Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

For this Memorial Day weekend, we ordered a few movies, one of them being Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious.  A real treat for me, always, is Cary Grant and this is one of his few movies I had not yet seen.  In addition, since I was a very little girl, I have loved Alfred Hitchcock movies right up to his television show.  He never fails at being enigmatically entertaining.  Notorious was no disappointment either.

The story focuses on Alicia Huberman, played beautifully by Ingrid Bergman, whose father has been arrested and tried for participating in a Nazi group of friends.  Notorious for weak morals and an affinity for alcohol, she is sought by the American government to infiltrate the group her father had been involved with to gain more information as to their activities.  Although her father is considered a traitor, Alicia is more loyal to the United States though seemingly apprehensive to be involved in this case.  Her contact is a handsome agent named T.R. Devlin portrayed by the incredible Cary Grant.  Initially, Devlin is a little difficult to read though both characters are immediately attracted to one another and almost too soon it develops into a romance.

When Devlin is made aware of what the case would involve, I felt that his superiors were quite judgmental of Alicia without regard to the danger they were putting her in.  It almost infuriated me that Devlin was so upset, but held is tongue, thus his feelings towards Alicia.  I felt he should have been more loyal to her considering where their relationship seemed to be heading.

Alicia is more open about her feelings while Devlin seems to try and be as professional as he can, but doesn't succeed completely.  They are given their assignment in Rio de Janeiro where Alicia will soon manipulate Alexander Sebastian [Claude Rains] to learn more about the Nazi group's activities.  Sebastian is a former friend of Alicia's father and had serious feelings for her years earlier.   Even in her moments with Sebastian, it's obvious to me that it's killing her to hurt Devlin, but she's waiting to hear him express his disagreement with her and Alicia makes a decision that doesn't make either of them happy.

Without divulging the rest of the movie/story, Alicia becomes enthralled with this dangerous group, risking her life while yearning over Devlin.  She stays committed to the U.S. government and is able to give them much more information they had prior to her involvement.  However, she is not experienced and there are times that become nerve-wracking, especially with the group and Sebastian’s dominant and overbearing mother, Madame Anna Sebastian.  Madame Sebastian was almost a little more frightening than Alex Sebastian, the movie's villain.

The cinematography was beautiful and, in my opinion, the film seemed a little ahead of its time.  Released in 1946, there were similarities I observed to that of Citizen Kane's cinematography which I had first viewed in my Humanities class in college.  As always, the directing was exceptional in the hands of the master of thrillers, Sir Alfred Hitchcock.  I felt all things considered; cast, director, writer, and cinematography made for an almost perfect movie with my favorites, Grant and Hitchcock.  I highly recommend Notorious and give it 5 stars.

Thanks for reading ~

Kaahu 2010

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older