Notorious (1946)
Genre: Thriller / Romance
Duration: 101 minuten
Alternative title: Berucht
Country:
United States
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains
IMDb score:
7,9 (112.655)
Releasedate: 21 August 1946
Notorious plot
"The screen's top romantic stars in a melodramatic masterpiece!"
The attractive American Alicia Huberman is a frivolous young woman who has a reputation for liking alcohol and men. Her father spied for Nazi Germany in the United States and he committed suicide in prison. TR Devlin, a US government agent, asks Alice to spy on a group of her father's Nazi friends in Rio de Janeiro. When she agrees, Alicia can clear her name. Alicia falls in love with Devlin and accepts the assignment and travels to Brazil.
Actors and actresses
Alicia Huberman
T.R. Devlin
Alexander Sebastian
Madame Anna Sebastian
Captain Paul Prescott
Joseph the Butler
Dr. Anderson
Eric Mathis
Knerr
Wilhelm Rossner
Reviews & comments
Film Pegasus (moderator films)
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- 31272 messages
- 5512 votes
Most of Hitchcock's films are known for their style, the tension that the director builds. Notorious is, as it were, a missing link between his well-known style, which is subtle but clearly present, and the warm, somewhat theatrical Hollywood films. The film is a mix of espionage, film noir, romance and drama. And that results in a somewhat slower film that the regular Hitchcock fan may not always appreciate.
In the lead roles we see 3 top actors with Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains. A trio that does especially well when they are three in the picture. Then the tension rises. Rains who feels the rivalry of Grant, Grant who wants information from Bergman but almost betrays her cover because of his love for her and Bergman who is not sure how best to behave between her role with Rains and her love for Grant. I sometimes miss the necessary chemistry between Grant and Bergman myself. However, this is a genre that suits him, especially for Grant.
The film is craftsmanship and Hitchcock's direction serves the film. Where in many of his later films this is sometimes the other way around. Sometimes it takes a bit of searching between tension and romance, but in the end I realize that it is all much more fascinating than it seems at first sight. Perhaps not a memorable film, but a good job with a good story and the necessary beautiful shots here and there.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Don Homer
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- 510 messages
- 1297 votes
Waving the flag with one hand and picking pockets with the other, that's your "patriotism"
Hitchcock manages to surprise me again with Notorious (1946). It was a tough delivery with the mediocre DVD quality and no subtitles. There is a lot of chatter in this film (subtitles are recommended).
The story is exciting yet simple. Alicia (Bergman)'s father is tried for collaboration with the Nazis and she is asked by (federal?) agent Devlin (Grant) to spy on a Nazi stronghold in Brazil run by Alexander Sebastian, a friend of her father. Meanwhile, she has fallen in love with Devlin.
Despite the exciting story, with Hitchcock's well-known suspense at the end, the relationship between the two protagonists is especially intriguing. Romantic (the sparks fly) and cynical conversations (like the quote above) alternate between Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant. Both sparkle, although Bergman sometimes takes it a bit heavy (which also has its charms). Just like in Suspicion (1941), Grant can once again be incredibly cynical, in word and gesture.
Besides the chemistry between Bergman and Grant, Hitchcock fascinates with special effects. The camera from Alicia's perspective showing vertigo, shadow and light effects, zooming in on important objects including a specially made huge tea cup so that both foreground and background are in focus. The latter has become a famous movie shot. Hitch really made a director's movie out of this.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Bobbejaantje
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- 2355 messages
- 2117 votes
A real spy movie entwined with a love triangle. I read that this is one of Hitchcock's few forties films with an absolute star cast, but at least the talent is not wasted here. Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant and Claude Rains play the stars of heaven. Claude Rains in a role that he often takes on - as an older gentleman who lays it out with fresh green leaves. Remarkable Fact: Leopoldine Konstantin plays Claude's mother but is actually only three years older than him, and it actually shows. It's even a little touching to see Claude Rains tucked under his mom's hood, echoing Hitchcock's much-loved maternal complex. The screenplay is masterfully written by Ben Hecht - what he wrote in the service of others is of a much higher standard than what he wrote for his own films - brought to maximum effect with the qualities of Hitchcock. The film is graced by beautiful noir shadow work and some remarkable shots/scenes as indicated by other users. The relationship between Cary and Ingrid does have something very immature to me, but I have that feeling with a lot of love relationships in Hollywood films from that time.
I enjoyed myself more and more with this film and it deserves a corresponding score.
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