Notorious
Short description
Notorious is a 1946 American thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. After the Second World War, Alicia Huberman, the American daughter of a man convicted of spying for Nazi Germany, is recruited by government agent T.R. Devlin. She agrees to help expose a group of Nazis who have resettled in Brazil, and travels there to get close to Alexander Sebastian, a leading figure among them. Devlin and Alicia develop feelings for each other even as her assignment draws her deeper into Sebastian's life, and the situation grows more dangerous once her role is no longer a secret. Cary Grant plays Devlin, Ingrid Bergman plays Alicia, and Claude Rains plays Sebastian, with Louis Calhern, Leopoldine Konstantin and Reinhold Schünzel in supporting parts. Ben Hecht wrote the screenplay, and Hitchcock produced alongside Barbara Keon.
The film was the twenty-first of the forty-three Hitchcock directed, following Spellbound in 1945 and preceding The Paradine Case in 1947. Made for about two million dollars, it took roughly ten million worldwide, a strong return for its time. On IMDb it holds 7.9 out of 10 from around 113,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.7 out of 10 from roughly 1,800 votes, while a critics' rating stands at 9.2 out of 10 from fifty-four reviews, noticeably above the audience scores. It runs 103 minutes.
What's left behind the scenes
- The renowned film critic Roger Ebert repeatedly confessed that 'Notorious' was his favorite Hitchcock film. In 1991, he included it in his list of the ten greatest films in history.
- In 2006, the film was added to the National Film Registry for films of cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance.
- Interestingly, the height difference between Claude Rains and Ingrid Bergman was so noticeable in close-ups that when they appeared in the frame together, Rains had to stand on a box. During the filming of the scene where they meet walking towards each other, an uneven wooden platform had to be set up, which was raised as Rains approached the camera.
- Although Hitchcock always maintained that he conceived the story with uranium stored in wine bottles long before the atomic bombings of Japan (even during work on the screenplay with Heckher in early 1945), thus becoming a kind of prophet who predicted the creation of the atomic bomb, the facts indicate that the corresponding changes to the script were made shortly before filming began in the fall of 1945, i.e., after the atomic bombs had already been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- Hitchcock also claimed that the FBI monitored him during filming, as the film featured uranium for an atomic bomb, and the Manhattan Project (the project to create the atomic bomb in the USA) was then America's top military secret. Allegedly, the FBI became interested in Hitchcock after he and Heck visited Dr. Millikan at the California Institute of Technology in May or June 1945 and discussed the possibility of creating nuclear weapons. There is no documentary evidence of the FBI monitoring Hitchcock. However, it is known that in May 1945, Selznick received a warning from the FBI stating that all films dealing with American intelligence officers must receive approval from the relevant government agencies before release.
- Filming was mainly done in a studio, and a rear projection screen was used in some scenes (for example, in the scene where a police officer stops the protagonists' car on a night road).
- During the filming, Hitchcock poked fun at the restrictions that existed in Hollywood at the time. In particular, an on-screen kiss, according to the rules of the time, should not have lasted more than a couple of seconds. Hitchcock figured out how to circumvent this restriction: his characters continuously exchange light kisses while moving around the room towards the ringing phone.
- The director's cameo (at 60 min.) – Hitchcock appears at a large reception at Alex Sebastian's house. He is one of the guests, drinking champagne.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
