Notorious
(Unrated, 1:41:25, Released 1946)
| Genres: | Mystery & Suspense, Classics |
| Release Date: | Jan 1, 1946 |
| DVD Release Date: | Mar 13, 2001 |
| Starring: | Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern, Leopoldine Konstantin, Moroni Olsen, Reinhold Schünzel, Ivan Triesault, Alexis Minotis, Wally Brown |
| Directed by: | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Synopsis: | Though Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious was produced by David O. Selznick's Vanguard Films, Selznick himself had little to do with the production, which undoubtedly pleased the highly independent Hitchcock. Ingrid Bergman plays Alicia Huberman, who goes to hell in a handbasket after her father, an accused WWII traitor, commits suicide. American secret agent Devlin (Cary Grant) is ordered to enlist the libidinous Alicia's aid in trapping Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains), the head of a Brazilian neo-Nazi group. Openly contemptuous of Alicia despite her loyalty to the American cause, Devlin calmly instructs her to woo and wed Sebastian, so that that good guys will have an "inside woman" to monitor the Nazi chieftain's activities. It is only after Alicia and Sebastian are married that Devlin admits to himself that he's fallen in love with her. The "MacGuffin" in this case is a cache of uranium ore, hidden somewhere on Sebastian's estate. Upon discovering that his wife is a spy, Sebastian balks at eliminating her until ordered to do so by his virago of a mother (Madame Konstantin). Tension mounts to a fever pitch as Devlin, a day late and several dollars short, strives to rescue Alicia from Sebastian's homicidal designs. Of the several standout sequences, the film's highlight is an extended love scene between Alicia and Devlin, which manages to ignite the screen while still remaining scrupulously within the edicts of the Production Code. In later years, Hitchcock never tired of relating the story of how he and screenwriter Ben Hecht (who was nominated for an Oscar) fell under the scrutiny of the FBI after electing to use uranium as a plot device -- this before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A huge moneymaker for everyone concerned, Notorious remains one of Hitchcock's best espionage melodramas. In 1992, Notorious was remade for cable television; it goes without saying that the original is vastly superior. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi |
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Other Top Reviews
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April 30, 2012
I'll keep this brief, as everyone has already said all that's needs to be said about this, and better than I can.
It's a classic romantic espionage thriller, done in the classic Hitchcock style, and involving two of his favorite things: romance and suspense. This is typical stuff, done in the typical way, but to the Nth degree.
An American secret agent named Devlin gets a beautiful woman with a tainted past named Alicia to help him take down the leader of a neo Nazi group. She falls in love with her target, but, not only is her life in danger, she feels upset that Devlin may or may not love her, and he's conflicted because not only does he love her, he can't really tell her since she goes so far as marrying her mark to bring him down..and trying to save her might not happen, and on and on.
Pitch perfect performances (espeically Bergman's), a great set up, and some truly excellent cinematography (love the long take during the party scene), and some wonderful moments (drunk driving scene, et al) highlight what would otherwise be generic crap in the hands of any other director.
Just go see it already. I can't think of any other way to recommend this than that. -
December 30, 2011
Notorious is an almost flawless movie that holds up in 2011 and seems completely fresh more than sixty years on. The characters are complex, due to a note perfect script by the great Ben Hecht, one of the great film writers, surprisingly naturalistic and intense performances from film icons Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains, and of course, Hitchcock's visual mastery.
It's the story of a 'party girl' (Bergman), the daughter of a Nazi who is recruited by Cary Grant as a mole into a Nazi ring in Brazil. She is impelled by allied intelligence to marry Rains and infiltrate the inner circle. The love story is touching and deep and all subtext. When Grant rescues a poisoned Bergman and tells her his actual feelings, there's wasn't a dry eye in my house. Well, I was watching alone, but you get the idea.
The only aspects of this film that are dated for me, oddly, are the Hitchcockian trick shots, which must have seemed at the time like the future of film. In fact, the 'auteur style' have been superseded by the need to draw attention away from the director. Today most films (well, not the Marvel superhero movies, but you get the idea) try to convey hyper realism, especially for this type of movie - the espionage thriller (case in point: see 2011's Tinker, Tailor... a similar film in subject matter, but a completely diverging type of film making, striving for a flat, documentary style.). What Hitchcock called 'pure cinema' does not really exist today.
Rent or order this film on demand and you will not be disappointed. Other Hitchcock films have better set piece scenes and memorable single visual sequences, but this film, literally has it all for its entire duration: emotion, humor, stunning B & W cinematography and complex characters (with megawatt charisma) that we care about. -
fb1664868775November 13, 2011Hitchcock's classic espionage film contains beautiful black and white images and amazing camerawork.
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August 18, 2011
An incredible story about a spy that put her life in danger after a clumsy process to unmask a group of international criminals. Only Hitchcock can delivery so fantastic camera movements an the great suspense at the end of the movie. The story is fantastic, Academy award nominated. Ingrid Bergman as usual very good acting and beatiful. I miss her. I've seen better Cary Grant movies, this one he's not at his best.
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June 24, 2011
The usual Hitchcock suspense--multiply it instead by about 20.
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March 5, 2011
One of Hitchcock's finest. Notorious follows a young woman going undercover, after her father is arrested for treason. Just before going undercover, she falls for Agent Devlin, the man that has recruited her. What may come across as a spy espionage thriller, is really a romance in which two people wrestle between their romance and their professional lives. It also has early signs of feminism, as Grant refuses to tell OR ask Bergman to do anything. Everything is up to her, and her journey sees her becoming reliant on herself, and not the pain she causes herself and others. Having watched Lust, Caution) this film seemed tame. But luckily Bergman and Grant are able to deliver the lines with venom and spite that makes it just as uncomfortable to watch. The way Bergman says "You can add another playmate to my list?" and Grant's facial expressions are all we need to get a punch to the stomach. Best of all is Rains. He deserved his nomination for this performance. We are told he is the villain, but he does come across as charming in the least presumptuous way. He genuinely loves Bergman, which makes his betrayal a hard thing to watch. He is also wrapped up in a world that is hard to pull away from, making him such a tragic character. The final scene is simply glorious, and shows Hitchcock for the master that he is. The climax is three people walking down the stairs, but they are a nerve shattering few minutes on screen. The facial expressions, the dialog, it's all so brilliant.
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February 13, 2011
"Notorious" is wickedly suspenseful and beautifully shot. Carey Grant is great as usual here but it's Ingrid Bergman who steals the picture. There is no better Alfred Hitchcock film that perfectly sums up his sensibility as a director. If you don't like "Notorious," you simply can't love Hitchcock- it's everything that makes him legendary (thrills, mystery, comedy, romance and one hell of a McGuffin).
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October 18, 2010
What else can I say except that this is yet another one of Hitckcock's great movies of the 1940s! A must see.
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August 6, 2010
This is both a suspenseful spy thriller and one of the most romantic movies I know. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman make sparks fly as T.R. "Dev" Devlin and Alicia Huberman, both as American agents investigating Nazis in Rio and two sides of a love triangle, with the 3rd side occupied by Nazi Alex Sebastian, played by Claude Rains, with a side dish of evil in Sebastian's she-wolf of a mother, played by Austrian actress Leopoldine Konstantin.
Hitchcock wanted to film a really long kiss between Grant and Bergman but had trouble with the censors, so he instead filmed them in a clinch as they exchanged lots of short kisses while never wandering too far from each other's lips. The result? A love scene more erotic than the the longest of regular kissing scenes. The scene near the end where Dev rescues the near-death Alicia and carries her down the stairs to safety makes me swoon every time. One of Hitch's very best films. -
July 4, 2010
"You're sore because you've fallen for a little drunk you tamed in Miami and you don't like it. It makes you sick all over, doesn't it? People will laugh at you, the invincible Devlin, in love with someone who isn't worth even wasting the words on."
This is an excellent movie. That's all you really need to know. This is going to be one of my gushing reviews, because I absolutely loved Notorious. If you'd rather not sit and read through a few paragraphs of nothing but praise, you can stop now.
I thought I had seen the best of what Hitchcock had to offer. I had already watched most of his most popular movies, and the last few lesser known films of his that I had watched were good, but not great. I expected Notorious to be of similar quality. I was completely wrong. By the end of the movie, it had jumped right up to third on my list, behind only Rear Window and Psycho. It's just that good.
Notorious is essentially a spy-thriller with an excellent, mature love story weaved throughout. I won't reveal many details, to preserve the story, but it's one of the very best of its kind. A wanton party girl (and daughter of a recently uncovered Nazi traitor) is pressed into service for the U.S. and used to spy on a sinister but nebulous Nazi plot in Brazil. That may sound like familiar territory for the genre, but most of the films that came later and copied it don't manage to be nearly as fresh and well-made as this movie from 1946.
Two more things absolutely have to be mentioned, and I'll be done: Ingrid Bergman's performance and the ending. This was my introduction to Ingrid, and holy $@*!, this lady could act! I finally understand her inevitably high position in any credible list of the best actresses in the history of Hollywood. The majority of the acting burden rests on her shoulders, and she pulls it off effortlessly. Her character is completely different in the beginning, middle, and end of the movie, and she's consistently excellent throughout. I'll be seeing more of her work, that's for sure.
As for the finale, it's one of the most tense, suspenseful, menacing and masterful that I've ever seen - and there's nary a gunshot or an explosion to be had. There's not even much of a confrontation. If you want to know why Aldred Hitchcock is considered to be one of the greatest directors ever, watch that sequence.
If you love spy movies, you must watch Notorious. If you love classic movies, you must watch Notorious. If you want to love classic movies, you must watch Notorious. Basically, you must watch Notorious. Watch it. -
April 29, 2010
Next to North By Northwest, this is my favorite Hitchcock/Grant team up. Itâ??s just a perfectly constructed post WWII thriller about Nazi sympathizers and secret agents. Ingrid Bergman was a great actress to pair up with Cary Grant because their styles are so different. His witty dialogue and relaxed persona works perfectly next to her serious and dramatic nature. How can you find a better villain than Claude Rains. He is amazing in everything he ever did and this is no exception. The suspense is 100% Hitchcock and always enjoyable no matter how many times youâ??ve seen it.
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March 29, 2010
Beautifully filmed, brilliantly acted with a razor sharp script. Typical Hitchcock really and one of the greatest film noirs. Recommended!
Favourite line;
"Did you go to the cinema"?
"Yes I was very disappointed"
"It must have been a comedy then" -
March 13, 2010
In "Notorious", Cary Grant is a secret agent who wishes to use the daughter of a convicted german spy (Ingrid Bergman) to gather information about nazis in Rio. A romance blooms between them, but soon she's asked to marry the german in order to better spy on him, and their love is strained because of this. Like many movies from this era, a woman's virtue (or more specifically, the lack thereof) is a prime plot motivation. Hitchcock's directing stands out (as usual), but the story is pretty bland for the first 2/3rds of the film. Notorious is more a romance than anything else, so it's especially distracting the way Cary Grant doesn't actually kiss Ingrid Bergman so much as smoosh his face against hers (or alternately, he leans his face against hers). Maybe it's just part of the character development. He doesn't really trust her so his kisses are reserved and cautious. Or maybe I should give Cary Grant kissing lessons. Either way, if I'm paying more attention to the kissing style of the lead actors, that may give you some indication of how captivating the initial plotline was. The last third of the movie is great, though.
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November 15, 2009
Certainly ranks amongst the best of the Hitchcockian thrillers. Ingrid Bergman shines as the alcoholic of loose morals (so much nicer than saying "hoebag", don't you think?) turned American spy.
*NOTE: Anyone else notice that Hitchcock seems to have an affinity for overbearing mothers? (Notorious, Psycho, The Birds, etc.) -
August 20, 2009
What I like most about Notorious is the way it messes around with our sympathies by giving us an (outwardly) callous hero (Cary Grant) and a considerate villain (Claude Rains). I'd forgotten just how much of a bastard Cary is in this! Of course he's in love with Ingrid, but he's unable to declare the fact because the agency he works for is trying to push her into bed with Rains. There's a crucial exchange of dialogue early on in which Bergman teases Grant about his reluctance to tell her that he loves her, to which he replies: "When I don't love you I'll let you know." In effect, this serves as Grant's excuse for his shabby treatment of Bergman for much of the remainder of the movie; yes, he's being cruel, but he isn't explicitly stating that he doesn't love her, ergo... As for Rains' character, in addition to our knowledge that he is being deceived, the main reason why we sympathise with him is because by marrying Bergman he is defying his domineering mother (Leopoldine Konstantin, very creepy) and attempting to break her poisonous hold over him. (Incidentally, the figure of the possessive mother recurs time and again in Hitchcock's work, obviously taken to the most outrageous extreme in Psycho). Along with Rebecca and Shadow of a Doubt, I would rate this as Hitchcock's best film of the 1940s.
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June 16, 2009
One of many excellent movies that Alfred Hitchcock Directed. If he appeared in this movie as he usually does I missed him. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman were outstanding in this Spy Thriller. It continues to amaze me how modern day actresses are just a puff in a mighty wind, compare to the beauties of yester year. What can be said about any Hitchcock movie, each and everyone is worth seeing. 5 stars one at its best.
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February 23, 2008
this is a hitchcock classic. carey grant was very good and the story was simple but interesting. the film stayed within its predictable boundries but was interesting until the last few minutes which left me a bit wanting. overall this is a very good movie.
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February 18, 2008
A romantic spy thriller with the graceful presence of the cool Cary Grant, the beautiful Ingrid Bergman, and the great Claude Rains. superb story and highly distressing and exciting suspense.
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November 16, 2007
...<3
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August 11, 2007
one of grant's serious turns, and the guy could squeeze the pressure out of a tough guy part w/the best of them
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August 10, 2007
outstanding film, one of the top five hitchcock films. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman are a great team, Claude Rains at his suavest.
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March 19, 2007
I found this spy thriller form Hitchcock a little over-rated; it lacked suspense for me. But that's really just because of my high expectations of his work; it's still a fine thriller with a superb cast.
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October 27, 2006
One of Hitchcock's best.
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March 28, 2006
My favourite actor: Cary Grant, my favourite actress: Ingrid Bergman, my favourite supporting actor: Claude Rains and my favourite Director: Alfred Hitcock, all in one movie powerhouse.
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March 4, 2012
Notorious is widely considered one of Hitchcock's greatest films. It is thought of as his best Romance film and a marvelously shot movie with high praise to the lighting and cinematography. I've tried three times to understand where any of this is coming from. I love Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman but don't feel the on screen chemistry and most of the film is a tedious bore. Even the famous ending sequence at the party did very little for me. I've concluded that Notorious and I simply were not meant to be. The film is so highly regarded that I can't in good conscious give it a rotten rating, though my personal opinion is that the film is not worth the effort.
