MGM · 1959 · a route from Manhattan to a mountain
The route was real: a hotel, the UN steps, a station, a Long Island mansion. The mountain was not, and neither was the forest. Plant the pines further down to see what else was built.
The route
Six stops on Thornhill’s run, in story order. Each says what its source says happened there, no more.
768 Fifth Avenue, at Central Park South
The Plaza says Hitchcock’s film was the first movie to feature the hotel prominently.
On the Plaza’s account, in the Oak Bar scene Cary Grant is abducted and slips out through the Fifty-ninth Street side.
A working hotel on Fifth Avenue. Seen from the pavement; whether the Oak Bar is open to you is the hotel’s call.
71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury, Long Island
The estate says its grounds and Westbury House have hosted films, naming North by Northwest first among four examples.
Garden admission is required. Personal photos with a phone or standard camera need no reservation, permit or fee.
Open for garden admission. Phone photographs need no permit; tripods, lighting and drones need permission first.
First Avenue, between 42nd and 48th Streets
TCM says filming on UN grounds was prohibited, so Hitchcock hid a large VistaVision camera in a carpet cleaning truck.
That camera caught Grant leaving a cab and climbing the steps, with real UN security officers in shot who did not know they were being filmed.
Seen from First Avenue. A fan location list suggests booking a guided tour to go in; check the UN’s own visitor pages first.
89 East 42nd Street, at Park Avenue
Wikipedia says Grand Central was used for Thornhill’s escape onto the 20th Century Limited.
A fan location list says Thornhill escapes on the Twentieth Century train from here and meets Eve Kendall.
A working station with a public main concourse. Walk in from East 42nd Street.
414 South LaSalle Street, Chicago
Wikipedia says LaSalle Street Station was used for the arrival scene in Chicago.
A fan location list gives the address as 414 South LaSalle Street and says an office building replaced the station in the early 1980s.
A commuter station sits under an office tower on the old site. The 1950s building the film used is gone.
Near Wasco, Kern County, California
Wikipedia says the crop-duster scene was filmed near Wasco, California, and not in Indiana.
It adds that Hitchcock put up square Indiana-style highway signs, and that the biplane was flown by crop duster Bob Coe.
Farmland on working roads. No source read here names the field, so it is named near Wasco and not pinned.
Old Westbury, Long Island
The Long Island estate that names North by Northwest among its films. Garden admission applies; check the house and calendar first. Pictured: Westbury House in 2018.
See visit detailsManhattan
Live marketplace results for film location tours of Manhattan. Check which pass the Plaza, Grand Central and the United Nations.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursPlant the pines
After the staged shooting, the lovers meet in the woods. TCM says the woods were built indoors with 100 ponderosa pines. Plant them: at 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 the stage tells you something about the lot.
0 of 100 pines · 0 of 5 facts told
The soundstage is empty. Plant the pines.
Nothing told yet. Twenty pines will do it.
A real day · 16 September 1958
Hitchcock filmed at Mount Rushmore on 16 September 1958. It was planned for two days and finished a day early.
The crew shot the cafeteria scene, a car-park scene where rangers load Grant’s “dead” body into a station wagon, and views from the terraces.
A built day · Culver City
PBS says the climactic chase and fight were shot on a full-scale studio mock-up at Culver City, or against a backdrop made from still photographs.
Officials objected that these studio scenes gave audiences the false impression that the violence happened on the real memorial.
End of the line
The Plaza, Old Westbury, the UN, Grand Central and Mount Rushmore can be seen from public ground. The Chicago station is a modern one on the old site, the studio lot is behind gates, and the crop-duster field is named but not pinned because no source read here gives it.
7 places along the route, from Manhattan to Culver City.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working hotel on Fifth Avenue. Seen from the pavement; whether the Oak Bar is open to you is the hotel’s call.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open for garden admission. Phone photographs need no permit; tripods, lighting and drones need permission first.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Seen from First Avenue. A fan location list suggests booking a guided tour to go in; check the UN’s own visitor pages first.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working station with a public main concourse. Walk in from East 42nd Street.
New York · 768 Fifth Avenue, at Central Park South
The Plaza says Hitchcock’s film was the first movie to feature the hotel prominently.
A working hotel on Fifth Avenue. Seen from the pavement; whether the Oak Bar is open to you is the hotel’s call.
New York · 71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury, Long Island
The estate says its grounds and Westbury House have hosted films, naming North by Northwest first among four examples.
Open for garden admission. Phone photographs need no permit; tripods, lighting and drones need permission first.
New York · First Avenue, between 42nd and 48th Streets
TCM says filming on UN grounds was prohibited, so Hitchcock hid a large VistaVision camera in a carpet cleaning truck.
Seen from First Avenue. A fan location list suggests booking a guided tour to go in; check the UN’s own visitor pages first.
New York · 89 East 42nd Street, at Park Avenue
Wikipedia says Grand Central was used for Thornhill’s escape onto the 20th Century Limited.
A working station with a public main concourse. Walk in from East 42nd Street.
Stay
The hotel whose Oak Bar the film uses, at the corner of Central Park.
Fifth Avenue, Manhattan
The Fifth Avenue hotel whose Oak Bar the film uses for Thornhill’s abduction. Pictured: the hotel in 2012.
Check roomsGo there
A Long Island estate and live film-location tours of Manhattan.
Old Westbury, Long Island
The Long Island estate that names North by Northwest among its films. Garden admission applies; check the house and calendar first. Pictured: Westbury House in 2018.
See visit detailsManhattan
Live marketplace results for film location tours of Manhattan. Check which pass the Plaza, Grand Central and the United Nations.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
Nothing dated for the film is listed at these places now.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
8 of 8 places · 9 of 9 stories
768 Fifth Avenue, at Central Park South
In the Oak Bar scene, as the Plaza tells it, Grant is abducted and leaves by the Fifty-ninth Street side.
71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury, Long Island
The estate at Old Westbury names North by Northwest among its films; the story puts the mansion at Glen Cove.
First Avenue, between 42nd and 48th Streets
Hitchcock hides a VistaVision camera in a carpet cleaning truck to film Grant at the United Nations.
89 East 42nd Street, at Park Avenue
Thornhill escapes from Grand Central onto the 20th Century Limited.
414 South LaSalle Street, Chicago
LaSalle Street Station plays the arrival in Chicago.
Near Wasco, Kern County, California
The crop-duster attack is filmed near Wasco, California, though the story is set in Indiana.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Keystone, South Dakota
On 16 September 1958 Hitchcock films the cafeteria, the car park and the terraces at Mount Rushmore.
10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City, California
The chase between the faces is shot on a full-scale studio mock-up at Culver City or against a backdrop made from stills.
The woods scene after the staged shooting is built on a soundstage with 100 ponderosa pines.
Places to stay
Fifth Avenue hotel seen in Home Alone 2, North by Northwest and The Great Gatsby.
768 5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York, 10019 · Source · Check dates on Expedia (Ad / affiliate)
A filming location for Steppin' Out (1982). Where David Leventritt died.
2 East 55th Street, Manhattan, New York, 10022 · Source · Check dates on Expedia (Ad / affiliate)
Home of the Algonquin Round Table, the 1920s circle of writers and wits.
59 West 44th Street, Manhattan, New York, 10036 · Source · Check dates on Expedia (Ad / affiliate)
What’s on
Sony Pictures Studios · 50 m from The MGM lot, Culver City
New Amsterdam Theatre · 950 m from Grand Central Terminal
New Amsterdam Theatre · 950 m from Grand Central Terminal
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Links go to each venue’s or organiser’s own site. Check dates, access and availability there before you go.
Every place in North by Northwest leads somewhere else.
