A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock.
Writer: Ernest Lehman.
Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason.
Plot
It is 1958. At a New York City hotel bar, two thugs looking for "George Kaplan" see a waiter calling his name; at the same time advertising executive Roger Thornhill summons a waiter (to help send a telegram to his mother). Thornhill is then mistaken for "George Kaplan" and is kidnapped. Thornhill is brought to the Long Island estate of Lester Townsend and is interrogated by spy Phillip Vandamm. Despite Thornhill denying he is George Kaplan, Vandamm thinks he is lying and has his henchman Leonard arrange Thornhill's death in a staged drunken driving accident. Thornhill miraculously manages to steer away from danger but is soon arrested for driving under the influence and is taken to the Glen Cove, New York police station.
The next morning, Thornhill tries but fails to convince his mother and the police that he had been kidnapped and forcibly inebriated. Journeying to the scene of the crime with police, a woman at Townsend's home, presumed to be Mrs. Townsend, says he showed up drunk at her dinner party. She also informs them that Townsend is a United Nations diplomat. While searching Kaplan's hotel room with his mother, Thornhill answers a phone call from the thugs who are in the hotel lobby. He escapes and visits the U.N. General Assembly building to meet Townsend. He discovers that Townsend is not the man he met on Long Island, and that Townsend is a widower. As Thornhill questions Townsend, one of the thugs throws a knife, hitting Townsend in the back, killing him. Thornhill catches Townsend as he falls and grabs the knife, giving the appearance that he murdered Townsend. A nearby photographer captures the crime and Thornhill flees. Thornhill attempts to find the real Kaplan.
Clasificación [ CM DVD 00379 ] Disponible en DVD, 4 Piso BJB)