IMDb > Notorious (1946)
Notorious
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Notorious (1946) More at IMDbPro »

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Notorious (1946) -- A woman is asked to spy on a group of Nazi friends in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?
Notorious (1946) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 3% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
Ben Hecht (written by)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Notorious on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
6 September 1946 (USA) more
Tagline:
Notorious woman of affairs... Adventurous man of the world! more
Plot:
A woman is asked to spy on a group of Nazi friends in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them? full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(12 articles)
Birthday Suits: Oscar-Snubbed
 (From FilmExperience. 10 November 2009, 5:11 PM, PST)

Blu-ray Review: North by Northwest (50th Anniversary Edition)
 (From Rope Of Silicon. 3 November 2009, 3:50 AM, PST)

User Comments:
My favorite Hitchcock! more (178 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Cary Grant ... T.R. Devlin

Ingrid Bergman ... Alicia Huberman

Claude Rains ... Alexander Sebastian
Louis Calhern ... Captain Paul Prescott
Leopoldine Konstantin ... Madame Anna Sebastian (as Madame Konstantin)
Reinhold Schünzel ... Dr. Anderson (as Reinhold Schunzel)
Moroni Olsen ... Walter Beardsley
Ivan Triesault ... Eric Mathis
Alex Minotis ... Joseph - Sebastian's Butler
Wally Brown ... Mr. Hopkins
Charles Mendl ... Commodore (as Sir Charles Mendl)
Ricardo Costa ... Dr. Julio Barbosa
Eberhard Krumschmidt ... Emil Hupka
Fay Baker ... Ethel
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)
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Runtime:
101 min
Country:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Director Cameo: [Alfred Hitchcock]About an hour in, at the party in Alexander Sebastian's mansion, Hitchcock gets a glass of champagne from the bartender and quickly turns to the left and walks off screen. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Devlin and Alicia are having a drink at an outside table in a busy cafe, the same portion of background film was used in two separate parts of their dialogue (a man walks away from the camera, then a waiter approaches a distant table and starts to put down some drinks from his tray). more
Quotes:
[first lines]
[Title card]: Miami, Florida, Three-Twenty P.M., April the Twenty-Fourth, Nineteen Hundred and Forty-Six...
[reporters and photographers converse amongst themselves outside the courtroom]
Judge: Is there any legal reason why sentence should not be pronounced?
District Attorney: No, your honor.
John Huberman: Yes, I have something to say. You can put me away, but you can't put away what's going to happen to you, and to this whole country next time. Next time we are going...
Defense Counsel: [whispering] I wouldn't say any more. We'll need that for the appeal.
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Movie Connections:
Featured in Indie Sex: Censored (2007) (TV) more

FAQ

Which scene is the "famous kissing scene"?
A Note Regarding Spoilers
Is "Notorious" based on a book?
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37 out of 43 people found the following comment useful.
My favorite Hitchcock!, 2 September 1999
9/10
Author: Daniel R. Baker from United States

Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) is the daughter of a German-American who has been imprisoned for turning traitor to the U.S. during World War II. Despondent, she becomes an alcoholic and flits from man to man, until one day a mysterious government agent named Devlin (Cary Grant) comes to her and asks for her help. Some old Nazi acquaintances of her father's has taken up residence in Rio de Janeiro; he needs her help to spy on them. Somewhat reluctantly, Alicia agrees.

Once in Rio, it takes some time for the couple to be assigned their mission. The trip takes on the character of a honeymoon, and Alicia and Devlin start falling in love. Then their orders do arrive, and Alicia is assigned to infiltrate the house and the bedroom of the Nazi leader, Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains).

This movie delivers a very different kind of suspense from Hitchcock's more famous NORTH BY NORTHWEST. There are no strafing runs by malevolent crop-dusters, no cliff-hanging mountain-climbing scenes, no mad footraces. The suspense here relies all on subtleties that get under your skin and chill you much more than the in-your-face antics of Hitchcock's later piece. The popping of champagne corks signals time running out for two spies in the wine cellar; an impassioned lover seeks to kiss the hand of his lady who has a deadly secret concealed in her palm; a victim of poison sees the shadows of the poisoners merge together on the wall. The final scene is the best of all. Who but Hitchcock could imbue the innocent sentence, "I wish to talk to you," with such chilling power?

This is one of Ingrid Bergman's best performances; Alicia is hardly perfect, but brave and lovely. Hitchcock was far ahead of his time in discarding male chauvinist attitudes that elevated a woman's chastity and "ladylike" attributes over her courage and intelligence. When a superior disparages Alicia for the lack of "character" she has shown by following the orders he himself has given her, Devlin sarcastically lashes out: "She may be risking her life, but when it comes to being a *lady,* she doesn't hold a candle to your wife, sir, sitting in Washington playing bridge with three other ladies of great honor and virtue." Yet Devlin himself is often unsympathetic and harsh in his treatment of Alicia, and the unfairness of that treatment is sharply highlighted in a manner very sympathetic to her.

Not to be overlooked is Rains' magnificent rendition of Alexander Sebastian, a villainous but human and rather weak man who genuinely loves Alicia. I have never seen Rains better except for his immortal portrayal of Cap. Renault in CASABLANCA. Also superb is Leopoldine Konstantin as Sebastian's domineering, scheming mother.

NOTORIOUS is intense and meticulously crafted, and benefits from the best acting in any Hitchcock movie. While NORTH BY NORTHWEST or THE 39 STEPS might be a better introduction to Hitchcock for people used to the slam-bang action of modern cinema, NOTORIOUS is the best I can recommend for those who have already learned to love Hitchcock's work.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Notorious (1946)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
I'm in love with Ingrid Bergman, help! donalexei
Best off-screen deaths of all time tb1223
Bad ending-- for a change. mc-sleepy
Where Would You Rank Notorious Among Hitchcock's Best Films? csu16387
Why 'Rebecca' Rank is 80 while 'Notorious' is 114 ?! Mike_noir
the key kimmyf
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