50 free North by Northwest trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
North by Northwest began as Hitchcock's daydream of Cary Grant hiding inside Lincoln's nose and sneezing. Ernest Lehman turned it into a cross-country chase in which an ad man is mistaken for a spy who does not exist, and the result has been called the first James Bond film, the greatest thriller ever made and the source of cinema's best suit. It topped the US box office for seven weeks in 1959. These 50 questions cover the cast from Grant and Eva Marie Saint to James Mason and Martin Landau, the real locations from the Plaza to Mount Rushmore, the Wasco cornfield standing in for Indiana, Saul Bass's titles, Bernard Herrmann's score, the redubbed dining-car line, the Oscar nominations, the title's meaning and the film's influence on Bond, Doctor Who and South by Southwest. Easy questions stick to the stars and set pieces; the hard end asks about working titles, Operation Mincemeat and stage adaptations. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation attached. Play it solo or print it for a classic-film quiz night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who directed North by Northwest?
Alfred Hitchcock
He planned it as a light-hearted change of pace after Vertigo.
Q 02Who plays advertising executive Roger Thornhill?
Cary Grant
Lehman made the hero a Madison Avenue ad man, a job he had once held himself.
Q 03Who plays Eve Kendall?
Eva Marie Saint
MGM wanted Cyd Charisse; Hitchcock held out for Saint.
Q 04Who plays the villain Phillip Vandamm?
James Mason
Vandamm is first met impersonating UN diplomat Lester Townsend.
Q 05Who plays Vandamm's henchman Leonard?
Martin Landau
Hitchcock spotted him on stage in Middle of the Night and told him, "You're now Leonard."
Q 06Who plays "the Professor", head of the intelligence agency?
Leo G. Carroll
He later played a near-identical spymaster in The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Q 07Who plays Thornhill's mother, Clara?
Jessie Royce Landis
She was only about eight years older than Cary Grant.
Q 08In which year was North by Northwest released?
1959
It opened on July 1 at the United Artists Theatre in Chicago.
Q 09Who wrote the original screenplay?
Ernest Lehman
He set out to write "the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures".
Q 10Who composed the score?
Bernard Herrmann
Herrmann had recommended his friend Ernest Lehman to Hitchcock.
Q 11Which graphic designer created the opening title sequence?
Saul Bass
It was the first film with extended use of kinetic typography in its credits.
Q 12For whom is Thornhill mistaken?
George Kaplan
The agent does not exist; the agency invented him as a decoy.
Q 13At which New York hotel is Thornhill kidnapped?
The Plaza
Cary Grant kept a room at the hotel and Hitchcock gave him no direction for crossing its lobby.
Q 14Where is the real Lester Townsend murdered?
Q 21What term did Hitchcock popularise for an object like the microfilm?
MacGuffin
Everyone chases it, but it has no deep relationship to the plot.
Q 22How does Hitchcock make his cameo?
Getting a bus door slammed in his face
It happens just as his credit appears on screen.
Q 23What was one of the film's early working titles?
The Man on Lincoln's Nose
Hitchcock imagined Grant hiding in Lincoln's nose and sneezing.
The United Nations
The UN refused permission, so Hitchcock filmed Grant arriving with a hidden camera.
Q 15On which famous train does Thornhill meet Eve Kendall?
20th Century Limited
He sneaks aboard at Grand Central without a ticket.
Q 16What attacks Thornhill at the rural bus stop?
A crop-duster plane
Hitchcock's first idea was a tornado; Lehman asked how villains would work up a cyclone.
Q 17In which state is the crop-duster scene set?
Indiana
It was actually shot near Wasco, California, with replica square highway signs.
Q 18Where was the crop-duster scene actually filmed?
Near Wasco, California
Local crop-duster Bob Coe flew the plane.
Q 19Where does the climactic chase take place?
Mount Rushmore
Hitchcock had long wanted a chase across the monument's faces.
Q 20What hides the microfilm the spies are smuggling?
A small statue
Vandamm buys it at a Chicago art auction.
Q 24Which WWII intelligence ruse inspired the fictitious-agent idea?
Operation Mincemeat
Journalist Otis Guernsey sold Hitchcock his 60-page treatment for $10,000.
Q 25How much did Hitchcock pay journalist Otis Guernsey for the story idea?
$10,000
Guernsey admitted his treatment was full of "corn".
Q 26Which novel was Hitchcock meant to be adapting for MGM before this film?
The Wreck of the Mary Deare
Lehman got stuck on it and the pair wrote something else instead.
Q 27North by Northwest was the only Hitchcock film released by which studio?
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Turner Entertainment has owned it since 1986.
Q 28In which widescreen process was the film shot, at Hitchcock's insistence?
VistaVision
The only other VistaVision film made at MGM was High Society.
Q 29In which architect's style was Vandamm's cliff-top house designed?
Frank Lloyd Wright
The house never existed; exteriors were matte paintings and interiors a Culver City set.
Q 30What did the leading lady's mother advise her to wear to meet Hitchcock?
Beige clothing and white gloves
Saint credited the outfit with winning her the role.