By Alfred Hitchcock’s own admission, North by Northwest was essentially a rehash of another film from the director’s storied career, one that he had made decades prior. Released in 1959, North by Northwest was the final collaboration between Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock.

After directing the star in Suspicion, Notorious, and To Catch a Thief, Hitchcock brought the aging Hollywood legend back for one last team-up, this one being a spy thriller that paired him with rising star Eva Marie Saint.

North By Northwest memorably sent Cary Grant on an adventure that saw him run from a crop duster, elude spies, and get involved in a chase atop Mount Rushmore. The action, romance, and directing in North by Northwest helped cement it as one of the greatest thrillers of all time, not to mention one of Alfred Hitchcock’s best movies.

Its reputation is perfectly reflected by its 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes. But as spectacular as it was, it’s important to note that North by Northwest wasn’t exactly unique to cinema, or even to Alfred Hitchcock’s career. In fact, the movie was basically a remake of a film he had directed before his transition to Hollywood.

North By Northwest Is Basically A Remake Of The 39 Steps

Through North by Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock continued something he had begun with The 39 Steps. The 1935 British thriller starred Robert Donat as an ordinary man who winds up in the company of a mysterious female spy, though he initially doesn’t know her idenтιтy. Getting mixed up with her draws Donnat’s character, Richard Hannay, into the crosshairs of police and spies.

When she dies, Hannay finds himself implicated in her murder. As a result, he has to go on the run, with both the authorities and the woman’s killers H๏τ on his trail. Not only does he have to stay safe, but he also has to get to the bottom of the mysterious “39 Steps” and try to clear his name.

The formula it follows is closely aligned with what Alfred Hitchcock did with North by Northwest. Both are stories where seemingly normal men get unwittingly caught up in the world of espionage over a misunderstanding, forcing them into various life-and-death scenarios.

In both movies, the villains are driven by a high-stakes search. In the case of The 39 Steps, it was the existence of the 39 Steps spy organization that was at the heart of their motives, whereas in North by Northwest, it was the whereabouts of the elusive microfilm.

North by Northwest and The 39 Steps share more in common than just their stories. There’s also the pace that Hitchcock employed in both films; similar to Grant’s character, Richard Hannay rapidly goes from one tense situation to another, with the film taking him through a chase through a train, a confrontation on a clock tower, and more.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Love For 39 Steps Helps Explain Why He Made North By Northwest

The influence that The 39 Steps had on Northwest by Northwest hasn’t been ignored by the filmmaker. Alfred Hitchcock himself called the 1959 movie “the American version” of his British classic in a 1963 interview [via The Hitchcock Zone]. In response to a question, Hitchcock affirmed that The 39 Steps was one of his favorite films, explaining that the “sudden switches” and the frequency of the action was a big part of what he liked about it.

It would seem that this aspect of The 39 Steps had a huge impact on North by Northwest, as the film borrowed not only its flow but also various pieces of the narrative. Heading in this direction made sense, as it allowed Alfred Hitchcock an opportunity to take advantage of advanced filmmaking techniques, not to mention the improvements in his own directing style.

North By Northwest Wasn’t The First Time Alfred Hitchcock Quietly Remade His Own Film

The Man Who Knew Too Much demonstrated that Alfred Hitchcock wasn’t afraid to take a second look at a previous film, and perhaps justified the decision to do the same with The 39 Steps. Just as it was with The 39 Steps, The Man Who Knew Too Much was a British suspense thriller that Hitchcock made before he had become a huge name in Hollywood.

The original film has a fairly good reputation, but it clearly doesn’t share the production values of his later films, and upon watching it, it’s apparent that while it was a step in the right direction, Hitchcock was still evolving as a director. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that he’d want another sH๏τ at the idea, especially since he did appreciate the concept.

Contrasting the two versions, Hitchcock called the original film the work of “a talented amateur” and viewed the remake as a movie made by “a professional.” Considering that the original was made one year before The 39 Steps, that same view reflects the situation with North by Northwest, which takes a hidden gem and shapes it into a masterpiece.