Whether the city is starring as the leading lady or serving as Best Supporting Actor, Chicago has a storied history on the big screen. We all know the scenes of Ferris and his friends cutting class at the Art Institute and the Bluesmobile barreling into Daley Plaza, but there countless other films that set their scenes against the backdrop of Chicago and its iconic buildings.

Join the Music Box Theatre and Chicago Architecture Center as we explore the different angles of the city and watch the suspense build in the classic Hitchcock film portraying a manic cross-country journey, NORTH BY NORTHWEST. This screening will be complimented by a short presentation by author Christine Madrid French.

NORTH BY NORTHWEST (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959, 136 minutes, 35mm)

The only Hitchcock film to pass through Chicago—the Ambassador East Hotel makes a prominent cameo—this classic from the Master of Suspense follows ad man Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant) on a manic cross-country journey after he is wrongly accused of being a government agent. Joined along the way by enigmatic traveler Eve Kendell (Eva Marie Saint), Thornhill travels from the U.N. Headquarters in New York City to a modernistic villain’s lair in the Black Hills of South Dakota – with the nefarious spy Phillip Vandamm (George Mason) never far behind.

About Christine Madrid French:

Christine is an expert in architecture in film and Hollywood history. She co-founded and served as Chief Creative Officer of MILA Entertainment in Los Angeles, launched with the goal of bringing diverse stories to the screen. Her forthcoming monograph The Architecture of Suspense: The Built World in the Films of Alfred Hitchcock (University of Virginia Press) will be released in October. In addition to presenting this screening of North by Northwest, Madrid French will also be presenting a full book talk and signing at the Chicago Architecture Center on Monday, November 7.