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?

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writer:

Ben Hecht

Stars:

Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited 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
E.A. Krumschmidt	...	Hupka (as Eberhard Krumschmidt)
Fay Baker	...	Ethel

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

spy | wine | german | wine cellar | nazi | 

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Taglines:

Notorious Woman of many Desires! Fateful Fascination! Bold Intrigue!

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alfred Hitchcock: [casting] Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant star.

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Goofs

When Devlin and Alicia go to find Sebastian riding horses, there is a quick two second shot of all four characters next to each other on horses and two arms are visible walking the horses of Sebastian and the woman he is riding with.

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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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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: Miami, Florida, Three-Twenty P.M., April the Twenty-Fourth, Nineteen Hundred and Forty-Six....

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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'.

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Connections

Featured in Claudette Colbert - Discovering: Cary Grant (2013)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

In My Top Ten!

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Portuguese

Release Date:

6 September 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$113,061

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures, Vanguard Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1