Notorious. 1946. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

(9/8/00)

Notorious continues to hold pride of place as my favorite Hitchcock film. This time around I was impressed all over again with the sheer physical beauty of it all. It is a dazzling film to look at, from the costumes to the photography and I don't think that Cary Grant ever looked better on film.

I was impressed with the emphasis on objects in this film. The key, the cup of coffee, the bottle of wine that Devlin leaves in Prescott's office. They are given close-ups and are as important as the actors.

Cary Grant was so unpleasant to Ingrid Bergman. It's interesting because he is even nastier in his next film for Hitchcock--To Catch a Thief. There is a real sadistic quality to this relationship. Bergman is also a participant in the cruelty, prompting Grant to comment, "You enjoy making fun of me."

Then there is Claude Rains as Alex Sebastian. I wasn't able to muster much enthusiasm for him this time around because he comes across as such a sap. It's interesting that he comments about how both Prescott and Devlin are very good-looking. I hadn't noticed that before. So what is it with this guy?

What fascinated me about Alex Sebastian in this viewing is how after supposedly loving Alicia he can attempt to murder her as cruelly as he does. He sits around so nonchalantly as she slowly becomes sick with the poison. One can certainly appreciate his sense of betrayal, his hurt, his desire for revenge. But this? He does not come across in any way likable in this part of the film.

And Alicia does not come across as likable herself when she sleeps with Alex and then marries him just to get into his house so that she can spy on him. We have reason to feel sorry for her and to see her as exploited--and yet she exploits in her turn.

Notorious is a film about people exploiting and betraying each other. It is about characters caught in a kind of Hell and dealing with it as best they can. Devlin changes and plays a beautiful romantic scene with Alicia at the end, telling her all the things she has longed to hear him say. Cary Grant plays the scene wonderfully and it is gratifying--but then he locks Sebastian out of the car and leaves him to certain death. So the cruelty and the bitterness is still there. It is not a rosy ending. Not by any means.