North by Northwest is a mild effort by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Cary Grant, it has Grant as Thornhill, an advertising man and fish-out-of-water caught up in a major conspiracy/spy plot. This is not Hitchcock at his best but it does have its moment as he taps in 1950s paranoia over alien threats and the powerful and very real abuses of power by American intelligence. Unfortunately, Hitchcock has too much fun to make the audience scared.
James Mason plays the villain, a well-educated but ambiguous figure that mistakes Grant for some super-spy. Much of the film has Grant try desperately to piece together his ordeal and narrowly escape death repeatedly. The problem isn't in the performances - Grant as a long-time vaudeville actor - mixes humor and heroism just fine but the politics. Who is Hitchock attacking or lambasting? The Americans? The Russians? It's hard to say. This comes recommended but don't be surprised to regret seeing the film afterwards due to its needless and disturbing nihilism. The title comes from Hamlet.
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