406 North by Northwest (1959)
Description
This article is from the Movie Trivia, by Murray Chapman muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au with numerous contributions by others.
406 North by Northwest (1959)
- DIRCAMEO(Alfred Hitchcock): missing a bus at the end of the opening
credits.
- 'James Stewart' (qv) was very interested in starring in this movie, begging
Hitchcock to let him play Thornhill. Hitchcock claimed that
"Vertigo (1958)" (qv)'s lack of financial success was because Stewart
``looked too old''.
- Roger O. Thornhill claims that the ``O'' stands for ``nothing''. This is
a reference to ``David O. Selznick'' (qv), who's ``O'' also signified
nothing.
- 'Jessie Royce Landis' (qv) played Thornhill's ('Cary Grant' (qv)'s) mother,
yet he was 10 months older than her.
- The title might refer to Hamlet's line ``I am mad but north-northwest'',
where he tries to convince people of his sanity. The airline that
they travel on is called ``Northwest Airlines''.
- The shot of Thornhill entering the UN building had to be filmed with a
hidden camera as Hitchcock wasn't able to get permission to shoot there.
- At one point the movie's title was to be ``The Man in Lincoln's Nose'',
referring to the final chase sequence on Mount Rushmore.
- The song that's playing in the lobby of the hotel before Thornhill enters
the Oak Bar is ``It's a Most Unusual Day''.
- The final chase scene was not shot on Mount Rushmore; Hitchcock couldn't
gain permission to shoot a murder on a national monument. The scene was shot
in the studio on a replica of Mount Rushmore. Furthermore, the murders
themselves are shot carefully, as to avoid associating the faces of the
monument with the murder/death.
- DIRTRADE(Alfred Hitchcock): [bathroom]: Thornhill hides in a bathroom
three times.
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