A psychotic socialite attempts to force an amateur tennis star to comply with his theory that two complete strangers can get away with reciprocal murders.
Two young men strangle their "inferior" classmate, hide his body in their apartment, and invite his friends and family to a dinner party as a means to challenge the "perfection" of their crime.
A hapless New York City advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive.
A man in London tries to help a counter-espionage Agent. But when the Agent is killed, and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring which is trying to steal top secret information.
Director:
Alfred Hitchcock
Stars:
Robert Donat,
Madeleine Carroll,
Lucie Mannheim
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>
To get around possible censor objections to kissing scenes that were too long and passionate, Sir Alfred Hitchcock devised a scene where Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman would neck and nibble at each other for a few minutes while they discussed food, moved about the apartment, and spoke on the phone. See more »
Goofs
When Devlin and Alecia are at the outdoor cafe, the rear shot of Devlin shows him folding the fingers of both hands together. In the next (face) shot of Devlin, one hand is resting on the other. In the next (rear) shot, his fingers are folded together again. 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 ...
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.