What is North by Northwest about?
Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)
Yes. It lands on a happy note.
A Madison Avenue ad man is mistaken for a spy, launching a brisk, pulpy cross-country chase.
Suspenseful and campy. A date-night pick at a brisk pace. Emotionally it carries some weight.
Streaming on Plex (free) and Tubi (free).
North by Northwest parents guide
The thing to know: some innuendo or implied sex, more than a G usually carries. Beyond that, mild language and a few tense moments.
Our estimate: fine from about 10. Rated G.
- Scare
- Mildly scary
- A few tense or eerie moments.
- Jump scares
- None noted
- Gore
- No gore
- Violence
- Some violence
- Some fighting or peril.
- Sex and nudity
- Mild
- Mild means innuendo, or sex implied off screen, with no nudity.
- Language
- Mild
- Mild words like damn, hell or crap.
How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.
Three questions
- Is North by Northwest scary?
- Only a little. North by Northwest has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.
- How gory is North by Northwest?
- No gore and some violence. Squeamish viewers are fine here.
- What is North by Northwest rated, and is it OK for kids?
- For most kids, yes. Mild language and a few tense moments, in line with the G.
Cast and crew
Directed byAlfred Hitchcock
StarringCary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, Leo G. Carroll, Josephine Hutchinson
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North by Northwest is on our Kids under 10, Road trips, Spies, Set in New York and Date night lists.
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Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.