Notorious is a 1946 thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film stars Gary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains. Today Notorious is frequently regarded as one of Hitchcock’s best films.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Production Company: RKO Radio Pictures
Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures
Cast: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern, Leopoldine Konstantin
US Box Office: $12,000,000 ($302,200,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Black & White
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Release Date: August 15, 1946 (premiere); September 6, 1946 (general release)
Plot Summary: Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman), the daughter of a convicted Nazi saboteur, is hired by American agent TR Devlin (Cary Grant) to infiltrate and investigate a group of alleged former Nazi German agents living in Brazil. Alicia seduces and eventually marries the German leader Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains). However, Alicia falls in love with Devlin, and he becomes concerned for her safety as the mission becomes riskier.
Production: In August of 1944, Alfred Hitchcock approached Producer David O. Selznick about the idea of creating a spy film about a woman played by Ingrid Bergman who seduces a Nazi saboteur to gain information. Hitchcock was inspired by a short story by John Taintor Foote called “The Song of the Dragon,” which featured a similar concept. Selznick liked the concept and agreed to produce the film with Hitchcock. In late December of 1944, Hitchcock and Ben Hecht worked on a fifty page script treatment for the film.
Selznick was not thrilled with the treatment for Notorious, but he was busy with his personal project Duel in the Sun at the time, and allowed Hitchcock and Hecht to keep developing on their script. After a conversation with physicist Robert Millikan, Hitchcock added uranium (the key ingredient for atomic bombs) to the script as a MacGuffin for the heroes. Because uranium was added to the script before the details of the atomic bomb and the Manhattan Project were made public, Hitchcock claimed he was investigated by the FBI for three weeks about this detail. In June of 1945 Selznick decided to partly sell Notorious‘ production to RKO for $800,000 and a portion of the film’s profit, so he could mainly focus on Duel in the Sun. Though Selznick still held some control over production, RKO allowed Hitchcock to produce the film, giving him more creative freedom over the project.
Hitchcock always had Ingrid Bergman, who he had previously worked with on Spellbound (1945), in mind for the role of Alicia. The director gave Bergman a considerable amount of freedom in how she chose to play Alicia (this was rare for Hitchcock who was known for meticulously planning out everything in his films). Hitchcock wanted to cast Cary Grant in the role of Devlin. Selznick wanted Joseph Cotten, who was under contract with him, to play role instead, because Grant was not available till late 1945 and Selznick wanted to rush Notorious into production so it could be the first film about the atomic bomb. Hitchcock and RKO stood their ground and waited till Grant was available so he could star in the film.
Filming on Notorious began in October of 1945 and went until February of 1946. The film was almost entirely shot indoors on RKO sound stages. The scene where Alicia and Devlin first meet Sebastian at the horse riding club was shot on location at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. Some background filming was done at Miami, Rio de Janeiro, and at the Santa Anita Park racetrack to be used for exterior shots and as rear-projection backgrounds. Grant and Bergman became lifelong friends during the filming of Notorious.
Fun Facts and Trivia: As he did in many of his film, Alfred Hitchcock makes a cameo appearance in Notorious. At Alexander Sebastian’s party, Hitchcock can be clearly scene in one shot getting a glass of champagne from the bartender before walking offscreen. Even though Leopoldine Konstantin (Madame Sebastian) played the mother of Claude Rains’ character, she was actually only four older than him in real life. Claude Rains was also a few inches shorter than Ingrid Bergman, so in most scenes where the two are standing together Rains is either standing on a box or walking on a ramp that is not in camera view.
After filming ended, Cary Grant took the “UNICA” key prop with him. A few years later, he gave the key to Ingrid Bergman because he thought that the key had given him good luck, and hoped that it would do the same for her. At the 1979 American Film Institute tribute to Alfred Hitchcock, Bergman gave the key to Hitchcock. It was not a scripted moment, so Hitchcock was delighted and pleasantly surprised to get the key. Bergman told him that she hoped the key would bring him good luck too.
Reception: Notorious received positive reviews from critics on its original release. The New York Times critic Bosley Crowther gave Notorious a very positive review. He wrote, “Mr. Hecht has written, and Mr. Hitchcock has directed in brilliant style, a romantic melodrama which is just about as thrilling as they come.” Notorious was also a very popular with audiences. It was a financial success for RKO, and was Hitchcock’s second highest grossing film at the time.
In retrospect, Notorious has come to receive a massive amount of acclaim from film critics and academics, who admire Hitchcock’s use of cinematography to build tension and suspense. For example Roger Ebert thought that Notorious was an excellent showcase for Hitchcock’s visual style and use of suspense. Ebert considered Notorious to be his favorite Hitchcock film. The American Film Institute ranked Notorious #38 on its list of the most thrilling American films, and #86 on its list of the most romantic American films. AFI also included Notorious as one of the 400 films nominated to their 1996 and 2007 lists of Top 100 best American films.
Oscars: Notorious was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (Claude Rains) and Best Original Screenplay (Ben Hecht). However, Notorious did not win any of the Oscars it was nominated for.
Why You Should See It: Notorious is a very good thriller film. Alfred Hitchcock obviously does a great job making the film suspenseful. Hitchcock’s cinematography in Notorious is also quite good. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman are both good in their roles. As is Claude Rains, who adds sympathy to his role as Sebastian and Leopoldine Konstantin as his cunning mother.