<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $4,326,000 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $9.8 million </Td> </Tr> <P> North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason . The screenplay was by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures". </P> <P> North by Northwest is a tale of mistaken identity, with an innocent man pursued across the United States by agents of a mysterious organization trying to prevent him from blocking their plan to smuggle out microfilm that contains government secrets . This is one of several Hitchcock films that features a music score by Bernard Herrmann and an opening title sequence by graphic designer Saul Bass . This film is generally cited as the first to feature extended use of kinetic typography in its opening credits . </P>

When was the movie north by northwest made