We are protected by the enormity of your stupidity, for a time
Hello to all of the classic people that are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors. As a technical note, references and citations are listed for each show on the site at classicmovierev.com. Today on the Classic Movie Reviews Podcast, we are taking on Notorious (1946). This review is a request from Nickname729364 asking for some Alfred Hitchcock. The mention of Hitchcock leads me to the question did Hitchcock direct Film Noir? Yes, yes, he did.
Keep sending in those comments and visit the merchandise store by following the links on the site and in the podcast show notes.
This film has a 7.9[1] rating on iMDB.com, and I personally think it should be at least 8.7. On rottentomatoes.com, the film has 98 percent on the Tomatometer and 91 percent audience approval[2]. I guess the other 9 percent must be Nazis.
The positive comments made about this film by professional critics are amazing. In an August 17th, 1997 four-star review, great film critic Roger Ebert said of the director:
“Alfred Hitchcock’s “Notorious” is the most elegant expression of the master’s visual style, just as “Vertigo” is the fullest expression of his obsessions. It contains some of the most effective camera shots in his–or anyone’s–work, and they all lead to the great final passages in which two men find out how very wrong they both were.”[3]
Of the female lead, he said:
“This is the film, with “Casablanca,” that assures Ingrid Bergman’s immortality. She plays a woman whose notorious reputation encourages U.S. agents to recruit her to spy on Nazis in postwar Rio. And that reputation nearly gets her killed, when the man she loves mistrusts her. His misunderstanding is at the center of a plot in which all of the pieces come together with perfect precision, so that two people walk down a staircase to their freedom, and a third person climbs steps to his doom.”[4]
New York Times film critic Bosley Crowthers said on August 16th, 1946:
“…director, writer and star, and now they have teamed together on another taut, superior film. It goes by the name of “Notorious” and it opened yesterday at the Music Hall. With Cary Grant as an additional asset, it is one of the most absorbing pictures of the year. For Mr. Hecht has written and Mr. Hitchcock has directed in brilliant style a romantic melodrama which is just about as thrilling as they come—velvet smooth in dramatic action, sharp and sure in its characters and heavily charged with the intensity of warm emotional appeal. As a matter of fact, the distinction of “Notorious” as a film is the remarkable blend of love story with expert “thriller” that it represents.”[5]
He later stated:
“Mr. Grant, who is exceptionally solid, is matched for acting honors in the cast by Claude Rains as the Nazi big-wig, to whom Miss Bergman becomes attached. Mr. Rains’ shrewd and tense performance of this invidious character is responsible for much of the anguish that the situation creates. Reinhold Schunzel and Ivan Triesault are good, too, as Nazi worms, and a splendid touch of chilling arrogance as a German mother is added by Madame Konstantin.[6]”
Wikipedia.org says this is a spy Film Noir. I have not heard this term used before, but I like it. They also say that the uranium in the wine bottle was a MacGuffin because in 1945, during production, most people did not know that uranium was used in atomic bombs.[7]
So, an English director directing the most American of film styles, a Swedish actress playing a German/American spy, an English actor playing an American spy, and another great English actor playing a Nazi, and a group of Eastern European and one German Jewish actor that was given an Ehrenarier’ (honorary Aryan)[8] by the Nazis [Reinhold Schünzel later fled the Nazis in 1937], playing Nazis, creating one of the most American spy Film Noir.
Actors – Notorious (1946)
Returning
The top three actors in this film were utterly amazing. They include Cary Grant as American spy Devlin. Grant was first covered as the angel in The Bishop’s Wife (1947). The second was the lovely and talented Ingrid Bergman as recruited spy Alicia Huberman. This talented actress was first covered in Casablanca (1942), and she was just as good in this film. The final great actor was Claude Rains as Nazi Alexander Sebastian. Raines was first covered in The Wolf Man (1941).
There were some talented supporting actors, including Louis Calhern as head American spy Paul Prescott. Calhern was first mentioned in Blackboard Jungle (1955). Another player was Frank Wilcox as an uncredited F.B.I. Agent. Wilcox was just covered in Night Editor (1946). Somewhere in the crowd of actors was Wally Brown as Mr. Hopkins. Brown was covered in Zombies on Broadway (1945)
New
Since there are so many returning actors, I have only covered a single actor in the new actors’ section. I landed on Ivan Triesault, who played Eric Mathis. I picked this actor because he played such a nasty guy.
Ivan Triesault was born in 1898 in the Russian Empire in what is now Tallinn, Estonia. He started acting at the age of 14 and moved to the United States at the age of 18. In the U.S., Triesault studied acting and dancing. He worked in Radio City Music Hall and on Broadway.
His career was basically small parts in films and small roles on television. He is known for Notorious (1946), D.O.A. (1949), Battleground (1949), Johnny Allegro (1949), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), The Amazing Transparent Man (1960), Barabbas (1961), and The 300 Spartans (1962). He died in 1980 in California.
Story – Notorious (1946)
The credits roll over the splendid skyline of Miami, sometimes after World War II. The date is April 24th, 1946. Reporters with cameras are waiting outside a federal district court. Inside of the courtroom, the man being sentenced, John Huberman, starts ranting that the U.S. will get it from the Nazis next time. Huberman is sentenced to 20-years.
Huberman’s daughter Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) is set upon by reporters when she leaves the courtroom in a state of shock. Alicia remains quiet. An F.B.I. agent (Frank Wilcox) sends another man to follow Alicia.
That night, Alicia is having a small drinking party at her house. She talks about how much she hates law enforcement; Alicia talks to a man that has been brought to the party by another woman, T. R. Devlin (Cary Grant). An older man at the party, the commodore (Charles Mendl), offers to take her to Cuba for a week.
Everyone left at the party passes out except Devlin and Alicia. The two continue to drink. Alicia is pretty drunk, so they decide to go for a drive. She is speed and weaving from lane to lane. Devlin is cool, and Alicia gets mad and speeds to 80 mph. A motorcycle cop pulls the drunk driver over.
Devlin shows the cop his I.D., and the cop lets them go. He salutes and leaves. She gets furious when she finds out that Devlin is in law enforcement. Devlin has to manhandle Alicia to gain control of the car.
When Alicia wakes, Devlin is there with some bicarbonate. She is nursing a dinger of a hangover. Alicia is still spitting hate at Devlin for being a cop. She asks Devlin his angle, and he says he has a job for her in Brazil. He says the people that paid her father are working in Rio. Devlin says she should do the job as her patriotic duty.
Devlin puts on a recording showing that her father tried to convince her to betray America. She says she hates Nazis and loves America. She still wants to be left alone. The commodore comes to pickup Alicia for the sea trip. Devlin tells her that she will have to go to Rio instead. She accepts the job.
Alicia flies to Rio with Devlin and his boss Paul Prescott (Louis Calhern). Devlin tells Alicia that her father committed suicide in prison. She says her father was nice before he got involved with the Nazis.
Devlin sets up Alicia in a gorgeous apartment with a maid. She says she is a changed woman. It has been eight days since they arrived. Devlin doesn’t believe she has changed. However, he is becoming attracted to him. She continues to berate Devlin about his contempt for her until he finally kisses her.
Paul Prescott meets with some locals from the government. The plan is for her to seduce a former beau, a German named Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains). Neither Devlin nor Alicia have been told or approved of the plan.
Devlin and Alicia are a regular couple now. Devlin has to call in for messages as Alicia tries to convince him to stay. Devlin is ordered to see Prescott immediately.
Devlin meets with Prescott and is shocked by what they want Alicia to do. The bosses say that Sebastian’s house is the cover for whatever activities the Nazis are conducting. When Devlin leaves, he has left a bottle behind, and Prescott begins to understand Devlin’s objects.
Devlin has trouble telling her the assignment when he gets back. He insults her to get some distance from her. Devlin tells her that Sebastian is the target. He tells her that she has to get to Sebastian. He lies to her, saying that he never objected to the job on her behalf. She asks if she should take the job. He won’t answer. She tries to get him to say that she is a decent person.
The next morning, a very cold Devlin and Alicia go to the riding club. Devlin’s cover is that he does P.R. for the airlines. Later on, horses, Sebastian sees Alicia. He doesn’t call out to her. She gallops away, and Sebastian takes off and “saves” her.
Sometime later, Alicia is waiting in a fancy restaurant when Sebastian arrives. She sees Prescott in the restaurant. Sebastian recognizes him as an agent. Sebastian is all in on being in love with Alicia. Sebastian invites Alicia to a dinner party the next night.
Prescott and Devlin are in Alicia’s apartment, helping her get ready for the party. Prescott tells her what information he wants her to obtain.
At the party, Alicia is sent into a room by herself. She meets Sebastian’s mother (Leopoldine Konstantin) and then Sebastian comes into the room. Alicia is taken to the party and introduced to Eric Mathis (Ivan Triesault), Wilhelm Rossner (Peter von Zerneck), Hupka (E.A. Krumschmidt), Knerr (Friedrich von Ledebur), and ‘Dr. Anderson’ (Reinhold Schünzel).
Mama Sebastian seats everyone at their place at the table. Hupka gets excited by one of the wine bottles on the sideboard and points it out to Sebastian. Sebastian tells Hupka that he is mistaken about the bottle.
Later, Hupka paces nervously in the hall. The other men are in a room discussing Hupka’s slip about the wine. They weigh the pros and cons. Eric Mathis says he will take care of Hupka on a winding road. Hupka comes into the room and apologizes. They tell him not to worry. Mathis leaves with Hupka.
Sometime later, at a horse track, Sebastian and his mother are waiting for Alicia to return. She meets with Devlin in the crowd. Alicia reports that Dr. Anderson is a scientist and that Hupka has not been seen since the wine incident. Alicia says Sebastian is now one of her conquests. She chews him out for not stopping her. He is as rude as hell to her.
Sebastian finds the two in the crowd. Devlin leaves coldly. Sebastian has watched the two through his binoculars. He says she has to prove Devlin means nothing to her, which I assume means have sex with him.
Prescott, Devlin, and the locals meet. They say the man posing as Dr. Anderson is a top Nazi scientist. They get word that Alicia is at the office. When they impugn her character, Devlin gets snotty. Alicia comes in and says Sebastian wants to marry her right away. She looks to Devlin, but no one objects. Alicia has on a fetching disk hat.
Sebastian’s mother is very suspicious of Alicia. Sebastian says he is going ahead with the marriage.
The newlyweds return to live at Sebastian’s house following a short honeymoon. Alicia takes on the role of the grand lady of the house very effortlessly. Alicia wants more room and finds some doors locked. The butler tells her that Sebastian keeps the keys.
Downstairs, the men are lamenting the loss of Hupka. The head scientist says he is done with his work. Alicia retrieves Sebastian, and he goes to get the keys. Sebastian and his mother have harsh words.
Alicia gets the keys and opens door after door until she gets to the wine cellar. She is told that Sebastian keeps that key.
Later Alicia meets with Devlin, and he tells her to search the wine cellar after getting the key from Sebastian. Devlin tells her to have a party and invite him. If she can get the key, Devlin will search the cellar. Devlin says she can get him invited by telling Sebastian that Devlin will see how much they are in love if he comes to the party.
On the day of the party, Alicia sees Sebastian’s keys on the table. She gets the wine cellar key off the ring. Alicia has the key in her hands when he tries to kiss them. She kisses him and switches and hides the key behind his back.
Later in the foyer, she holds the key, waiting for Devlin to show up. He comes later. She passes the key to him when Devlin kisses her hand. Devlin says Sebastian is keeping an eye on them, and he hopes the booze doesn’t run out and someone is sent to the wine cellar.
Director Alfred Hitchcock drinks a glass of champagne and walks out of frame.
Alicia and Devlin talk, and Sebastian keeps them in his view. She sends Devlin out to the garden. The champagne’s stock is getting low, and Devlin beings to worry like Alicia has been doing for a while. The two slip out back and make it to the wine cellar. Alicia is the lookout.
Devlin accidentally breaks a bottle of champagne, and it looks like black sand. Devlin says it is some kind of metal ore. Devlin takes a sample. Alicia empties another bottle, and Devlin puts the ore inside of the replacement bottle.
At the same time, the butler goes to see Sebastian about getting more champagne. The two men head down to the cellar. Sebastian sees the couple, and Devlin quickly chooses to be seen as adulterers rather than espionage agents. Devlin kisses Alicia knowing that Sebastian is watching.
Sebastian is polite, and Alicia says it was not consensual. Sebastian is hurt, but he does not make a big deal as Devlin leaves the party.
Sebastian and the butler go to the cellar, and Sebastian learns that the key is missing from his chain. Sebastian tells Alicia that the kiss is no problem. She goes upstairs, and he meets with Dr. Anderson.
Sebastian wakes early in the morning and finds that the wine cellar key has been returned to his key chain. He goes to the wine cellar to investigate. Finally, Sebastian sees where the wine has been poured down the drain. He examines the bottles and finds that the replacement bottle is 1940 and not 1934. Sebastian then finds the broken bottle glass where Devlin swept it underneath the rack.
Sebastian wakes his mother and tells her that he needs her help. He says Alicia is an American agent. The mother lights a cigarette and hatches a plan. He is more concerned with his Nazi pals finding out he has made a mistake than getting arrested by the Americans. Mom says his mistake is so massive that the other Nazis will never suspect. She then says they must act normal and have Alicia get sick slowly by poison.
Alicia goes to see Prescott and is already getting sick from the poison. He tells her that the black sand in the wine bottles is really uranium ore, and he would like to know the location. Prescott says that Devlin is being transferred at his own request in a week.
Mom and Sebastian keep pumping the poison into her coffee.
One day she goes to see Devlin, who is waiting on a park bench. She is visibly sick, and Devlin notices. Alicia says she has a hangover. He insults her about drinking and her morals. She says a final farewell to Devlin.
Dr. Anderson chides Alicia for not taking care of herself as mon pumps more poison coffee into her. They all make recommendations for her to travel. Dr. Anderson says he is going to the mountains to continue his work. He slips the name of the town where the uranium mine is located. Sebastian stops him with a question. When Dr. Anderson picks up Alicia’s cup to drink, both Sebastian and his mother jump quickly to stop him. Alicia knows from their actions what is making her sick. Mom sees through her, but Sebastian misses the clues.
Alicia is too sick to leave the house. She is entirely at the hands of Sebastian and his mom.
Devlin waits for Alicia to arrive at their meeting place, but she does not show for five days. Devlin goes to see Prescott and says that he knows that Alicia is sick. Devlin decides he is going to make a “social” call on Alicia. Prescott says for him to call when he gets to the house.
The butler won’t disturb Sebastian as he is meeting with his Nazi pals. At last, the butler goes to get Sebastian. Sebastian says he will be out in a little while. Dr. Anderson says a man is following him.
Devlin sees someone go into a room upstairs, and he goes up. The sick Alicia is lying in bed, looking as lovely as ever. He tells her he couldn’t stand the waiting. She says that she is being poisoned. Devlin tells her that the only reason he was leaving is because he loves her and has since the beginning. Alicia is sedated. Devlin gets her a robe and a coat. Alicia says that the other Nazis don’t know about her being a spy. Alicia tells the location of the uranium source.
Devlin walks Alicia towards the door. They meet Sebastian on the steps. Mother comes out, and Devlin bluffs Sebastian with talk of him becoming like Hupka. Sebastian cannot respond and walks like a man that is hypnotized. Eric Mathis is very suspicious. He must be Gestapo.
Devlin and Sebastian walk Alicia out to the car while the group of Nazis watches. Devlin won’t let Sebastian come along even though he begs when she is loaded in the car. His Nazi pals call him inside the house.
Sebastian walks up the stairs to where his buds are located. When he goes inside, they shut the door.
I’ll be right back with conclusions and the World-Famous Short Summary following a word from our sponsors.
Summary – Notorious (1946)
Holy Cow. What a movie! The director, Alfred Hitchcock, produced some fantastic shots. The first of these is when the hungover Alicia (Ingrid Bergman) wakes to see Devlin (Cary Grant) upside down and the drink out of focus. To me, the most amazing scene in this film is when Alicia has the key in her hand, and Sebastian (Claude Rains) begins kissing her hands, and she has to pass the key between hands behind his back.
Director Alfred Hitchcock and screenwriter Ben Hecht asked Dr. Robert Millikan how to make an atomic bomb. For national security reasons, he would not provide this information. He did tell them that the uranium would fit inside of a wine bottle. Hitchcock claimed that F.B.I. agents followed him for three months because of the inquiry.[9]
World-Famous Short Summary – exterminate all the brutes (Nazis)
Beware the moors
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038787/
[2] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1015287-notorious
[3] https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-notorious-1946
[4] https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-notorious-1946
[5] https://www.nytimes.com/1946/08/16/archives/the-screen-in-review-notorious-hitchcock-thriller-starring-ingrid.html
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/1946/08/16/archives/the-screen-in-review-notorious-hitchcock-thriller-starring-ingrid.html
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notorious_(1946_film)
[8] https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0778306/bio
[9] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038787/trivia
Leave a Reply
Your email is safe with us.