North by Northwest

Madison Avenue advertising man Roger Thornhill finds himself thrust into the world of spies when he is mistaken for a man by the name of George Kaplan. Foreign spy Philip Vandamm and his henchman Leonard try to eliminate him but when Thornhill tries to make sense of the case, he is framed for murder. Now on the run from the police, he manages to board the 20th Century Limited bound for Chicago where he meets a beautiful blond, Eve Kendall, who helps him to evade the authorities. His world is turned upside down yet again when he learns that Eve isn't the innocent bystander he thought she was. Not all is as it seems however, leading to a dramatic rescue and escape at the top of Mt. Rushmore.

North by North West is directed by Alfred Hitchcock and was written by Ernest Lehman. The stars are Carie Grant, Eva Marie-Saint and James Mason. 


North by North West fits in with the stereotype of thrillers having fast paced and frequent action through scenes like the drunken car chase

The Plane attack 

The auction house 

The film also fits the convention that heroes must be resourceful and that villains are more powerful and well equipped. We see the Roger Thornhill being resourceful and getting himself out of sticky situations in the auction house where he makes a disturbance so he is arrested and can escape the clutches of the villains. We see this again at the station when he pays a porter on the train so he can wear his uniform to escape the police. The villians also show their wealth,  power and equipment during the auction house scene as Vandamm is flashing his money to acquire a small statue and shows the power in numbers preventing Thornhill from escaping which also shows their better equipment having guns etc. 

Hitchcock uses suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers throughout the film. He uses cliffhangers such as the car chase and the cliff hanging scene to create tension and put the hero in danger. The red herrings are the blonde woman who is suspicious as to wether she is a villain but then turns out to be an agent, when Thornhill gets 'shot' because the audience believe he has been shot and is fighting for his life when it was a fake gun and Kaplan was the biggest red herring because he is Thornhill purpose for traveling to find him and clear his name but he doesn't exists. The suspense is evident throughout the film with the constant idea of wether or not Thornhill will escape. 

The villain presents obstacles for the hero to overcome through the mistaken identity they try to kill him.