What is a Maguffin, and How Does “North by Northwest” Utilize One?
A maguffin is a common cinematic plot device popularized by Hitchcock. It’s an element of the film that helps drive the story but has no direct connection to the characters. In North By Northwest (1959), there are technically two maguffins - the microfilm of government secrets Vandamm (James Mason) is trying to smuggle out of the country, and the identity of George Kaplan. Maguffins usually receive little explanation. In this film, the microfilm isn’t revealed as the reason behind the entire case of mistaken identity until nearly the end, and George Kaplan isn’t even real. Nonetheless, those two devices are the catalysts for the entire story.
Other maguffin examples include the meaning of the word “rosebud” in Citizen Kane (1941), the briefcases in Pulp Fiction (1994) and Ronin (1998), the suspected murder in Rear Window (1954), and the necklace in Titanic (1997). The story in Titanic would never have been told if the exploration team wasn’t searching for the necklace, which led to them meeting the elderly Rose. The necklace itself is irrelevant, but it forced the narrative to happen.