who tries to get information out of him. Thornhill has no idea what they are talking about. He continues to insist that he is Thornhill, not Kaplan. They force him to drink a lot of bourbon and are getting ready to kill in what will look like a drunk driving accident when Thornhill escapes.

He gets into a vehicle accident and arrested by the police. He tries to explain what happened but no one, including his mother, believes him. He continues to try and figure out what was behind the kidnapping. His investigation leads him to the United Nations where he learns that the man who introduced himself as Lester Townsend was an imposter. The real Townsend is about to tell him something when he gets stabbed in the back and killed by one of the men who kidnapped Thordnhill.

Roger gets blamed for the murder of Townsend and is forced to go one the run. He gets on a train bound for Chicago in part because he believes that the real George Kaplan is headed there. Aboard the train he meets Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) who helps him to avoid the police but she tips off Phillip Vandamm (the fake Lester Townsend) as to Thornhill's location because, as Roger later learns, she is his mistress.

More complications ensue after the train reaches Chicago. Thornhill parts ways with Kendall after they reach Chicago. He almost gets killed by a cropduster in Indiana. He returns to Chicago where he finds Kendall. She inadvertently leads him to Vandamm. The Professor, a CIA operative, makes contact with Thornhill and clues him in as to what's really going on and the fact that there George Kaplan isn't a real person. The Professor convinces Thornhill, who is ready to call it quits, to stick around and help him deal with Vandamm. This leads to a final confrontation with Vandamm atop Mount Rushmore.

Thoughts

This wasn't my first time watching this movie but it had probably been more than 30 years since I last saw it. I watched it this time at the AFI Silver Theatre where it was projected in 70mm as part of the Hitchcock and Hermann series. There was a taped intro by Steven C. Smith who also introduced at least one of the other films that I saw in this series: The Wrong Man (1956), The Trouble with Harry (1955), and The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956).

I found that that this movie holds up to my memories of it. It isn't perfect but it was a fun mix of suspense and humor. All of the performances were good to great. 

Notes

This is the ninth movie that Cary Grant has been in that I have seen in the past 10 years but there are at least five other films of his that I have seen.

The only other movie that Eva Marie Saint has been in that I have seen (in the past 25 years) is On the Waterfront (1954). I have also seen her in one of her six appearances on Moonlighting, 2.14 Every Daughter's Father Is a Virgin. She is still alive and celebrated her 101st birthday in July 2025.

This is the third movie that I have seen in recent years in which James Mason appeared. The other two were The Boys from Brazil (1978) and Odd Man Out (1947). He appeared in one episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

Other actors who were in this movie that I have seen in other things include Leo G. Carroll, Martin Landau, Edward Platt, Robert Ellenstein, and Edward Binns.