Since I live in the greater NYC area, I have a wealth of “On Locations” to report. This first installment is probably one of my favorites from a favorite director of mine.

I already have featured one location from the masterpiece that is Vertigo. The second Hitchcock film I will refer to is “North by Northwest.”
Here is a photo of the corner of 5th Avenue and 42nd Street as it is now (from my cell phone) …

… and a few years back when Nat Sherman was there ….

In the film, it was a passing shot pretty early on. There are plenty of other NYC locations that Hitchcock used throughout the filming of NbNW, but for me, a frequent passerby of the area, I felt a nice little connection to the location. In my research it is no doubt a “shout out” to the store. According to Cigar Aficionado, Hitch was a huge fan of cigars.

As for Nat Sherman, it has moved a few hundred feet to a less conspicuous location – along 42nd Street.

Here is a really cool site I discovered that listed many of the location shots from North by Northwest.

I also found this awesome compendium of film locations. Using this guide as a resource, you may even be able to plan a nice trip around a film or two!