‘North By Northwest’ in a way is a departure from the typical Alfred Hitchcock’s movies. But it is also a testament to the genius of Hitchcock who wanted to reinvent himself in different genres. What he did with ‘North By Northwest’ is create a template for Hollywood blockbusters, and even James bond films for that matter. Steven Spielberg openly acknowledges Hitchcock’s influence, and the scenes where Indiana Jones is picked up from the college in ‘Indianan Jones and the last crusade’ and taken to a house, are a almost a carbon copy of similar scenes in ‘North By Northwest’. What more the villain in the Indiana Jones movie, seems to take a leaf or two from the characterization of James Mason.

According to the writer (from the making feature in the DVD) Ernest Lehman, it all began when Alfred Hitchcock gave an idea of a scene of a delegate’s speech in the United Nations and the ensuing murder, and asked him to work on it. Ernest Lehman then wrote a 65 page treatment which Hitchcock used to green light the project. The rest of the story was developed just in time, before the big shoot of Rushmore sequences.

A must watch for all movie and Hithcock’s fans and the theme music by Bernard Hermann will stay with us long after we finished the movie.

Here is an excellent conduction of the same theme.

Quentin Tarantino redefined Pulp, rather literally. He made films drawing from his vast knowledge on films he watched and some as an ode to them as well. ‘Reservoir Dogs’, his first major film is a tribute to all the heist films that came before him, and is a great time pass watch.

Here is a terrific piece of dialogue that talks about personal experience and details that add the real flavor to story/screenwriting.

                              FREDDY                 
What's this?
                              HOLDAWAY                 
It's a scene.  Memorize it.
                              FREDDY                 
What?
                              HOLDAWAY                 
A undercover cop has got to be Marlon Brando.  To do this job you got to be a great actor. You got to be naturalistic. You got to be naturalistic as hell. If you       ain't a great actor you're a bad actor, and bad acting is bull shit in this job.
                              FREDDY                         
(referring to the papers)                 
But what is this?
                              HOLDAWAY                 
It's a amusing anecdote about a drug deal.
                              FREDDY                 
What?
                              HOLDAWAY                 
Something funny that happened to you while you were doing a job.
                              FREDDY                 
I gotta memorize all this shit?
                              HOLDAWAY                 
It's like a joke.  You remember what's important, and the rest you                 make your own.  The only way to make it your own is to keep sayin                 it, and sayin it, and sayin it, and sayin it, and sayin it.
                              FREDDY                 
I can do that.
                              HOLDAWAY                 
The things you gotta remember are the details.  It's the details                 that sell your story.  Now this story takes place in this men's room.  
So you gotta know the details about this men's room.                 
You gotta know they got a blower instead of a towel to dry your                 hands.You gotta know the stalls ain't got no doors. 
You gotta know whether they got liquid or powdered soap, whether they got            hot water or not, 'cause if you do your job when you tell your story,               everybody should believe it.  And if you tell your story to somebody                 who's actually taken a piss in this men's room, and you get one                 detail they remember right, they'll swear by you.