North by Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock

NORTH BY NORTHWEST Color, 136 minutes

MGM, 1959

Producer and Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Screenplay: Ernest Lehman

Music: Bernard Herrmann

Director of Photography: Robert Burks

Roger Thornhill…………………………… Cary Grant

Eve Kendall………………………………. Eva Marie Saint

Phillip Vandamm…………………………. James Mason

Professor…………………………………. Leo G. Carroll

Lester Townsend…………………………. Philip Ober

Leonard…………………………………… Martin Landau

Viewing Questions:

Describe the opening title sequence. How does it relate to the rest of the film?

Describe two situations in which a character in the film is “playing a role” — that is, pretending to be someone else.

Describe, as best you can remember, the crop duster scene. Think about the way it looked, its duration, how it unfolded both visually and in terms of plot.

The film asks us to identify with the hero, Roger Thornhill. Give two examples of point-of-view or subjective shots (shots which place us in a completely subjective position – fully identified with Thornhill’s POV)