Notorious (1946)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writer:

Ben Hecht (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

6 September 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Notorious woman of affairs... Adventurous man of the world!

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?

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Wine Cellar | Wine | German | Love

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Devlin
Ingrid Bergman	...	Alicia Huberman
Claude Rains	...	Alexander Sebastian
Louis Calhern	...	Paul Prescott
Leopoldine Konstantin	...	Mme. Sebastian (as Madame Konstantin)
Reinhold Schünzel	...	'Dr. Anderson' (as Reinhold Schunzel)
Moroni Olsen	...	Walter Beardsley
Ivan Triesault	...	Eric Mathis
Alexis Minotis	...	Joseph (as Alex Minotis)
Wally Brown	...	Mr. Hopkins
Charles Mendl	...	Commodore (as Sir Charles Mendl)
Ricardo Costa	...	Dr. Barbosa
Eberhard Krumschmidt	...	Hupka
Fay Baker	...	Ethel
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bernice Barrett	...	File Clerk (uncredited)
Bea Benaderet	...	File Clerk (uncredited)
Candido Bonsato	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Charles D. Brown	...	Judge (uncredited)
Eddie Bruce	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Paul Bryar	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Aileen Carlyle	...	Woman at Party (uncredited)
Beulah Christian	...	Woman (uncredited)
Richard Clarke	...	Man (uncredited)
Tom Coleman	...	Court Stenographer (uncredited)
Alfredo DeSa	...	Ribero (uncredited)
Ben Erway	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Almeda Fowler	...	Woman (uncredited)
Gavin Gordon	...	Ernest Weylin (uncredited)
William Gordon	...	Adams (uncredited)
Virginia Gregg	...	File Clerk (uncredited)
Harry Hayden	...	Defense Counsel (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man Drinking Champagne at Party (uncredited)
Art Howard	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Warren Jackson	...	District Attorney (uncredited)
Ted Kelly	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Donald Kerr	...	Reporter (uncredited)
James Logan	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Leota Lorraine	...	Woman (uncredited)
George Lynn	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Frank Marlowe	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Thomas Martin	...	Butler (uncredited)
Frank McClure	...	Man Walking Through Door Leaving Courtroom (uncredited)
Francis McDonald	...	Man (uncredited)
Tina Menard	...	Maid (uncredited)
Howard M. Mitchell	...	Bailiff (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Diner Extra / Party Guest (uncredited)
Antonio Moreno	...	Senor Ortiza (uncredited)
Sandra Morgan	...	Woman (uncredited)
Howard Negley	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Ramon Nomar	...	Dr. Silva - Brazilian Official (uncredited)
Fred Nurney	...	John Huberman (uncredited)
Garry Owen	...	Motorcycle Policeman (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Louis Serrano	...	Brazilian Official (uncredited)
Patricia Smart	...	Mrs. Jackson (uncredited)
Dink Trout	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
Lenore Ulric	...	Horsewoman with Sebastian (uncredited)
Emmett Vogan	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Friedrich von Ledebur	...	Knerr (uncredited)
Peter von Zerneck	...	Wilhelm Rossner (uncredited)
John Vosper	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Alan Ward	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Lillian West	...	Woman (uncredited)
Frank Wilcox	...	FBI Agent (uncredited)
Elizabeth Wilson	...	Woman at Party (uncredited)
Herbert Wyndham	...	Mr. Cook (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
Ben Hecht		(written by)
John Taintor Foote		story "The Song of the Dragon" (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock		screenplay contributor (uncredited)
Clifford Odets		dialogue: love scenes (uncredited)

Produced by
Alfred Hitchcock	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Roy Webb

Cinematography by
Ted Tetzlaff		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Theron Warth

Art Direction by
Carroll Clark
Albert S. D'Agostino

Set Decoration by
Claude E. Carpenter		(set decorations) (as Claude Carpenter)
Darrell Silvera		(set decorations)

Makeup Department
Mel Berns	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Dorfman	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Terry Kellum	....	sound
John E. Tribby	....	sound
Clem Portman	....	sound re-recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Paul Eagler	....	special effects
Vernon L. Walker	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Chris Crowell	....	digital compositor (restored version) (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Capa	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Gregg Toland	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Edith Head	....	gowns designer: Miss Ingrid Bergman
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
C. Bakaleinikoff	....	musical director
Gil Grau	....	orchestral arrangements

Other crew
Barbara Keon	....	production assistant
Dorothy Barton	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Betty Brooks	....	stand-in: Ingrid Bergman (uncredited)
Dan Cassell	....	stand-in: Cary Grant (uncredited)
J. Dodds	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Sam Lufkin	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Bill Porter	....	publicity writer (uncredited)
Ruth Roberts	....	dialogue director (uncredited)
Leo Snell	....	stand-in (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Vanguard Films (uncredited) (for)
• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1946) (USA) (theatrical)
• Meteor Film Productions (1947) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (as Meteor Film)
• Radio Filmes (1947) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1948) (France) (theatrical)
• Selznick Releasing Organization (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release) (as A Selznick Release)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1973) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• CBS/Fox (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Key Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Videosonic Arts (1997) (Greece) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2008) (Canada) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino International (theatrical)
• New Star (2012) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Continental Home Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)

Also Known As:

"Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious" - UK (complete title), USA (complete title)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Portuguese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Germany:16 | Peru:14 | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:U (video rating) (1986) (1992) (1996) (2000) | USA:Approved (PCA #11261) | Spain:18 | Iceland:L | UK:U (re-release) (re-rating) (2000) (2008) (2012) | Norway:16 (1947) | Netherlands:18 (original rating) (1947) | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | USA:Unrated | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (tv rating)

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Vanguard Films

Trivia:

The set used in this film for the interior of the house of Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains) can also be seen in the RKO production The Locket (1946) as the house of Mrs. Willis (Katherine Emery). This is especially noticeable in scenes filmed in the part of the set representing the second floor corridor.

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).

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fiasco (2000)

Soundtrack:

Carnaval, Op. 9, Scènes mignonnes sur quatre notes: 'Chopin'

One of Hitchcock's most thrilling examinations of psychosexual ambiguity

One of Hitchcock's most thrilling examinations of psychosexual ambiguity, with the Grant-Bergman relationship veering from an initial meet-cute to genuine (beautifully conveyed) mutual delight to sadistic manipulation - he makes a whore of her and forces the fact again and again into her face, seldom giving an inch until the very end, where his change of heart has a largely tacked on feeling. We first see him from behind, quietly, predatorily watching at one of her drunken parties; they go for a drive and we see his hand poised to grab the wheel even as he pretends to submit himself to her drunken control over the car - it sets the tone, for Grant never relents on his desire to possess her, and reacts all too like a spurned lover to events, belittling her love even as she continually reasserts it; the callousness with which he distances himself from her after learning of her assignment is breathtaking. The main plot can hardly match the complexity of the central relationship, even though it's an excellently constructed yarn, with the fine set pieces of the party and the ultimate escape, which is essentially a battle between Rains and Grant for possession of the weakened Bergman - a finale which emphasizes how she's always been a prisoner, of her father's myth, of the male system, of her own emotions.