North by Northwest (1959)
Introduction and commentary by Linda DeLibero, director, Film & Media Studies, Johns Hopkins University

Starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Leo G. Carroll, Martin Landau. When a nondescript ad exec is mistaken for an international spy, he’s forced to hone his survival instincts—and his sense of self—fast. This bracing cross-country thriller inspired the James Bond franchise and was Hitchcock’s finest variation on the theme of mistaken identity, featuring perhaps the most famous chase sequence in film history (“that’s funny . . . that plane’s dustin’ crops where there ain’t no crops”). It was also the director’s final collaboration with Grant, who, in his role as the feckless ad man discovering inner resources and emotions he never thought he had, cemented his status as a Hollywood icon—and one of its most accomplished actors. (136 min, Color)

$15 door fee for guests and subscribers