"north by northwest" has made several polls and lists for the greatest movies ever made. in a 1998 "time out" poll, the movie ranked the 12th greatest movie. in a 2022 "time out" poll, the movie was considered the best thriller ever. the poll from the british film institute ranked "north by northwest" the 53rd greatest movie. the movie is on several of the american film institute's lists. the afi ranked it the 40th-greatest american movie. the movie is ranked 7th on afi's 10 top 10 for mystery. it is also no. 40 in afi's 100 years...100 movies, no. 4 in afi's 100 years...100 thrills, and no. 55 in afi's 100 years...100 movies (10th anniversary edition). the library of congress choose the movie to be part of the national film registry in 1995.