Line #3 YMMV/NorthByNorthwest


1	* AwardSnub: Went 0 for 3 at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s. Editing and Art Direction lost to ''[[Film/BenHur1959 Ben-Hur]]'', while Original Screenplay lost to ''Film/PillowTalk''. 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). It also wasn't nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor or Score.
2	%%* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Music/BernardHerrmann [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBxjwurp_04 strikes again]].
3	* CrazyIsCool: Vandamm. The guy went as far as sending a crop duster to try to kill Thornhill when he could have [[CombatPragmatist just shot him.]]
4	* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: As with most Hitchcock films, it's been subject to this. There's talk of Roger as a MessianicArchetype (Thornhill=Jesus wore a crown of thorns on a hill), Eve and how her name symbolizes temptation and femininity, and a villain who has the word "damn" (well, "damm") in his name.
5	* EvilIsCool: Phillip Vandamm for being a charismatic, faux affable, yet skilled mastermind who proves numerous times to be a serious threat to Thornhill and the spies.
6	* GeniusBonus: Roger calling the statue with the microfilm in it "the pumpkin" seems like a NonSequitur, unless you're familiar with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alger_Hiss Alger Hiss]] case, which hinged on the discovery of microfilm that Hiss had given to his former colleague Whittaker Chambers. Chambers had kept the film inside a hollowed-out pumpkin in a pumpkin patch on his farm. It was still a current-enough reference in 1959 that most of the audience would've gotten the joke.
7	* HilariousInHindsight: So... a suave, witty advertising exec who's been through divorces, a ChickMagnet and fond of drinking. Great at good at manipulating the public, while not being who everyone thinks he is. Are we talking about Roger Thornhill or [[Series/MadMen Don Draper]]?
8	* JustHereForGodzilla: Who came just to watch the cropduster scene?
9	* MagnificentBastard: [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure The Professor]] is the head of a mysterious government agency, who masterminds the plot of "[[InventedIndividual George Kaplan]]" to take down enemies of America. The Professor created the fictitious spy George Kaplan to throw off villainous Phillip Vandamm from the true spy in his ranks, Eve Kendall, who the Professor turned years ago and had been using as a mole. Masterfully making Kaplan out to be real with hotel rentals and plane flights, the Professor is delighted when accountant Roger Thornhill is [[FrameUp framed as Kaplan]], willing to let him die due to false identity to continue the cover up. The Professor ends up turning Thornhill into an asset, faking his death right in front of Vandamm, and then saves the day at the end by arriving in the nick of time with police to capture or kill all of Vandamm's associates after Thornhill and Eve expose them.
10	* MoralEventHorizon:
11	** Vandamm crosses it early on when he refuses to listen to Thornhill insisting that he is not the man Vandamm thinks he is and decides to simply kill him despite his protests, as if implying that whether Thornhill is telling the truth or not, it makes no difference to him.
12	** Leonard crosses it in the climax when he steps on Thornhill's hand, the one he's holding precariously on to the cliff by (Eve is holding on to his other hand), after Thornhill asks him for help. A KarmicDeath follows moments later.
13	* OnceOriginalNowCommon: A viewer who has never seen the film before can recognize trope after trope, perhaps unaware that it was a defining film in action genre and that films like Franchise/JamesBond and Franchise/IndianaJones were heavily influenced by it.
14	* PoorMansSubstitute: Creator/EvaMarieSaint for Creator/GraceKelly as the classic Hitchcockian blonde.
15	* RetroactiveRecognition:
16	** [[Creator/EdwardPlatt Thornhill's lawyer]] is [[Series/GetSmart the Chief of CONTROL]].
17	** Creator/MartinLandau is Leonard.
18	** [[Creator/LeoGCarroll The Professor]] is [[Series/TheManFromUNCLE Alexander]] [[Series/TheGirlFromUNCLE Waverly]].
19	** Sgt. Emile Klinger was played by John Beradino, a few years before starting his long ''Series/GeneralHospital'' tenure as Dr. Steve Hardy.
20	* SignatureScene: [[TwoWordsAddedEmphasis Two words]]--crop duster. Not just the Signature Scene of this film, but arguably the Signature Scene of Hitchcock's whole career (the ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' shower scene is the other possibility).
21	** ItWasHisSled: The cropduster scene, like the shower scene, became famous because it was so shocking and unexpected when the film was first released. Thanks to PopCulturalOsmosis, anyone who's heard of this film knows about that scene, even if they've never seen it.
22	* SpiritualAdaptation: Franchise/JamesBond was already a popular book series when this film came out, but it still essentially codified many of the elements that typify Bond: morally ambiguous FemmeFatale spies, AffablyEvil supervillains, sexually ambiguous [[TheDragon 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 at one point was approached by Creator/IanFleming about adapting Bond to the screen, was later upset that producer Albert Broccoli (whom he knew personally) ripped off his film for many of the early Bond films.
23	* SpiritualSuccessor: To previous Hitchcock films such as ''Film/{{The 39 Steps\|1935}}'', ''Film/{{Foreign Correspondent}}'', ''Film/{{The Wrong Man}}'', and ''Film/{{Saboteur}}''.
24	* ValuesDissonance: Roger's penalty for drunk driving is a small fine, compared to today where such a crime would entail much more severe consequences such as a suspended drivers license, much larger fines, community service, and/or jail time.
25	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: It's acquired the reputation of being Hitchcock's most family-friendly classic, probably because it's in color, has a good blend of action and comedy, doesn't focus on a murder (like ''Film/RearWindow'') and doesn't delve into complex psychological themes (like ''Film/{{Vertigo}}''). Of course, it also has several scenes where people are stabbed or shot at, clear insinuations that Roger and Eve had sex on the train, and a rather intense ending. It was featured on the Creator/TurnerClassicMovies program ''Essentials Jr.'', which is marketed towards families and younger viewers, and usually features softer fare. There's also at least one DVD that carries the rating "all ages" without any warnings. This even goes back to when it was released: 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.

Context YMMV / NorthByNorthwest