Ever notice that every blockbuster movie has the same fundamental pieces? A hero, a journey, some conflicts to muck it all up, a reward, and the hero returning home and everybody applauding his or...

From New York to Chicago, the Great Plains to Mount Rushmore, and BeyondWe know: it's a bit of a cliché to say that a movie's setting is a character in its own right. But that cliché never rang t...

Action-PackedNorth by Northwest tells a great story in a traditional chronological narrative. No time travel, no flashbacks or flash-forwards—just one action-packed scene after another unfolding...

Action/ThrillerHitch's film draws from several genres, combining straight-up action-film awesomeness with elements of the intrigue-filled and suspenseful psychological thriller. But, as we emphasiz...

Most obviously, the title North by Northwest names the general direction Thornhill and the other characters are heading: from New York to Chicago by train, then to the Dakotas by plane.But at anoth...

Famously, NXNW ends with a scene of married (thanks to the Hays Code) bliss and also an embarrassingly obvious phallic symbol (thanks to Hitchcock). On the one hand, this is a sweet moment, since i...

PG-13All the "mature themes" stuff in the film comes from its sexual innuendo. North by Northwest features some pretty seriously steamy scenes for a film made in 1959. (Then again, this was also th...