Notorious, written by Ben Hecht, directed by Alfred Hitchcock - 10 out of 10

Notorious, written by Ben Hecht, directed by Alfred Hitchcock

10 out of 10

Alfred Hitchcock is one of the greatest names in The History of Cinema, celebrated as the ultimate auteur, in fact the one who seems to have been the cause of the invention of the notion of the author films, productions that owe everything to the director, though this is a misconception, disassembled by the brilliant William Goldman in his quintessential classic on cinema, Adventures in the Screen Trade, where he takes the case of the British film maker and explains that though the role of director is important and Alfred Hitchcock has some of the most wonderful achievements in his art, there are others who play a vital role, such as the screenwriters, actresses and actors, even the special effects, that quite often seem to be responsible for much of the end product these days, so much so that the balance might be reshaped.

Notorious is just one of the many Hitchcock films that are part of The Cinema’s Hall of Fame, its History, together with To Catch a Thief http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/04/to-catch-thief-based-on-novel-by-david.html -Vertigo - http://realini.blogspot.com/2019/06/vertigo-based-on-novel-dentre-- les-morts.html –Shadow of a Doubt http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/03/shadow-of-doubt-based-on-story-by.html - Psycho - http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/07/note-on-psycho-directed-by-alfred.html -Rear Window - http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/09/note-on-rear-window-directed-by-alfred.html ..

The distinguished director has not been an easy man to work with and if we are to look at interviews, autobiographical documents from those who have been part of his team, he could be quite unpleasant, to say the least, showing a tremendous disregard – again, to be polite – for those who have had to follow his direction, though it was with great success that most of his films have entered the theaters and the later the history books…

Eva Marie Saint is explaining in one of the marvelous documentaries about movies, either American Cinema or the very recent Movies, that she has been trained as a ‘method’ actor and her presence in the classic On The Waterfront, together with godly Marlon Brando, is mesmerizing - http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/05/on-waterfront-by-budd-schulberg.html  - though working with Hitchcock, she has to follow a completely different set of guidelines, on North by Northwest, the director insisted that she does not look at the character of Cary Grant- in the leading role there, as in Notorious –and change her style of acting…

Cary Grant is Devlin – perhaps as in Devil Inside, an Inxs song – in Notorious,  an American agent that has to approach Alicia Huberman aka the Athena of the Cinematic Olympus, Ingrid Bergman, who is the daughter – at the beginning of the film, though he would die soon – of a convicted German, who had committed treason and thus, together with the disservice to America, he would push his daughter to drink and what used to be called in puritan days – and it is today in much of Trump land, among evangelicals who oppose philandering and so much else, but vote with gusto for the ultimate, most despicable Devil – fornication…

Devlin talks to Alicia about the help she can provide for the government and though she seems reluctant for a little while, she accepts the idea of travelling to South America and somehow try to make amends for the harm done by her father, especially given that the agent proposing this commitment is such an attractive, the symbol of male charm for so many decades, partner, though that may be only secondary in her mind, at least to begin with.

The two people seem to get along very well and the man plays a disc – that is how things worked in 1946 – on which the agency has recorded fights between the woman and her father, in which she expresses a love for America and a total condemnation for the endeavors of the treacherous parent and his exploits.

Nevertheless, a tension builds soon after it appeared that fascinating woman and handsome man are destined to get ever closer and engage in what could be called an inappropriate relationship – given that they were supposed to ‘work’ for the same rather patriotic, superb goal and in most cases there is an ethics code, which has had quite a few CEOs eliminated recently and over history from their positions, together with a multitude of others…the under signed had been scolded and eventually evicted for just such a ‘connection’..

Alas, the assignment is now known and it involves getting as close as possible to an influent, very wealthy and probably a Nazi with very dangerous activities – she would later say with chagrin that she is meant to be a Mata Hari – and that appears to put an end to the romance between would be spy and her handler, for though he protests in his circle that she would not do it, in front of her, he invites her to take the decision, hoping she would refuse, while she also has expectations that he would not ask her something which is so much against their emerging passion and future love story, that is now about to die…

There are superb performances, the tension is evident, for this is a story that has multiple messages, a sophisticated look at love and the conflict between the mind and the soul, passion against rationality, duty against pleasure, the need to work for the country that in this case involves acting against one’s own happiness and risking so much in dealing with vicious, heartless, devilish enemies that are preparing deadly plots.

Devlin is both infatuated and disappointed in the woman he so admired, for he has hoped she would turn down the assignment, something he feels he could not do for her and she is equally thinking that, since he has a wife and two children, he is in this frame only acting for his department, doing his job and perhaps acted as a chivalrous, attractive man, only to get her trapped in this plan and get from her all the information they need…

It is a very dangerous enterprise and we are kept breathless at many moments, when the key is taken, they try to find whatever secrets are hidden in the house where Alicia becomes the wife of Alexander Sebastian aka also legendary Claude Rains and where the Nazis are meeting to plot their future war on America…

You can find this masterpiece on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list: https://www.listchallenges.com/new-york-times-best-1000-movies-ever-made/list/16