Roger Thornhill has a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives, and several bartenders dependent on him – so you’d better get to the theater next month to attend Fathom Events‘ 65th anniversary screenings of North by Northwest. The film will screen on May 19 and May 22 only, in select theaters across the country.

Often considered to be one of director Alfred Hitchcock‘s greatest films – and one of the greatest films of all time – North by Northwest is a stylish, self-parodying thriller that serves as the ultimate Hitchcock movie. It takes several of Hitchcock‘s favorite themes – a man on the run, a mistaken identity, a mysterious MacGuffin, and climaxes on famous landmarks – and synthesizes them into a film that can still thrill, sixty-five years after it was made. Released in 1959, the film was a global hit with critics and audiences, and was nominated for three Academy Awards. Get there fast – the first thirty moviegoers at each location will receive a free commemorative mini-poster. You can find showtimes and buy tickets at FathomEvents.com.

What is ‘North by Northwest’?

Released in 1959, North by Northwest stars Cary Grant as Thornhill, a louche ad executive who, through no fault of his own, finds himself mistaken for a spy who doesn’t exist. Framed for murder at the United Nations, he embarks on a cross-country chase where he is pursued by both the authorities and sinister spy Phillip Vandamm (James Mason) – and assisted by mystery woman Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint), who is more than she appears. Along the way, Thornhill disrupts an auction, fakes his own death, and is attacked by a crop-duster plane in one of the most famous, and most-parodied, scenes in cinematic history. The film climaxes with an iconic struggle between Thornhill and Vandamm’s henchman, Leonard (Martin Landau) atop Mount Rushmore. It was written by Ernest Lehman (Sabrina, The Sound of Music), who set out to write “the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures”, features a score by frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann, and opens with a title sequence by graphic designer Saul Bass.

Hitchcock made North by Northwest a breezy, semi-comedic adventure film, wanting a chance of pace after the dark psychological drama of his previous film, Vertigo. His next film made another swerve – into outright horror, with the shocking Psycho.

North by Northwest will screen in select theaters nationwide on May 19 and May 22.

via Collider