Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 classic about a Madison Avenue exec mistaken for a spy (Cary Grant) was a 007 flick years before there was such a thing. All the Bondian elements that producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman later borrowed for their franchise are there: the set pieces (the crop-duster attack on Grant), the location-hopping (from New York to Mount Rushmore), the quippy dialogue (Eva Marie Saint: "Patience is a virtue." Grant: "So is breathing."), the double entendres (the final shot) and the casual attitude toward sex. This was the '50s, so you never saw much bedroom action between Grant and Saint, but you knew Grant's ad man was hittin' that. North by Northwest features one of composer Bernard Herrmann's best scores. For his catchy main title theme, Herrmann chose a fandango to capture what he called "the crazy dance about to take place between Grant and the world." Originally titled The Man in Lincoln's Nose, the great-granddaddy of the modern action movie is perfect for San Pedro Square's big screen, just so you can see how ginormous Linc's nostril really is.

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