North by Northwest ( Also Known As: Intriga internacional) is an Adventure Crime Mystery film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Ernest Lehman. It released on 26 September 1959 (Japan). The film stars Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason . A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive.