North By Northwest

North By Northwest is about a 'innocent' New York advertising executive who is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies.  Throughout the film we see how the main character (Thornhill) is pursued across the country while he tries to find a way to survive.  The film stars Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason.

In typical thrillers they are fast paced and have frequent action.  In North By Northwest this is exactly what is involved.  Throughout the film there is always something happening such as The plane chase which ends up with it crashing into the side of a truck or the fake shooting scene.  There is always suspense and tension for the audience with every scene, keeping them intrigued on what will happen next.

However, in the film we see that Thornhill is not a resourceful hero.  He is just an ordinary advertising executive who lives a normal life and wouldn't usually have enemies that would try to kill him.  This makes it an unusual thriller even though this has been done before.