Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 masterpiece North by Northwest was born from the ashes of failure. Hitch needed a hit after the disappointing box office of 1958’s Vertigo . He and screenwriter Ernest Lehman were assigned to write an adaptation of the novel The Wreck of the Mary Deare . The two men worked for weeks but couldn’t find an interesting way to tell the story. Lehman tendered his resignation with apologies. Hitch didn’t accept the resignation, and their conversation went something like… Hitch Let’s write something else. Lehman I’d love to write a film that’s the Hitchcock film to end all Hitchcock films. Hitch You know, I have always wanted to do a chase scene across the faces of Mount Rushmore. They gave up on adapting The Wreck of the Mary Deare entirely and went to work on a film they called They Man in Lincoln’s Nose which was eventually retitled North by Northwest. Not only a big box office hit at the time, but it also inspired the James Bond film franchise, gave Cary Grant, arguably, his best role, and the British Film Institute’s 2022 Sight & Sound poll ranked it #45 on their list of the best films of all time (Hitch’s “disappointing” Vertigo was ranked #2). All because the two creators realized they were writing a dud, called it quits, and started something new. One reason North by Northwest succeeds is that it creates the perfect character arc for its hero. Cary Grant plays a Manhattan adman named Roger O. Thornhill. In the first scene, Roger and his secretary fast walk and fast talk from an elevator and down a busy sidewalk (Aaron Sorkin must have been a fan). They discuss meaningless sales numbers and a gift for a woman Roger’s seeing. Maggie, his secretary, begs a cab for her tired feet. With a smooth lie, Roger commandeers one for her. ROGER I have a sick woman here. Would you mind terribly? MAN Why no… I mean– Inside the cab, Maggie scolds Roger, telling her boss the man certainly knew he was lying. At this moment, Roger […]
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