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''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 Technicolor in VistaVision American spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. The screenplay was by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures". ''North by Northwest'' is a tale of mistaken identity, with an innocent man pursued across the United States by agents of a mysterious organization trying to prevent him from blocking their plan to smuggle out microfilm that contains government secrets. This is one of several Hitchcock films that features a music score by Bernard Herrmann and a memorable opening title sequence by graphic designer Saul Bass. This film is generally cited as the first to feature extended use of kinetic typography in its opening credits.〔(The Kinetic Typography Engine )〕 It was selected in 1995 for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress, as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". == Plot == Advertising executive Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant) is mistaken for George Kaplan and kidnapped by Valerian (Adam Williams) and Licht (Robert Ellenstein), who take him to the Long Island estate of Lester Townsend. He is interrogated by a man he assumes to be Townsend, but who is actually spy Phillip Vandamm (James Mason). Vandamm's "associate" Leonard (Martin Landau) intends to get rid of Thornhill once they finish questioning him. Thornhill is forced to drink bourbon, but manages to escape a staged driving accident. He is unable to persuade the authorities, or even his mother, to believe his account of the events, especially after a woman at Townsend's home (Josephine Hutchinson) tells police he got drunk at her dinner party; she also identifies Townsend as a United Nations diplomat. Thornhill and his mother go to Kaplan's hotel room, where Thornhill answers the phone; the caller is one of Vandamm's henchmen. Avoiding recapture, Thornhill goes to the U.N. General Assembly building to seek Townsend, but finds that the diplomat (Philip Ober) is not the man he previously met. Valerian throws a knife which hits Townsend in the back. He falls dead into Thornhill's arms. Without thinking, Thornhill removes the knife, making it appear that he is the killer, and he is forced to flee. Knowing that Kaplan has a reservation at a Chicago hotel the next day, Thornhill sneaks onto the ''20th Century Limited''. He meets Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint), who hides Thornhill from policemen searching the train. Unknown to Thornhill, Eve is working with Vandamm and Leonard, who are in another compartment with Valerian. In Chicago, Kendall tells Thornhill she has arranged a meeting with Kaplan. Thornhill travels by bus to an isolated crossroads. A crop duster dives toward Thornhill, narrowly missing him. He hides in a cornfield after the assailants fire at him with an automatic weapon, but the airplane dusts it with pesticide, forcing him out. He steps in front of a speeding tank truck, which stops barely in time. The airplane crashes into the tanker and Thornhill escapes to Kaplan's hotel in Chicago. Learning that Kaplan had checked out before Kendall claimed to have talked to him over the phone, Thornhill goes to Kendall's room. While he is cleaning up, she leaves. From the impression of a message written on a notepad, he learns her destination: an art auction. There he finds Vandamm, Leonard and Kendall. Vandamm purchases a Purépecha statue and departs. Thornhill tries to follow, only to find the exits covered by Valerian and Leonard. Trapped, he places nonsensical bids so that the police will be called to escort him away. Thornhill identifies himself as the fugitive wanted for Townsend's murder and demands to be jailed, but the arresting officers clandestinely take him to the Professor (Leo G. Carroll) instead. The Professor reveals that Kaplan does not exist. He was invented to distract Vandamm from the real government agent: Kendall. As he has inadvertently put Kendall's life in danger, Thornhill agrees to help maintain her cover. At the Mount Rushmore visitor center, Thornhill poses as Kaplan to negotiate Vandamm's turnover of Kendall for her prosecution as a spy. The deal is derailed when "Kaplan" confronts Kendall; she fires a handgun (later revealed to have been loaded with blanks) at him and flees. Paramedics load Thornhill in an ambulance then take him to a forest where he gets out of the ambulance uninjured. Thornhill and Kendall have a romantic goodbye in the forest, but Thornhill discovers she must not only return undercover, but go with Vandamm and Leonard on a plane to rendezvous "over there". The Professor has his driver stop Thornhill from preventing Kendall from returning, but Thornhill evades the Professor's custody and finds Vandamm's lair to rescue Kendall. At Vandamm's house Thornhill overhears that the sculpture holds microfilm, and learns that Leonard has discovered that Kendall's gun was loaded with blanks when Leonard reveals the fact to Vandamm. Vandamm implies that he will kill Kendall during the flight. Thornhill is able to inform Kendall that they plan to kill her, but is captured. As Vandamm and Kendall are boarding the plane, Thornhill's sudden escape from the house provides a distraction during which Kendall takes the sculpture and runs to him. Thornhill and Kendall attempt to flee, but realize they are on top of Mount Rushmore and begin to climb down the mountain sculpture, pursued by Valerian and Leonard. Thornhill fights Valerian, who falls from the cliff, but Leonard pushes Kendall over the side. While Thornhill is holding onto Kendall and the cliff face, Leonard stomps on his hand. Leonard is killed by a gunshot from a park ranger in a group including the Professor and the captured Vandamm. Later, Thornhill invites Kendall, as the new Mrs. Thornhill, onto the upper berth of a train that then enters a tunnel. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「North by Northwest」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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