The plotting is tightly wound and the thrills are executed with devilish panache.

Though not as cleverly original as Strangers on a Train, or as cleverly sexy as Notorious, this is one of Hitchcock’s most entertaining American thrillers.

Alfred Hitchcock's new thriller, North by Northwest, is one of those no holds barred films. For better than two hours, he lets the Technicolor melodrama ramble across the VistaVision screen while gleefully setting traps for his hero.

Made just a year after "Vertigo" and a year before "Psycho," it's a breezy and dashing thriller with very little of the typecast weird and grotesque symbolism that sometimes alienates Hitchcock films from centrist audiences.