North by Northwest (1959)

Screenwriter Ernest Lehman set out to write “the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures,” a compilation of the tropes that had earned director Alfred Hitchcock the title Master of Suspense. You’ve got an innocent man (adman Cary Grant) accused of wrongdoing, a breakneck cross-country chase, a McGuffin, a cool blonde (Eva Marie Saint) who may or may not be on his side, a respectable villain (James Mason), clever use of locations (particularly Mount Rushmore) and morbid humor. It even features Leo G. Carroll, the actor who appeared in six Hitchcock films, and a score by his most important composer, Bernard Herrmann. NORTH BY NORTHWEST has been called the first James Bond film, and its wise-cracking hero and vivid set pieces clearly inspired that franchise. 

d. Alfred Hitchcock, 137m, DCP

WORLD PREMIERE RESTORATION AND 4K DCP COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. CLASSICS

Restored by Warner Bros. in collaboration with The Film Foundation.