North By Northwest (1959) – Encore Review

“Now you listen to me, I’m an advertising man, not a red herring. I’ve got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don’t intend to disappoint them all by getting myself “slightly” killed.” – Roger Thornhill

Number of Times Seen – 3 (cable in the 90’s, 31 Aug 2016 and 2 Dec 2022)

Link to original review – Here

Brief Synopsis – An advertising executive is mistaken for a secret agent and is kidnapped by foreign spies.

My Take on it – This is such a great Alfred Hitchcock film because once again it takes an ‘everyman’ and puts him in a situation that he has little control over.

The way that this movie deals with the mistaken identity issue is done superbly especially since they allow the viewer to have more knowledge than the characters regarding some key elements.

Cary Grant is superb in the lead role and helps make his character so believable to watch as things unfold.

The film has some great twists and turns along the way which helps make it even more suspenseful and thrilling to watch play out.

The rest of the cast besides Grant is also great and helps make things seem so believable as it keeps changing directions.

Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Cary Grant found the screenplay baffling, and midway through filming told Sir Alfred Hitchcock, “It’s a terrible script. We’ve already done a third of the picture and I still can’t make head nor tail of it!” Hitchcock knew this confusion would only help the movie; after all, Grant’s character had no idea what was going on either. Grant thought the movie would be a flop right up until its premiere, where it was rapturously received. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10) (no change from original review)