Film Review: Notorious (1946)

about 1 year ago (Edited)

(source: tmdb.org)

Defeat of Nazis in Second World War removed the greatest of all villains from the world. Hollywood, however, needed those villains for its films, at least in few years before emerging Cold War would establish Communist Russians as their replacement. The best known among those early post-war films was Notorious, 1946 spy thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, which would later be celebrated as one of the finest works in the filmography of Master of Suspense.

The plot begins in April 1946 in Miami. Alicia Huberman (played by Ingrid Bergman) just saw her pro-German father sentenced to twenty years of prison for wartime espionage. Constantly followed by police and hounded by press, she tries to find escape from life’s sorrows by excessive drinking and not being particularly choosy when it comes to company. At one of her parties she meets T. R. Devlin (played by Cary Grant), charming man who later reveals to be federal agent involved in case against her father. The authorities, thanks to detailed surveillance, know that Alicia secretly resents father’s treachery and is actually true American patriot. They want to use that for a very delicate mission in Brazil where the group of top ranking executive of German Nazi-connected company IG Farben found refuge following the end of war. She is to infiltrate that group through Alex Sebastian (played by Claude Rains), one of its members who used to be Alicia’s father’s friend and was in love with her. Alicia soon finds that Alex has still feelings for her, which Devlin’s boss Captain Prescott (played by Louis Calhern) wants to use in elaborate scheme during which she would seduce and, later, marry Alex. Things are complicated because Devlin and Alicia has fallen in love with each other. Devlin, rather reluctantly, reconciles with her mission while Alicia embraces the mission in order to prove herself to Devlin. At Sebastian’s home Alicia uses her cover of loving wife to investigate mysterious content of vine cellar, while at the same time Sebastian’s old mother Anna (played by Leopoldine Konstantin) becomes increasingly suspicious about true loyalties and agenda of her daughter-in-law.

Notorious is best known for what used to be advertised as “the longest kissing scene in the history of cinema”. Three minute scene featuring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman actually consists of multiple kisses each not lasting longer than three seconds. It was devised by Hitchcock in a way not to break the rule about kiss’ length in MPAA Production Code and it could be interpreted as Hitchcock’s ingenious way to show middle finger to Hays Office, Hollywood’s notoriously prude and tyrannical censorship agency. But this challenge to the Code is nothing compared with the way famed scriptwriter Ben Hecht established “notoriety” of the protagonist by implicitly but undoubtedly portraying her as promiscuous. And even greater challenge to conventions is portrayal of US government – institution that following the end of WW2 enjoyed respect that had never enjoyed before and after – as deeply cynical and amoral in its treatment of psychological damaged “easy woman” as cheap intelligence asset, a treatment that would cause even experienced and tough operator like Devlin to have second thoughts.

To get away with such subversive content in mid 1940s Hollywood you needed a lot of talent and clout. Hitchcock definitely had former and gained a lot of the latter, especially after managing to negotiate deal that would gradually phase his partnership with talented, but at times overbearing, producer David O. Selznick, and that would make Notorious the film where he was also a producer himself. Hitchcock had great resources at his disposal and worked wonders with them, easily reconstructing relatively distant locations of Miami and Rio De Janeiro with superb use of rear projection and Californian studios. Notorious represents another example of his mastery at work, helped by excellent black-and-white cinematography by Ted Tetzlaff and solid, although not particularly memorable music score by Roy Webb. There isn’t much action in Notorious, but when there is, Hitchcock again displays his superb talent for creating suspense. Scene that takes place in wine cellar and in which Devlin and Alicia try to find the horrible secret behind Nazi plans is one of those iconic Hitchcockian moments. What could have been just another of Hitchcock’s famous “MacGuffins” works even better here because uranium, which was, according to Hitchcock’s own claims, used in script as unrelated plot element before bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, made the film more disturbing to audience familiar with Nazis and new powers of atomic bomb and quite wary of the way those two could be connected. Even the ending, which is often the weak spot of many otherwise perfect Hollywood films, works excellent with simplicity and elegance of its twist.

Notorious has, like many Hitchcock’s classics, benefited a lot from an excellent cast. Ingrid Bergman, who had worked with Hitchcock on his previous film Spellbound, has here delivered one of the strongest performances of her career. Her character starts as drunk, continues like enamoured woman, then she gets scared and spends last segment drunk and vulnerable. And, in all that time, she easily gains sympathy from audience despite her character being beyond standards of mid 1940s morality. Bergman, one of Hollywood’s greatest stars at the time, was, like so many of Hitchcock’s famous leading ladies, object of director’s obsession but their relationship on the set was unusually collaborative and later evolved into genuine lifelong friendship. Cary Grant was also one of Hitchock’s old associate and here he delivered one of the more complex characters, a seemingly routine portrayal of suave attractive spy who actually hides much darker side and internal doubts. Another great performance came from Hitchcock’s old friend Claude Rains who, while portraying film’s nominal villain, actually evoked even some sympathy from the audience by showing character’s vulnerability and ultimately making him into a victim. He achieved that through character of Sebastian’s overbearing and ruthless mother, played by renowned Austrian actress Leopoldine Konstantin in her only English-speaking role.

The result of all those talents being gathered was enormous success at the box office that would confirm Hitchcock’s status as one of the greatest Hollywood film makers of its time and allowed to continue career that would lead to some of the most celebrated films ade. All those who watch Notorious today are likely to conclude that such success was deserved.

RATING: 8/10 (+++)