Please don't spend money on this.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

After beginning this film, excited that it was listed on multiple websites as one of the best "psychological thrillers", I was a bit surprised to find that a good portion of the plot revolved around a love relationship. However, after analyzing every scene, I came to appreciate not only what this relationship did for the movie, but also the incredible detail that went into the film. Every aspect of this film, from lighting to sound, worked incredibly well to create moods depending on the scene. The editing of close ups combined with low-key lighting and dramatic music allowed for many of the scenes closer to the end of the movie to have a jarring effect. Furthermore, I soon found that the relationship was about much more than love. Hitchcock brought up questions of trust, of manipulation, and of greed with the complications that arise between Alicia and Devlin. The relationship in this film between Alicia and Devlin also illustrates the breaking up of the Hays Code during this period, as there were insanely long (compared to previous) kissing scenes and scenes suggesting romance. Although this movie was not as intense and mind-blowing as I expected, the fantastic editing, directing, and cinematography made me really enjoy the film and the questions it raises.

Copyright 15 August 1946 by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall: 15 August 1946. U.S. release: 6 September 1946. U.K. release: 21 April 1947. Australian release: 26 June 1947. 9,120 feet. 101 minutes.SYNOPSIS: In an attempt to smash a Nazi spy ring in Rio, an American agent weds one of the most fanatical of the Nazis. NOTES: A remake of Convoy (1927) in which Dorothy Mackaill, Lowell Sherman and Ian Keith essayed the roles now played by Bergman, Rains and Grant. Joseph C. Boyle directed for First National from a screenplay by Willis Goldbeck, whilst Ernest Haller photographed. Claude Rains was nominated for a prestigious Hollywood award for Supporting Actor, losing to Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives. Ben Hecht was nominated for Best Original Screenplay (sic), losing to Muriel Box and Sydney Box's The Seventh Veil. Producer David O. Selznick who owned the script plus the services of Hitchcock, Bergman and Grant sold the package to RKO for $800,000 plus a half share of the profits. RKO spent an additional $2 million. The movie went to gross over $9 million, so everyone came out ahead. In its year of release Notorious was number nine at the U.S. boxoffice. RKO's share of the profits amounted to $1,010,000. One of Bosley Crowther's Ten Best of the year for The New York Times. Best Actress, Ingrid Bergman - 1946 Photoplay Gold Medal Award. COMMENT: Everybody seems to like Notorious unqualifiedly. Everyone except me. Mind you, I like it too, once the story actually starts, - but this doesn't happen until Claude Rains comes on, and that's at least thirty minutes in. I'm bored stiff with all the long introductory scenes, which seem pretty pointless unless you're a rabid Cary Grant fan. He plays a rather unsympathetic character here to boot. It's a shame to waste Ingrid in such tedious scenes. The relationship between these two characters could have been made in a succinct five or ten minutes. Once the story starts with Rains at his most malevolently benign and Bergman at her most radiantly vulnerable, even Grant improves. And there's a marvellous performance by another hard-case Hitchcock mother, this time German actress Leopoldine Konstantin in her only English-language feature. Once Hitch can get his camera away from the Bergman-Grant romance, he manages to pull off some tinglingly suspenseful scenes. Indeed once Bergman enters this Nazi Mandalay with its reprise of the Rebecca keys (capped by an astoundingly effective crane shot in which the camera dollies from a first-floor balcony to a close-up of the stolen cellar key in Bergman's hand) he makes marvellously atmospheric use of light and shadows.A huge popular success for all concerned, particularly Bergman. Yet oddly it was her last crowd-pleasing English-language film until Anastasia ten years later.

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.

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.