Notorious (1946) NR: Mutual Attraction and Espionage
Combine the remarkable talents of Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains and the result is a film that definitely belongs in the "not to be missed" category.
"Notorious woman of affairs...Adventurous man of the world!" is how the film was billed when hit theaters in 1946. Bergman "notorious?" By 1946 standards she was downright disreputable.
Following the conviction of her father for treason against the U.S., Alicia Huberman (Bergman) takes to drink and men. But alas, she seeks to repay her father's moral debt to the country she loves and her father betrayed (and renounce her own vices) by agreeing to become an undercover U.S. agent. Recruited by the devilishly handsome Government agent, T.R. Devlin (Grant) - who's aptly named - Huberman resumes an acquaintance with a wealthy German businessman, Alexander Sebastian (Rains) and infiltrates his circle of German scientists in Rio de Janeiro.
Sparks fly, and the mission is in jeopardy of being compromised when a romance between Huberman and Devlin develops. In fact, while Notorious adheres to the chaste Hayes code of the film era, the film has some rather steamy scenes for its day. Although the scenes never go beyond the standard close-ups of their kisses, the passion is palpable. When Sebastian proposes to Huberman against the wishes of his evil mother, however, she expects Devlin to raise objects. He doesn't. Hey, he's a Government spy - they don't fall in love! So out of duty, she marries Sebastian.
While there's not exactly any nail-biting moments in Notorious, there are some tense super-secret spy moments. After Huberman takes her husband's key to the mansion's wine cellar, she and Devlin discover bottles full of sand that turn out to be uranium dust. When they're discovered in the wine cellar, they convince her husband they're having a tryst. Now a woman who knows too much, Sebastian's mother convinces him he must get rid of her - by slowly poisoning her. When the dashing Devlin realizes the truth about Huberman's mysterious illness, he daringly rescues her in a come-hither-heroine maneuver that puts other damsel in distress scenes to shame.
With superior acting and direction, not to mention a rather saucy script (by Hitchcock and Ben Hecht), Notorious is a classic gem that's really not to be missed.
By Sara-Lynn White
