The Story: My favorite part of this scene is Cary Grant explaining what the "O" in "Roger O. Thornhill" means. "Nothing..." he tosses off. Of course not. Hitchcock had made a lot of "innocent-man-on-the-run" movies, but North By Northwest is the grandest, most outlandish, and ultimately, most...well, "pointless" (if you count the "McGuffin" at the hollow center of it*) of them all. It starts with a case of mistaken identity, when Thornhill manages to wave to a waiter for an after-work drink at the same moment that a messenger is calling out for a "George Kaplan." Two thugs (who have never seen Kaplan) think the two occurrences are somehow connected and they roust Thornhill into a car because they want to take Kaplan to their boss, an international spy (James Mason). The thing is...Kaplan doesn't exist. He's a feint by the U.S. to the spy ring to think they are being pursued to deflect their attention from the real investigation. Kaplan has has much to do with reality as Scottie Ferguson's love, Madeleine Elster does in Vertigo; they are illusions, phantoms, with no basis in reality, but only on the say-so of mistaken or deliberate deceptions. North by Northwest has the same origin—it came out of nowhere. Hitchcock was working on a film for M-G-M of The Wreck of the Mary Deare (eventually directed by Michael Anderson, starring Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston) with script-writer Ernest Lehman and they were having a tough go of it. Lehman finally said "I don't want to do this!" to which Hitchcock replied "What would you rather do?" Lehman blurted out: "I want to make the ultimate Hitchcock movie!" And so, the movie started to come together, from past plots of Hitchcock and some visual ideas and jokes that Hitchcock had filed away to use one of these movies. At the center of the spiral is Roger Thornhill, a Madison Avenue executive and a bit of heel. He has "mother issues" (don't all Hitchcock heroes?) an ex-wife (maybe two), and not much going for him until the day he's picked up by "the goon" squad, kidnapped (or Kaplanapped) for an appointment with Mason's spy-leader. Thornhill is a bit of an "empty suit," really, so he could be mistaken for Kaplan, who has left many empty suits hanging in closets across America, clues and traces to "a man who never was." Thornhill has big shoes to fill, and he only begins to stand for himself, or for much of anything, until his unscheduled abduction. What does the "O" stand for? Nothing. At least, nothing yet. The Set-Up: Ad man Roger (0.) Thornhill (Cary Grant) is living a nightmare. He has been mistaken for another man, one George Kaplan, while meeting friends at a bar. He is kidnapped, driven to the estate of a Mr. Townsend, where he is accused of being a spy, and force-fed a bottle of bourbon and put into a car on a precipitous mountain road. Despite his intoxication, he manages to survive and is arrested for drunk driving. His explanation is met with disbelief by the authorities and when he drives to the Townsend estate, he is met with concern from those at the house. Seeking answers, he goes to the UN, where Townsend is in a meeting. Townsend is murdered before Thornhill's eyes (and a crowded room of dignitaries) and he's accused of the murder, his face splashed across every newspaper. On the run, he boards the 20th Century Limited to find the last known spotting of Kaplan. What he doesn't know is that George Kaplan does not exist, but is merely a false name—a man who isn't there—created to throw off a cadre of spies from knowing that there is another operation watching them. Action.
INT. DINING CAR As Thornhill enters from the next car, the STEWARD approaches him.
STEWARD: Good evening, sir. One? ROGER THORNHILL: Please.
The Steward leads him into the dining area. It is fairly crowded.
The GIRL is there, seated alone at a table for two. She is on dessert and coffee.
Without a word, the steward leads Thornhill directly to her table and pulls out the chair for him.
The girl looks up at Thornhill, smiles fleetingly.
He returns the smile and sits down.
STEWARD: Cocktail before dinner? THORNHILL: Yes, please. A Gibson. STEWARD: Right away.
He goes off. Thornhill takes up the menu, studies it.
The girl raises her eyes, studies him.
He looks up, catches her glance. She quickly looks down. He glances down at the menu again, then looks up at her. She glances up, catching him, and he looks away. Now she looks away. Then they both look up at each other at the same time and meet head on. They smile.
ROGER: Well, here we are again.
GIRL: Yes.
ROGER (looking down at menu): Recommend anything?
GIRL: The brook trout. A little "trouty" but quite good.
ROGER: Sold.
He writes out the order.
A waiter brings his Gibson, takes the order and leaves.
Thornhill glances about the dining car nervously, sees (or perhaps imagines he sees) several people staring at him.
When he looks back at the girl, he finds that she is scrutinizing him.
THORNHILL: I know. I look vaguely familiar to you.
GIRL: Yes.
THORNHILL: You feel you've seen me somewhere before. GIRL: Yes.
THORNHILL: Funny how I have that effect on people wherever I go. Something about my...
THORNHILL: ...face. GIRL: It's a nice face.
THORNHILL: You really think so?
GIRL: I would never say it if I didn't.
THORNHILL: Oh - you're that type.
GIRL: What type? THORNHILL: Honest. GIRL: Not really.
THORNHILL: Good. Honest women frighten me. GIRL: Why? THORNHILL: I feel at a disadvantage with them.
GIRL: Because you're not honest with them.
THORNHILL: Exactly. GIRL: Like that business with the seven parking tickets...
THORNHILL (stepping delicately past it): What I mean is: the moment I meet an attractive girl,
THORNHILL: ...I have to start pretending that I've no desire to make love to her. GIRL: What makes you think you have to conceal it?
THORNHILL: She might find the idea objectionable.
GIRL (provocatively): And then again, she might not.
THORNHILL: Think how lucky I am to have been seated here.
GIRL: Luck had nothing to do with it.
THORNHILL: Fate?
GIRL: I tipped the steward five dollars...
GIRL: ...to seat you here if you should come in.
Thornhill looks at her for a long moment.
THORNHILL: Is that a proposition?
She looks right back at him for an equally long moment.
GIRL: I never make love on an empty stomach.
THORNHILL: You've already eaten.
GIRL: But you haven't.
They continue to gaze at each other, and then the waiter brings dinner and sets it on the table. Thornhill goes to work on it.
THORNHILL: Don't you think it's time we were introduced?
GIRL: I'm Eve Kendall. Twenty-six and unmarried.
GIRL: Now you know everything.
THORNHILL: What do you do besides lure men to their...
THORNHILL: ...doom on the New York Central?
EVE: I'm an industrial designer.
THORNHILL: Jack Phillips...
THORNHILL: ...Western Sales Manager of Kingby Electronics.
EVE (evenly): No, you're not. You're Roger Thornhill...
EVE:...of Madison Avenue and you're wanted for murder...
EVE:...on every front page in America.
EVE:Don't be so modest. THORNHILL: Oops.
EVE: Don't worry.
EVE:I won't say a word. THORNHILL: How come? How do I know?
EVE: I told you - it's a nice face.
THORNHILL: Is that the only reason?
EVE (shrugs): It's going to be a long night...
THORNHILL (nods): True.
EVE: And I don't particularly like the book I've started.
THORNHILL: Ah.
EVE: You know what I mean?
THORNHILL: Oh - exactly. Let me think.
THORNHILL: Yes, I think I know exactly what you mean.
Eve puts out a cigarette between her lips, looks quite boldly into Thornhill's eyes
as he takes a folder of matches from his pocket.
She notices the match folder, takes it from him and examines it.
(WE WILL SEE IT IN AN INSERT) On each side of the folder, three large letters ROT.
THORNHILL (explaining): My trademark -- rot.
EVE: Roger O. Thornhill. What's the O. for?
THORNHILL: Nothing.
He strikes a match to light her cigarette. (Meanwhile, the train has been slowing down as it approaches a station).
She takes his hand in hers and guides the flame to her cigarette,
...her hands lingering on his with an unmistakable intimacy that he finds downright delightful.
THORNHILL: I'd invite you to my bedroom...
THORNHILL: ...if I had a bedroom. EVE:Roomette?
THORNHILL: Nothing - not even a ticket.
THORNHILL: I've been playing hide-and-seek with the Pullman...
THORNHILL: ...conductor ever since we left New York.
THORNHILL: You wouldn't have an extra pair of pajamas,
THORNHILL: ...would you? She looks him right in the eye.
EVE: Wouldn't I?
Then she puts money on her tab and gets to her feet, as Thornhill stares up at her, slightly awed. The train comes to a stop.
EVE: Incidentally, I wouldn't order any dessert...
EVE: ...if I were you. THORNHILL (pats his stomach): I get the message.
EVE: That wasn't quite what I meant.
EVE: The train seems to be making an unscheduled...
EVE: ...stop, and I just saw two men getting out of a police car...
EVE: ...as we pulled into the station.
EVE: They weren't smiling.
She walks away, and Thornhill looks out the window.
TWO DETECTIVES are seem hurrying along the platform to board the train.
Thornhill puts some money on the table, gets to his feet and saunters out of the car in the direction Eve has taken.
CAMERA PANS QUICKLY to the other end of the car, picks up the two detectives entering the dining car area and looking about. The steward walks up to them, as the train starts moving again.
The Story: My favorite part of this scene is Cary Grant explaining what the "O" in "Roger O. Thornhill" means.
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