North by northwest
1959 USA Color 136 Minutes
Release date: July 17, 1959
Oscar Nominations:
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color
Best Film Editing
Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen
Screenwriter Ernest Lehman: “I wanted Cary Grant to hide in Lincoln's nostril and then have a fit of sneezing. The Parks Commission was rather upset at this thought. I argued until one of their number asked me how I would like it if they had Lincoln play the scene in Cary Grant's nose. I saw their point at once.”
Director Cameo: Hitchcock arrives at a bus stop, (during the opening credits) but gets there a second too late and the door is closed in his face. He misses the bus.
The final chase scene was not shot on Mount Rushmore; Hitchcock couldn’t gain permission to shoot an attempted murder on a national monument. The scene was shot in the studio on a replica of Mount Rushmore.
James Stewart was very interested in starring in this movie, begging Hitchcock to let him play Thornhill. Hitchcock claimed that Vertigo (1958)’s lack of financial success was because Stewart looked too old.
Alfred Hitchcock: “I took a lot of trouble with Eva Marie Saint, grooming her and making her appear sleek and sophisticated. Next thing she is in a picture called Exodus looking dissipated”Source / More
This week 61 years ago Under Capricorn premiered (September 8, 1949)
August 13, 1899
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock
April 29, 1980
The young Alfred was educated at a variety of Jesuit schools and was a solitary and introspective child. After a job with an electrical cable company Hitchcock began to take a great interest in the cinema. And so in 1920 he produced the title designs for The great day. Designing titles for a string of twelve films, Hitch tried to to get his own movie off the ground (1922) , but the production was not finished.
In 1925 Hitchcock finally got his chance to make his credited debut as a director with The pleasure garden. In the thirties his classic British period started including The man who knew to much (1934), The 39 steps (1935) and The lady vanishes (1938).
In 1939 Hitch accepted an offer from Gone with the wind producer David O Selznick to go to Hollywood. His first film there, the romantic thriller Rebecca (1940), cemented his standing and started and endless line of successes.
In 1955 Alfred agreed to host a weekly TV series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, a diversion that lasted a full ten years. In the same period he directed his greatest films, Rear window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959) and Psycho (1960). In 1979 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to British culture.
1968 Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (1968)
1961 Nominated Best Director for: Psycho (1960)
1955 Nominated Best Director for: Rear Window (1954)
1946 Nominated Best Director for: Spellbound (1945)
1945 Nominated Best Director for: Lifeboat (1944)
1942 Nominated Best Picture for: Suspicion (1941)
1941 Nominated Best Director for: Rebecca (1940)
by John Russell Taylor -> Hitch: The Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock (1978)