
North by Northwest
It's a deadly game of "tag" and Cary Grant is "it"!
1959 • 137 min • Thriller · Adventure
Synopsis
Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
Our family guide
Best from age 10- 100 Reviewers · 7 · 72%
- 80 Audience · 4569 · 28%
Advertising executive Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a government agent, leading to a thrilling cross-country chase as he tries to uncover the truth and clear his name. He becomes entangled in a world of espionage and danger, pursued by mysterious figures.
- Violence & peril
- 3/10
- Language
- 1/10
- Drinking, drugs & smoking
- 2/10
- Romance & sensuality
- 2/10
- Scary moments
- 4/10
Heads up
- Some intense chase scenes
- Characters are threatened with guns
- Implied danger and suspense
What it models well
- Quick thinking under pressure
- Courage in the face of danger
- Resourcefulness
Talk about it after
- Mistaken identity and its consequences
- The difference between appearance and reality
- How trust is earned and lost
- Spycraft and Cold War anxieties
Written by the Movie Knight editorial team for North by Northwest. Our own words, our own scoring — always double-check against your family's standards.
Where to watch
Stream
- Philo
- TCM
Rent
- Amazon Video
- Apple TV Store
- Google Play Movies
- YouTube
- Fandango At Home
- Spectrum On Demand
Buy
- Amazon Video
- Apple TV Store
- Google Play Movies
- YouTube
- Fandango At Home
Links go straight to each service. Some are affiliate links that support Movie Knight at no cost to you. Availability data by JustWatch via TMDB.
Top billed cast
Director: Alfred Hitchcock • Crew: Ernest Lehman
Trailers & clips
Cary Grant Outruns a Crop Duster | North by Northwest | TCM
Movie Clip - Do Away With You
Movie Clip - The Art of Survival
Movie Clip - Crop Duster Chase
Movie Clip - A Long Night
Official Trailer 4K Ultra HD
65th Anniversary
Full Movie Preview
Reviewer notes
RecommendedTrusted family reviewersSeen this one a few times over the years and still is one of Hitchcock's best though personally Rear Window is still my favorite of his. Still, a great espionage thriller with solid performances from both Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. **4.5/5**
Recommended"Thornhill" (Cary Grant) is your typically fast-talking advertising executive who is meeting some folks for a drink when he is mistaken for a "Mr. Caplan". Whisked off at gunpoint to meet "Vandamm" (James Mason) and his henchman "Leonard" (Martin Landau) his protestations of innocence just get him pumped full of booze and put behind the wheel of a car, the likely suspect of a murder investigation. He has to stay o...
RecommendedNot one time did I think “This is good enough to deserve being on his (Hitchcock’s) filmography.
Recommended***It has its points of interest, but any 60’s Bond flick is a better choice*** When an ad executive in Manhattan (Gary Cooper) is mistaken for a government agent by a foreign spy & his cronies (James Mason, et al.) he finds himself a fugitive traveling by train to Chicago wherein he meets a woman that seems to have his favor (Eva Marie Saint). After a curious encounter with a crop dusting plane everything culm...
RecommendedTrusted family reviewersSometimes the truth does taste like a mouthful of worms. Roger O Thornhill is a harmless and amiable advertising executive who is absurdly mistaken for a government agent by a gang of ruthless spies. Forced to go out on the lam, Thornhill lurches from one perilous scenario to another. Can he survive to prove his innocence? Is the gorgeous blonde who is helping him really a friend? All will be revealed in Alfred...
RecommendedTrusted family reviewersI hate user/critic review websites strictly because of movies like this. People will go see like, Gran Torino, be entertained, admire a couple symmetrical shots and smooth camera pans or whatever, and rate the thing a 4.5/5, 9/10, 95%, etc. But then there are movies that have a ten minute chase scene with Cary Grant scaling down Mount Rushmore, every second of which you're screaming at the screen. Of course my mos...
RecommendedNorth by Northwest is famous for its famous action sequences such as hanging on Mount Rushmore and the crop duster plane scene. Essentially it is a film of mistaken identity as advertising executive Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is mistaken for George Kaplan by some bad guys in league with a foreign power presumably Russian. The trouble is Kaplan is a made up operative created by the CIA to flush out the film...
Fan reviews
Sign in to rate and reviewBe the first fan to review this.
Gallery
Details
- TMDB audience
- 8.0/10 (4,569)
- Age rating
- G
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $4,000,000
- Box office
- $13,275,000
- IMDb
- tt0053125

Philo
TCM
Plex
Tubi TV
Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Spectrum On Demand

















