History YMMV / NorthByNorthWest

* CrazyAwesome: Vandamm, the guy went as far as sending a crop duster to try to kill Thornhill when he could have [[CombatPragmatist just shot him.]]

* IdiotPlot: The plot of the movie wouldn't have happened if the bad guys had just shot Roger the first time they wanted to kill him instead of hatching a complex scheme to get him in a car accident. Later, they get another opportunity to assassinate him, but they again ruin their own plan by using a loud, highly visible crop duster that gives him ample warning time instead of just doing something simpler like planting a sniper.

* PoorMansSubstitute: Eva Marie Saint for Creator/GraceKelly as the classic Hitchcockian blonde.

* WhatAnIdiot: Roger Thornhill goes to the UN in New York to speak with Lester Townshend and find out who was impersonating Townshend. One of the {{Big Bad}}'s mooks throws a knife at Townshend, causing Townshend to collapse into Thornhill's arms.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Thornhill to leave the knife as-is, and yell out, "Get a doctor! He's been stabbed! Someone threw a knife at him!"\\
'''Instead:''' Thornhill yanks the knife out of Townshend's back, getting his prints all over the knife and looking very much like he'd done the deed. A photographer catches his picture while he's holding the knife.\\
'''Even Worse:''' Thornhill bolts from the building and goes on the lam, making his innocence look even more in doubt.\\
'''However:''' The whole scene played out so quickly that Thornhill's reactions seemed to be purely instinctive rather than based on any kind of reasoning.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Music/BernardHerrmann [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGax-8RiucI strikes]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYdmJB4Zd-o again]].

** Music/BernardHerrman's score wasn't nominated.

* PoorMansSubstiute: Eva Marie Saint for Creator/GraceKelly as the classic Hitchcockian blonde.

** Leonard is [[Series/MissionImpossible Rollin Hand]] and [[Series/Space1999 Commander Koenig.]]

* RetroactiveRecognition: Thornhill's laywer is [[Series/GetSmart the Chief of CONTROL]].

* RewatchBonus: Eve becomes a much different character on rewatch because you know [[spoiler:she's a government mole spying on Vandamm]]. Also, instead of wanting Thornhill to convince Vandamm that he's not George Kaplan, you know that [[spoiler:if he'd succeeded, Vandamm would've figured out the truth about Eve and killed her]].

* FridgeLogic:
** If you're going to lure somebody to the middle of nowhere to kill him, why not do a drive-by instead of having a minion attack him from a crop duster? Hitchcock himself acknowledged the scene makes no sense, but justified it since nobody notices while watching the film.
** Hitchcock himself developed a case of it for the scene where Eve and Leonard covertly talk using two phones at an airport. He held off filming the scene for a while, then apparently came up with a way it was possible and shot it, though he never told anyone what it was.

* AwardSnub: Went 0 for 3 at the Oscars (original screenplay, editing, art direction). Amazingly, it was editor George Tomasini's only Oscar nomination, while it was the second of five screenplay losses for Ernest Lehman (who finally got a lifetime achievement Oscar in 2000).

* AwardSnub: Went 0 for 3 at the Oscars (screenplay, editing, art direction).

* MisaimedMarketing:
** Movie theaters reportedly gave children coloring pages of such scenes as Roger getting chased by the crop duster and Eve hanging off of Mount Rushmore.
** It was also featured on the Creator/TurnerClassicMovies program ''Essentials Jr.'', which is marketed towards families and younger viewers, and usually features softer fare.
** At least one DVD carries the rating "all ages" without any warnings, despite several scenes where people are stabbed or shot at, the clear insinuations that Roger and Eve had sex on the train, and the rather intense ending.

** At least one DVD carries the rating "all ages" without any warnings, despite several scenes where people are stabbed or shot at, and the rather intense ending.

* FridgeLogic: If you're going to lure somebody to the middle of nowhere to kill him, why not do a drive-by instead of having a minion attack him from a crop duster? Hitchcock himself acknowledged the scene makes no sense, but justified it since nobody notices while watching the film.

* MisaimedMarketing: Movie theaters reportedly gave children coloring pages of such scenes as Roger getting chased by the crop duster and Eve hanging off of Mount Rushmore.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: BernardHerrmann [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGax-8RiucI strikes]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYdmJB4Zd-o again]].

* SpiritualAdaptation: Franchise/JamesBond was still a popular book series when this film came out, but it essentially codified many of the elements that typify Bond. Morally ambiguous FemmeFatale spies, AffablyEvil supervillains, sexually ambiguous dragons, use of MonumentalBattle and wild action sequences. Likewise, Creator/SeanConnery's turn as Bond, as a more suave individual than his literary counterpart was based on Creator/CaryGrant's performance in this film. Indeed, Hitchcock who initially considered adapting James Bond was upset that Albert Broccoli (who he knew personally) ripped of his film for many of the early Bond films.

* PoorMansSubstitute: Eva-Marie Saint fills in for Creator/GraceKelly as the Hitchcock blonde.