The film North by Northwest is a film which boldly asks the question, “What would a James Bond movie be like, if James Bond didn’t know what was going on around him?” And I ask this question in the most affectionate of ways. North by Northwest is a proto-spy thriller that was made before the age of Jason Bourne, Mission Impossible, and yes even James Bond (North by Northwest was released in 1959, a solid 4 years before the first Bond movie, Dr. No). North by Northwest is in no way the first spy film, it’s structure does hint at what the genre would become in the following decades of movie making.  The quick-witted actions of the main character, his flirtatious dialogue with a mysterious woman, the exotic locales (OK, South Dakota isn’t exactly an exotic location, but Hitchcock was on a budget give him a break), and the exciting stunts with cars or planes or trains. All these things are present in North by Northwest, its just that these elements seem boring to the modern eye. Many people who watch the movie don’t believe that it is a thriller since all the parts of the spy thriller are so cliche and slow. But what is important to remember is that this was really one of the first movies to use the classic spy elements. The filmmakers were trying out new ways of engaging the audience. To us, who have already experienced plane stunts much more exciting than the one in North by Northwest, the protagonist running away from a plane and hiding in corn is very anticlimactic. During the 1950s that scene was a lot more interesting. For me North by Northwest is a fun old movie, the plot and characters are simple in their motivations. Basically, the movie is an easy film to watch, and is a good piece of history to see where the modern spy movie got its start.