Can't Believe I'm Just Now Viewing This
I've avoided this movie for years. I don't really know why, but what a mistake! The storyline may seem tired by today's standards because we've all seen it before. However, the acting, the lines, and the photography are outstanding... especially the photography!! There were some scenes such as as when Grant and the traveler are waiting on the bus to arrive that are just breathtaking.

Hitchcock and Grant!!
Cary Grant has to be the quintessential Hitchcock male (if Grace Kelly is his blonde)! So suave and charismatic, he is just splendid as the playboy who is mistaken for a government agent. This mistaken identity (a favorite plot point for Hitch) leads Cary Grant on a cross country journey that culminates in one of the most unforgettable cinematic scenes at Mt. Rushmore.

Eva Marie Saint is splendid as the double agent helping and bumbling Grant along the way.

This is a truly great film: filled with comedy and mayhem, as well as murder and political intrigue. Anyone could fall in love with this movie.

Extremely Enjoyable and My 2nd Favourite Hitchcock Film!
I'm not sure about why the more recent reviewers are having so much trouble with their dvds and I can only assume that the recent batch out of the factory has got major product quality issues as my copy works just fine albeit I bought mine at least a couple of years ago. The Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound quality as well as the picture quality of my dvd is excellent too.

People have to recognise that most of Hitch's films combine elements of humour together with suspense and thrills and what makes this film great is the nice balance of these that's apparent. The witty dialogue and snappy one-liner jokes delivered by the brilliant Cary Grant still hold up well today. The Kafka-esque storyline is meant to be so outrageous as to be funny and if taken in that spirit many of the scenes are very entertaining indeed. The ludicrousness of trying to kill "George Kaplan" by filling him with alcohol and then helping him drive off a mountain's edge, being chased by a crop-duster in the middle of nowhere, etc make fans of Kafka's works like "The Trial" and "Metamorphosis" who can appreciate the genre truly appreciate and enjoy this film masterpiece.

Granted some of the scenes do not make much logical sense such as when Eve Kendell talks to Martin Landau's character from a phone booth while he is doing so from another phone in the same line of booths and the strange way the crop duster slams into the oil tanker but that's just the point with Kafka-esques situations in that they are supposed to be ridiculous. Despite these screenplay "shortcomings" the acting is very good and I liked the camera angles very much for an overall very good film. Great combination of humour, thrills and spills, tension and drama makes this a classic film for the ages.

Highly recommended!

Odd woman out
While I agree that this is a very sleek looking film and there is something appealing about being mistaken for a spy-I really felt as if the plot is nothing more than a series on convenient incidences. I'm sure that this was cutting edge material for a film in 1959, it just strikes me as silly now. But from the silly idea of let's liquor him up and drive him off a cliff to a crop dusting planning plowing into gas truck, I honestly couldn't stop rolling my eyes to the back of my head. And I absolutely wasn't feeling the abrupt ending. I love you Hitchcock and Cary Grant, but this one wasn't for me.

North By Northwest
I love the movie, it deserves five stars, but the DVD was damaged, so I had to return it. I am waiting for a new copy to be sent to me. (I shipped back the damaged version.)

Lisa Willis