In North by Northwest Cary Grant‘s Roger Thornhill drops a lot of cash on a lot of random expenses — cabs, beverages, tips, bus tickets, dry cleaning. I’ve calculated that he spends a minimum of $275, which comes to roughly $2390 in the 2019 economy. That’s a lot to be carrying around. The film was shot in the summer of ’58, when the only credit card was Diner’s Club and no one had ever heard of debit cards. Thornhill, on the run for murder and unable to just stroll into his local bank for a withdrawal, had to pay for everything with pocket cash.
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