Notorious

Alfred Hitchcock is considered one of THE great directors for his contributions to film, as well as his understanding and delivery of suspense and tension-filled scene-building. Despite this, his early period was rather shaky for most critics of the time as his movie’s didn’t normally do well from their perspectives, but a film like Notorious was received much better, and also proved to be a watermark for the growth of Hitchcock himself. Set in the aftermath of World War II, after her Nazi spy father is imprisoned, Alicia Huberman (played by Ingrid Bergman) is content with wasting her life away drinking and drowning in her sorrows, but she is called upon (quite forcibly) by government agent T. R. Devlin (played by Cary Grant) to assist him in infiltrating an organisation of Nazis hiding out in Rio through a one Alex Sebastian (played by Claude Rains) who Alicia is familiar with and is told to exploit his feelings for her to get close to him. After being planted by the agency that Devlin is working for, Alicia is brought into the life of the organisation despite constant untrustful gazes from Sebastian’s mother (played by Leopoldine Konstantin), and after getting married to him, proves that she can get the information the agency requires. But with the possibility of being caught by her new husband and with a jealous Devlin and uncaring superiors on the other side, what will happen if she is found out and what chance does she have if she is? Notorious was considered by many critics and scholars of the time a sign of Hitchcock’s maturity in filmmaking and a showcase of new heightened themes and topics for his films. The movie boasts several fantastic aspects that are familiar to his work, but also sprinkled in with a brand-new feel that makes it stand out from the rest.

At the age of forty-six, Hitchcock showed the world at the time that he wasn’t slowing down in his career, as this film helped familiarize the public with his classic attributes and style, while also showcasing an ability to deliver familiar stories in an otherwise expertly crafted manner, leading way to several of his most iconic films like Rear Window, North by Northwest, and Psycho. While he had previously had critically successful movies like Rebecca, Suspicion and Spellbound, Notorious was different for the critics, managing to showcase what made Hitchcock great to begin with while also evolving to feature something more. The familiar aspects of brilliant build-up, tension ready to snap at any second, a cast of morally ambiguous characters, the romance-focused narrative and film-noir stylisation gave it a unique flair that also feels indicative of the time it was made in. Considering this was just on the eve of the end of the war, it features elements in its script that would be pretty risky for a film of its time, but doesn’t’ hesitate or cover it up, its unashamed of how it talks about an American system that is willing to throw away a woman’s life as long as it brings service to themselves. It’s a film that has a very good focal point and screenplay from Ben Hecht and despite being a little shaky with its explanation of said predicament, a majority of the movie’s strongest moments are when the plan is going underway to infiltrate this Nazi organisation, where the movie delivers some fantastic moments of suspense, visual storytelling, a tight screenplay, and expertly crafted pacing that keeps people engaged throughout each moment. It does have a bit on an anti-climax as the ending is pretty underwhelming and even surprisingly easy, but the build-up to whether or not this woman will get away with this is very well done, especially a scene involving a party where everything feels pure Hitchcock and his ability to craft a scene like this is pretty masterful.  An issue that comes from this film is its handling of the other supposed key element of the story, which is the romantic sub-plot. It is uninteresting, dated, and incredibly unneeded. In a film like this with Hitchcock who isn’t very good at handling genuine romance, the movie’s weird instance on being about a love triangle doesn’t work with how the movie is laid out, especially because the espionage portion of the movie is light-years better.

This movie marked an end to the collaboration between Hitchcock and producer David O. Selznick, who seemed to be heavily against the film (at least how Hitchcock was doing it) and it led to several disagreements on who should be in the movie and how it should be made, until it reached a point where Hitchcock decided to just produce the film himself (being the first time he ever did this). One of the fights occurred over the leads and whether or not these two would work as the starring roles (Selznick being against it while Hitchcock was for it) and in some respects, both were correct. Ingrid Bergmann, despite being a relatively new name at the time, truly shines in this film as a pawn used to dig out a worm in this Nazi organisation; her natural look, dirty family connection and tortured presence make her an engaging figurehead for the film and a showcase of a great talent. Cary Grant on the other hand is easily the worst part of this movie. He is so boring, so uninteresting and so lacking charisma that it’s hard to fully determine when he’s putting on a front to pretend not to care or when he actually does, his speech pattern and blank face never change throughout the entirety of this movie. He shares no chemistry with Bergman, his petty nature and harsh somewhat unfounded words make him come across as downright unlikeable, and his supposed love for this woman is unfeeling when nothing supports this outside of the movie telling us he is. It’s a horrible match for an otherwise great performance in Bergman. On the flip side of that, the villain is surprisingly written very well. Sebastian is a relatively good man given the circumstances and his position in life and his actions feel weirdly more justified and polite than the supposed hero; his jealousy, his bitterness and his begrudging acceptance of what he does to his wife feel at least explainable, and Claude Rains portrays him in a less aggressive manner than the lead to the point where until the end, he looks like a better option for a love interest (which is not what should be said about someone affiliated with Nazis). Leopoldine Konstantin is also very effective as the mother of Sebastian; being effectively steely and cold to everybody without going fully over-the-top, carrying the resolve of a hardened German mother in a striking way.

The film is fantastic with its camera work, staging, lighting and visual storytelling, which Hitchcock has always been known for, but feels even more impressive here. The film truly is at its best when it features Hitchcock’s best elements; his creation and pay-off of suspense, his bitter attitude towards usually positive things, his often times aggressive handling of usually good-hearted characters, his odd, but incredibly memorable cinematography, it all feels so welcome in this environment and this genre. While the movie’s first act uses some effective shots and props to get across basic character set-up, this aspect of the film truly shines in the dinner party, where the film effortlessly lays out the stakes, consequences, hurdles, and outcome of the scene through its choice of what to focus on and how to show it off as opposed to constant verbal conformation. It’s very dynamic and mobile with its camera work handled by Ted Tetzlaff, it feels more proactive and energized than other movies of the time (especially those of a film-noir) and it’s because of stuff like this that makes the movie work just as well in modern day as it would back then. In similar movies of the era, there would be aspects of the film from a technical standpoint and even script level that wouldn’t ruin it overall but could make it feel like a product of its time, whereas this movie doesn’t really suffer that issue (aside from the dumb forced romance).

Notorious is a Hitchcock film that not a lot of people know about and isn’t one that’s talked about as much as some of his others, but it is a very good movie with a lot of great moments, maybe even some of the best from Hitchcock’s library. Knowing that this movie was considered the point where Hitchcock grew from an averagely liked director with some successful films, to one that would last the test of time is reassuring and a good sign that he could move onto bigger and better things. It’s true that the movie’s romance is incredibly weak, and the male lead is arguably the worst aspect of this film, but with great directing, a great lead actress, effective antagonists, and wonderful visuals, Notorious is a great experience to watch regardless of what kind of Hitchcock film you’re looking for.