Guillermo Del Toro isn’t just a legendary director with hits like Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, and The Shape of Water—he’s also a curator of creativity with his Cabinet of Curiosities horror anthology miniseries that platformed talented, underrated directors. In March, he shared his Director Picks for the month with Turner Classic Movies, starting with the beloved classic North by Northwest (1959). The action thriller is arguably one of Alfred Hitchcock’s strongest films, and directly inspired the James Bond film series that would go on to captivate audiences worldwide a few years later. Although Hitchcock made many influential films throughout his career, including Psycho, Rear Window, and Notorious, North by Northwest is the most monumental.
The film was a massive success, grossing over $13 million worldwide from an already-generous $3 million budget. It featured a star-studded cast of Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, and the iconic Jessie Royce Landis. The film’s production also brought together some of Hitchcock’s closest collaborators, including editor George Tomasini, screenwriter Ernest Lehman, composer Bernard Herrmann, and cinematographer Robert Burks. This paid off, as the film was nominated for three Oscars (Best Editing, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Screenplay), and won an Edgar Award for Best Screenplay.
What Is The Premise of ‘North by Northwest’?

North by Northwest revolves around Roger O. Thornhill (Grant), an advertising executive who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. He falls victim to a case of mistaken identity, and is kidnapped by men who confront him and subsequently attempt to stage his death as a drunk-driving crash. Thornhill survives, but continues to be pursued by the criminals, led by foreign agent Phillip Vandamm (Mason) who falsely believes he’s a government agent who knows too much. Thornhill then embarks on a cross-country journey in a nonstop game of cat and mouse, meeting an elusive love interest, Eve Kendall (Saint) along the way. Thornhill continues to elude Vandamm’s henchmen while also trying to uncover the truth of what’s really happening.

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“Dry your eyes, baby. It’s out of character.”

For Hitchcock, filming North by Northwest had its challenges. He wasn’t able to get permission to film inside the United Nations, so he sneakily had the building’s exterior filmed and used it as a reference to re-create on a sound stage. He also initially had permission to shoot on-site on Mount Rushmore, but the U.S. Department of the Interior later revoked his access as they didn’t want Grant and Saint to scramble across the faces of the monument, as they found it disrespectful, and were also concerned about depictions of violence. Consequently, Hitchcock had an elaborate studio set built at MGM so he could still achieve his vision for the epic climax. He also had to stand his ground when MGM pressured him to shorten the film to under two hours, and refused to budge since he had absolute control over the final cut, which was the best possible decision for the film’s long-term admiration and success.
Why Guillermo Del Toro Loves ‘North by Northwest’

For TCM’s March Movie Picks, Del Toro described North by Northwest as one of Hitchcock’s most “canonical, perfect films.” He emphasized the director’s overall talent, and ability to seamlessly blend comedy, drama, action, and suspense, which the film brilliantly exemplifies. Del Toro also praised the film’s flawless pacing and engrossing cinematic atmosphere. It’s packed with Hitchcock’s iconic tropes, like the overbearing mother (Landis), the “banal” hero, the upper-class villain, and of course, the Hitchcock Blonde. Del Toro is such a fan that this wasn’t his first time discussing the film. He participated in the 2009 documentary short, North by Northwest: One for the Ages, alongside other celebrated directors like William Friedkin and Curtis Hanson, and also brought up the film with Far Out Magazine when mentioning Hitchcock’s best spectacle movies.
North by Northwest directly inspired the James Bond series, but the film’s influence doesn’t stop there. The use of grand, elaborate sets had a huge impact on spy and action films, whether by utilizing historic landmarks for an epic finale or orienting a chase scene in an open field. Its multi-genre story is a flawlessly paced, thrilling 136-minute spectacle. Understandably, the film was preserved in the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 1995, and now it’s available to stream for free on Tubi. If you don’t want to miss out on an action-packed spectacle that was way ahead of its time, be sure to add North by Northwest to your next movie night.

North By Northwest

Release Date

September 8, 1959

Runtime

136 minutes

Writers

Ernest Lehman