Actuakers
One of my all time favorites.
Acensbart
Excellent but underrated film
Brendon Jones
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Yuuules
I am one of those who say that Notorious is one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest masterpieces.The plot takes place shortly after the Second World War. Alicia (Ingrid Bergman), the former German whose father was tried for anti-American conspiracy, is hired by Devlin (Cary Grant) to spy on a former nazi, Mr. Sebastian (Claude Rains).A first romance begins between Alicia and Devlin, a real romance.
Having managed to meet Mr. Sebastian, a second romance start between the pretty Alicia and Mr. Sebastian, false romance because on a backdrop of espionage.By the way, what is appreciable here is the delicacy that shows the writers on the character of Mr. Sebastian. He is certainly suspected of trafficking uranium, but his presentation reveals a friendly and enterprising man. Eventually, the "vision of evil" is mainly represented by the mother of Mr. Sebastien.The relationship between Devlin and Alicia is strong. However, this must take place without the eyes of Mr. Sebastian, nor the looks of the American secret services for which Devlin works. This hidden love game takes over the spy part of the film. Everything forms a captivating story with suspense, drama and romance, witnesses to a well thought out, well-designed story.The relationship between Devlin and Alicia being more and more distant and fragile, this one finally leaves place to a fabulous love scene between Devlin and Alicia for nearly three minutes, where the controversial code Hays is bypassed for our greatest pleasure. It is during this scene that the genius of the realization of Hitchcock is obvious. A sumptuous black and white beautifully filmed transcribing all the romance of the two characters.
However, I would have liked a composition of the type "Love theme drama" that would have made this scene just perfect.As evidenced by the IMDB rating, it is an effective film, where the genius of Hitchcock responds present. I think it is to see for all who loved Rebecca (although this one is not considered a Hitchcock by Hitchcock himself).
themullofkintyre
I didn't know what I was getting into when I watched this film but i'm glad I didn't because it was a shockingly great film. The leads are great in their respective roles and Claudia Raines is damn near perfect as a villain. Go watch this film. You will not regret it, it is suspenseful and dramatic.
zkonedog
In many of Alfred Hitchcock's wartime pics (from WWII to the Cold War era), the master of directing is a bit too heavy in the "rah rah America" department for the films to truly stand the test of time. They played very well for their era, but don't necessarily thrill as much today. Luckily, thanks to some tremendous acting, "Notorious" holds up much better.For a basic plot summary, "Notorious" sees an undercover agent named Devlin (Cary Grant) recruit a young lady (Ingrid Bergman) to infiltrate the home of a suspected German subversive (Claude Rains) setting up a base in the United States.In terms of overall plot, this movie is "three star" all the way, as it is a quite average story. It has the typical Hitchcock "MacGuffin" that drives the action, and the ending is not satisfying whatsoever.However, there are two factors that make this movie very watchable:1. Great acting. Rains is spot-on as the villain of the tale, while Grant & Bergman have incredible chemistry with each other. When the general storyline fails to excite from time to time, the acting carries the proceedings.2. Genuine suspense. There are a couple of scenes in this film that deftly show off the "Hitch touch" in the realm of edge-of-your-seat drama/suspense.Overall, a more accurate rating of "Notorious" would be 3.5 stars. It isn't in the highest echelon of Hitch films, but it is very watchable and never ever outright boring. It suffers from diminishing returns from repeated viewings, but "Notorious" holds it own in the Hitch canon.
sol-
Desperate to dissociate herself from her Nazi war criminal father, a young woman with a drinking problem agrees to spy on one of her father's most trusted friends and gets dangerously close in this Alfred Hitchcock wartime drama. The film caused a stir in its day by featuring an elongated kissing scene, and the romance that develops between Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman's characters is pivotal as a secondary motive for her to cooperate. That said, the romance scenes are also the driest parts of the film with the plot taking over half an hour to really get going amidst talk, talk and even more talk. Things do eventually pick-up though and the film is topped off by a deathly intense final scene, as well as an effective conclusion that is both uplifting and gloomy (what an excellent, suggestive final shot!) but it is odd how long it takes the film to warm up. Calling the movie a thriller is in fact inaccurate as the thrills and suspenseful moments are few and far between with several dull patches. During its best moments though, 'Notorious' is unmissable stuff. There is a great moment in which Claude Rains opens Bergman's palms and almost discovers a key she has stolen; angular shots and zooms in and out are also used effectively throughout. Rains is very good too. In many ways, he is the heart and soul of the film with his genuine affection for Bergman and deep- seeded worries about his future late in the piece, and it is refreshing to have so human an antagonist. The overall film may not be quite as solid as his performance, but it makes for decent viewing all the same.
