North by Northwest (1959)

Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Available to stream on Prime Video

Happy Birthday to us! Movies and Martinis is one year old! Last April we kicked off our blog with a month-long tribute to one of our favorite classic movie stars, Cary Grant. This April we are celebrating Cary again with some more of our favorite films, starting with an absolute classic -- North by Northwest.

In this Hitchcock thriller, advertising man Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is an innocent victim caught up in a web of spies and murder, fleeing his pursuers by train (where he is befriended by beautiful Eva Marie Saint), being attacked by a crop-dusting plane, and climbing over the presidents' heads on Mt. Rushmore.

Cary Grant in "North by Northwest"

Why we love it:

North by Northwest is a film full of suspenseful plot twists presented in one iconic scene after another, and one memorable character after another. In addition to the good-looking starring couple, there are the supporting characters who bring the story to life - oily Martin Landau, menacing James Mason, the always impressive Leo G Carroll, and befuddled Jessie Royce Landis as Cary's mother. You can watch it again and again just for the  atmosphere -- the New York taxis and buses, the Oak Bar at the Plaza Hotel, dinner and a Gibson on the train, the Chicago airport with the prop planes of Northwest Orient airlines, and the cafeteria at Mt. Rushmore -- the 1950's at its most glamorous!

Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, and Martin Landau

Fun Facts:

• Jessie Royce Landis, the actress who plays Cary Grant's mother, was only seven years older than Grant.

• The score is by Bernard Herrmann who worked with Hitchcock on seven of his movies.

• Hitchcock's cameo comes at the end of the opening credits where he is seen trying to catch a bus on the streets of New York.

Alfred Hitchcock in "North by Northwest"

• The film was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Screenplay.

• Neither Alfred Hitchock, Cary Grant, nor James Mason ever won competitive Academy Awards.

Eva Marie Saint and Cary Grant

• This film grew out of Hitchcock's idea to have an elaborate chase scene on top of Mount Rushmore. At one point, he wanted to call it "The Man in Lincoln's Nose" and have a character get a sneezing fit while standing in Lincoln's nose. The National Park Service wouldn't allow Hitchcock to film on the actual Mount Rushmore so the chase sequence was filmed in the studio on a replica.

Hitchcock and Grant

Hitchcock at Mount Rushmore

Grant, Saint, and Mason

• Some scenes before the climactic chase sequence were actually filmed at Mount Rushmore, such as the one in the cafeteria and when Cary Grant is carried through the parking lot on a stretcher.

• When Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint are having dinner on the train, Saint tells Grant, "I never discuss love on an empty stomach." You can tell that she actually says "make" instead of "discuss," but the Production Code Administration objected to that line and she had to dub over the word.

Cary Grant with his Gibson

For reviews from the time, go to the Fan Magazine Reviews page.

Featured Cocktail:

Gibson

A dry or ultra-dry (gin) martini garnished with a cocktail onion. Cary Grant orders a Gibson on the train in North by Northwest.

2 oz (60 ml) London dry gin

1-2 tsps (5-10 ml) dry vermouth

Shake or stir ingredients with ice. Strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with cocktail onion. Adjust the amount of vermouth to your taste.

Cheers to the Classics!