Notorious

This tale about the conflict among the love and the duty is set Rio Janeiro, Brazil, post-WWII;it concerns about an enticing spy(daughter of a Nazi convicted traitor)named Alice(Ingrid Bergman).She's sent by Chief(a cynical Louis Calhern)US government to marry an old spy called Sebastian(Claude Rains)adored by his mother(Konstantin) and Agent Devlin is assigned to survey her.It's a tense psychological drama with espionage and packs various set pieces with usual Hitchcock touches as the exciting love scene,the McGuffin-uranium,the final climax downstairs.The film is a tense thriller blending passionate romance,complex intrigue maintained throughout and a twisted and chillingly suspenseful ending.Here the ¨McGuffin is the uranium,for Hitch the McGuffin is a gimmick and isn't important in the writings,its origin is a Scottish name.Hitchcoch says in the famous interview with Truffaut(said to be his best film) that he along with the screenwriter(Ben Hetch) went to speak with famed nuclear scientific and later were pursued for FBI during months. The actors give a magnificent performances all around.Ingrid Bergman(Under Capricorn,Spellbound) as distinguished and brilliant spy is marvellous.Gary Grant(Suspicion,North by Northwest,to catch a thief) as embittered and lovesick agent is sensational.The mommy's boy,Claude Rains(1889-1956) is top-notch,he was nominated to Oscar for his sensible interpretation.Besides Louis Calhern(1895-1956)(I confess) as cynic and elegant spy and excellent Madame Konstantine as possessive mommy.Wonderful black and white cinematography by Ted Tetzlaff(also director).The film is considered one of the finest Hitchcock romantic thrillers.It's remade for television in the 80s by Colin Bucksey with John Shea and Jean Pierre Cassel.

Notorious is absolutely one of Hitchcock's best films. The suspense sneaks up on you, and I found myself on the edge of my seat. Cary Grant is in love with Ingrid Bergman, (but who wouldn't be) caught in a triangle of love, deceit and lies. They both shine as the super stars they are in this meticulously filmed masterpiece. Hitchcock's hand is all over this film. And as is usual for the master, he never misses a beat, never puts in a sloppy scene, and sees it all in his mind's eye (and on paper) before committing it to film. This is why he is The Master of his craft. Bergman is at her lovely best, that sometimes smiling, sometimes pouty mouth, that cute nose, and those stupendously beautiful eyes. This film, which I've just seen for the first time (why, oh why, did I wait so long?) is up there, near the top, I have to see it again and again.

Hitchcock introduces his stars with a cinematic blow that makes the opening of this dark, scrumptious thriller a monumental treat. He uses their star personalities and turns them round to dislocate us, teasing us with his unmistakable touch. The absurdity of the plot becomes totally plausible and the suspense is not merely unbearable but thrillingly entertaining. All of Hitchcock's favorite emotional and visual toys are present here. The icy blond, the sexual tension, the weakling villain with a castrating mother. A legendary kiss and a happy ending. Whenever I meet someone who hasn't seen any Hitchcock movies - and there are people in this world, believe it or not, who hasn't - I show them Notorious and always without fail, they are hooked forever. Just the way I was, I am and, I suspect, will always be. Cary Grant is allowed a dark unsmiling romantic hero and Ingrid Bergman lowers her strength to become a woman in love and in jeopardy but unwilling to appear as a victim. This gem of a film can be seen again and again without ever becoming tired or obvious. I'm sure you guessed it by now, this is one of my favorite films of all time.

As a young woman, back in the "olden days" days before video, DVD and TCM, I was always fascinated by this film, though it came and went on more obscure T.V. channels, with no clue of when it would return. Notorious has everything...inimitable Hitchcock moments, mystery, suspense, personal drama, high romance, passion, great character development, international espionage, nuanced acting, a visually stunning foreign locale, post-war period mystique, patriotism, fine supporting cast, a charmingly evil Claude Rains, a most sinister Mme. Konstantin, Grant at his most enigmatic and romantic, and Bergman her most alluring and luminous. As in all great films, it is a spot-on rendering of its own unique story in the ambiance of its own time, but timeless in its portrayal of human character and emotion. Like a handful of others, it is as satisfying a movie experience now as it was 40 years ago...probably more so...whether on first viewing or 40th.

One of Hitchcock's most thrilling examinations of psychosexual ambiguity, with the Grant-Bergman relationship veering from an initial meet-cute to genuine (beautifully conveyed) mutual delight to sadistic manipulation - he makes a whore of her and forces the fact again and again into her face, seldom giving an inch until the very end, where his change of heart has a largely tacked on feeling. We first see him from behind, quietly, predatorily watching at one of her drunken parties; they go for a drive and we see his hand poised to grab the wheel even as he pretends to submit himself to her drunken control over the car - it sets the tone, for Grant never relents on his desire to possess her, and reacts all too like a spurned lover to events, belittling her love even as she continually reasserts it; the callousness with which he distances himself from her after learning of her assignment is breathtaking. The main plot can hardly match the complexity of the central relationship, even though it's an excellently constructed yarn, with the fine set pieces of the party and the ultimate escape, which is essentially a battle between Rains and Grant for possession of the weakened Bergman - a finale which emphasizes how she's always been a prisoner, of her father's myth, of the male system, of her own emotions.