Following the conviction of her German father for treason against the U.S., Alicia Huberman takes to drink and men. She is approached by a government agent (T.R. Devlin) who asks her to spy on a group of her father's Nazi friends operating out of Rio de Janeiro. A romance develops between Alicia and Devlin, but she starts to get too involved in her work.Written by
Col Needham <col@imdb.com>
The scene of Alicia drunkenly speeding along a South Florida road with Devlin as her passenger was shot in the studio with rear projection. The projected shots had a motorcycle cop gaining on them. As he gets closer to the car, he goes out of frame to the right, and the movie cuts to him riding next to the car, this time in the studio. Sir Alfred Hitchcock suggested to cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff that he shine light on the backs of Cary Grant's and Ingrid Bergman's necks as the projected motorcyclist moves off to their side. According to Alfred Hitchcock, Tetzlaff was irritated that Hitchcock thought of this instead of him and snapped, "Getting a bit technical, aren't you, Pop?" See more »
Goofs
When Alicia and Devlin are first seen sitting at an outdoor cafe in Rio, she mentions that she's been sober for eight days. Since she was drunk at the party where she met Devlin, and they left for Rio one day later, this means they've been in Rio at least a week. But in one of the next scenes, Captain Prescott says Alicia just arrived in Rio "the other day" and he hasn't met her yet. See 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.
See more »
Crazy Credits
Opening credits prologue: Miami, Florida, Three-Twenty P.M., April the Twenty-Fourth, Nineteen Hundred and Forty-Six.... See more »
Alternate Versions
When released in West Germany in 1951 "Weißes Gift" (White Poison), the plot was significantly changed. Instead of Nazi agents, the villains became drug-trafficking bandits. The names of the characters were also changed to avoid any reference to Nazi Germany and spying:
The Ingrid Bergman character was called 'Elisa Sombrapal' (as opposed to Alicia Huberman), Claude Rains was called 'Aldo Sebastini' (instead of Alexander Sebastian), Leopoldine Konstantin was referred as 'Frau Sebastini'. Similarly, Ivan Triesault was called Enrico (instead of Eric Mathis) and the E.A. Krumschmidt character (originally called Emil Hupka) was rechristened 'Ramon Hupka'.
Carnaval, Op. 9, Scènes mignonnes sur quatre notes: 'Chopin'
(uncredited)
Written by Robert Schumann
Performed in the distance as Alicia enters Alex's house for the first time See more »
As a young woman, back in the "olden days" days before video, DVD and TCM, I was always fascinated by this film, though it came and went on more obscure T.V. channels, with no clue of when it would return. Notorious has everything...inimitable Hitchcock moments, mystery, suspense, personal drama, high romance, passion, great character development, international espionage, nuanced acting, a visually stunning foreign locale, post-war period mystique, patriotism, fine supporting cast, a charmingly evil Claude Rains, a most sinister Mme. Konstantin, Grant at his most enigmatic and romantic, and Bergman her most alluring and luminous. As in all great films, it is a spot-on rendering of its own unique story in the ambiance of its own time, but timeless in its portrayal of human character and emotion. Like a handful of others, it is as satisfying a movie experience now as it was 40 years ago...probably more so...whether on first viewing or 40th.
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As a young woman, back in the "olden days" days before video, DVD and TCM, I was always fascinated by this film, though it came and went on more obscure T.V. channels, with no clue of when it would return. Notorious has everything...inimitable Hitchcock moments, mystery, suspense, personal drama, high romance, passion, great character development, international espionage, nuanced acting, a visually stunning foreign locale, post-war period mystique, patriotism, fine supporting cast, a charmingly evil Claude Rains, a most sinister Mme. Konstantin, Grant at his most enigmatic and romantic, and Bergman her most alluring and luminous. As in all great films, it is a spot-on rendering of its own unique story in the ambiance of its own time, but timeless in its portrayal of human character and emotion. Like a handful of others, it is as satisfying a movie experience now as it was 40 years ago...probably more so...whether on first viewing or 40th.