This year we will be taking a closer look at past cinema treasures on a weekly basis. The first movie in our #50fromthe50s movie review is Alfred Hitchcock’s, “North by Northwest.” This movie was released in 1959 and stars Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint.

Plot line of “North By Northwest”

“North by Northwest” stars Cary Grant, as a man who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time when he is mistaken for someone else. Because of this mistaken identity, Roger Thornhill {Grant} is abducted and find himself on the run from bogus murder charges. Along the way, Thornhill meets up with Eve Kendall {Eva Marie Saint}, a potential love interest. However, Kendall may be more than meets the eye and Thornhill may have bitten off more than he can chew in this cross country suspense.

Thoughts On “North By Northwest”

My husband and I watched this movie together and we found it to be very suspenseful and visually appealing. I had also heard of Cary Grant, of course, but I had never seen any movie he was in before that I can recall. I really liked him as an actor and will be looking for more movies that feature him. He reminded me a bit of George Clooney and his character was slightly sarcastic, so I found him pretty funny. I especially enjoyed the music – creepy and suspenseful.

I had mistakenly assumed that Alfred Hitchcock only did horror or scary movies. Apparently that is not the case. “North by Northwest” is not scary, but is suspenseful and is pretty similar to crime dramas of today. So, if you are into action, drama and suspense, I think you will like this movie.

Should You Let Your Kids See This Movie?

Though there are 2 twin beds in hotel rooms, etc., that is typical for cinema in that era, there is a lot of flirtation in the movie that you might want to check out before letting the kiddies see this film. This movie isn’t Mayberry. There is some violence, but it is very non-graphic as compared to movies of today and there is no gore or anything that I recall seeing in this movie. I would let a child watch this, but I know that everyone has different views of what is acceptable for their children, so I thought I would mention this.

How Do We Rate “North By Northwest”?

The folks at Rotten Tomatoes apparently really love this movie. As of this writing, 94% of viewers liked it. North by Northwest is also featured on several lists as one of the best movies of all time. I would give it a definite 4-4.5 out of 5 stars. The only thing I didn’t care for was the ending. But it didn’t bother me enough to dislike the movie. I would definitely watch it again. 🙂

If you want to see “North By Northwest,” there are several places offering it for $2.99, but the cheapest place we found was on an app called MGo on our Smart TV. We rented it for $1.99. We don’t know much about this app, as we just installed it and this was the first movie we watched, but so far, so good.

Have You Seen This Movie? If So, What Did You Think?

Check Out The Rest Of Our #50FromThe50s Movie Suggestions

1. North By Northwest [1959, Cary Grant]

2. Rebel Without A Cause [1955, James Dean & Natalie Wood]

3. How To Marry A Millionaire [1953, Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall]

4. The Ten Commandments [1956, Charlton Heston, Yul Brenner]

5. Love In The Afternoon [1957, Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper]

6. An Affair To Remember [1957, Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr]