North by northwest (1959)

Roger Thornhill, ad man, is mistaken for a spy, framed for a murder of a UN official and then he meets a femme fatal who is for sure involved in big plots. This is a traditional thriller the story of which boils down to boy in a mission to save girl. The secret agents and baddies are just fluff. The cross-country trek is just fluff. And so are the extravagant action scenes that have made this film a classic (danger on the top of Mount Rushmore, Cary Grant 'chased' by a cropdusting plane). North by northwest certainly looks good, but it is far from Hitchcock's best movies. Conspiracies, hidden identities and clues revealed by and by - this was a film that almost by its very nature failed to engage me, the major mystery being simply a matter of how this great mess fits together. The first couple of scenes, where the audience is still in the grips of the protagonist's disorientation, are impressive enough, but then real suspense starts to falter. This mix of playfulness and action-packed thriller is not my cup of tea.