AWPL Classic Monday - North by Northwest (1959) Alfred Hitchcock’s spy thriller stars 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" – and it certainly delivers! Grant stars as Roger Thornhill, a Madison Avenue advertising executive who is mistaken for someone else and kidnapped by a group of international spies, headed by Mason. Hitchcock’s film was very influential on the James Bond movies and subsequent action-thriller films.   Not Rated: 2 hours 16 minutes