South Dakota History (1993) - Alfred Hitchcock's "Expedient Exaggerations" and the Filming of North by Northwest at Mount Rushmore
Details
- article: Alfred Hitchcock's "Expedient Exaggerations" and the Filming of North by Northwest at Mount Rushmore
- author(s): Todd David Epp
- journal: South Dakota History (Fall 1993)
- issue: volume 23, issue 3, pages 181-196
- journal ISSN: 0361-8676
- publisher:
- keywords: Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, Chicago, Illinois, Donald Spoto, Ernest Lehman, Eva Marie Saint, Eve Kendall, Frank Lloyd, James Mason, Martin Landau, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, Neil Sinyard, New York City, New York, North by Northwest (1959), Production Code Administration, Roger O. Thornhill, The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock (1983) by Donald Spoto, United Nations, New York City, New York
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Abstract
In 1959, the National Park Service allowed director Alfred Hitchcock to film nonviolent scenes for 'North by Northwest' on Mount Rushmore. Although Hitchcock accepted these conditions, he later added some violent scenes filmed on a studio mock-up of the memorial, an "expedient exaggeration" that angered the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior, and South Dakota senator Karl E. Mundt. Despite their protests, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released the film intact in 1959. Rather than damaging the reputation of Mount Rushmore, the movie brought the site even more renown.
Notes
- Based on the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Archives and Karl E. Mundt Historical and Educational Foundation Archives, the Rapid City Daily Journal, and secondary sources.
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