The Perfection of "Notorious"

I would put very few films up there as perfect. While I think many films are masterpieces, there is always perhaps one or two flaws that stop them from being perfect. Hitchcock has made many masterpieces, but he might be the one filmmaker you could say who has made more than one perfect film. One of these films I will discuss next week, but another one is "Notorious". It's been years since I've seen this film, I missed the release when Criterion issued it on DVD, it has been difficult to find anywhere for the past few years, and now luckily it was re-released just a week ago. I have now just watched it again and it was like rekindling an old love affair.

Forgive me, I will get to the analysis of this film momentarily but let me just hearken back to that first love affair I had with this film. I was a very young man perhaps fourteen or fifteen, maybe younger, films were still a new and amazing discovery for me, I had seen Hitchcock films before, I had also seen Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains before too. I think I had also seen a film that was written by Ben Hecht although I am uncertain of that. But this was the first time I would see these talented people together. "Notorious" was a favourite of mine from the get go, it's a love story, it's a spy story, it's a suspense story, it's a political story, it has a perfect cast, a perfect writer, and a perfect director. It's the kind of film that belongs in its era and belongs in black and white, if I were to ever see it colorized I would take it as a sign of the Apocalypse. This film should be kept as is and not be touched.

Now that I've made my point, let's get to why this film is so wonderful. The story centres on the "notorious" woman Alicia Huberman (Bergman) who is the daughter of a famous Nazi spy. After it becomes known that Alicia's allegiance is for the United States and not for her father, she is recruited by American agent Devlin (Grant) to help the government out on a mission. Alicia agrees and a love affair begins between her and Devlin, this all happens without knowing what the actual mission is, when they find out it puts a damper on the romance. Alicia's job is to inform on one of her father's friends name Sabastian (Rains) a man who was once in love with her. It becomes clear that Alicia basically has to whore herself off to Sabastian in order to gain information, and Devlin would act the part of the pimp. A Hitchcock romance is never a clean romance and "Notorious" is no exception. Devlin becomes jealous of Alicia who is known for being somewhat of a loose lady, Alicia is resentful of Devlin for not defending her and for making her feel she needs to prove her love to him. It's all marvelously twisted, and kinky, but it all brings it to a most satisfying, suspenseful, and uplifting conclusion.

"Notorious" may be Hitchcock's most romantic film, it is full of passionate scenes while Grant and Bergman are falling in love, the two actors were probably considered two of the most beautiful people in the world at the time this film was made, and it almost seems too perfect to see them in their hotel room embracing in what has been claimed for a long time to be screen history's longest kiss (although this has been proven false, if you watch the film you'll see what they share is several kisses which are interrupted by lines of dialogue).

But along with this film being romantic, it contains some of Hitchcock's most intense moments of suspense. All through the film, we the audience are made aware of certain occurrences that the characters don't know of, such as the poison in a tea cup, or the key that is concealed in Alicia's hand which opens the secret wine cellar. Hitchcock lets us in on the secret and our empathy for these characters grow in the process, we care about what will happen to them. As I was watching this I tried to think of recent films that made me feel that the heroes were in real danger, and it was hard just to think of one.

Perhaps the most suspenseful moment comes near the end when Devlin and Alicia must pass through a house that is full of Nazis. It is a remarkable sequence that lasts till the very last shot where we see Sabastian going into his house and the door closes.

Hithcock has said that his films rest on his cast, and in his interviews with Truffaut he stresses how much he always needed the right actors; in "Notorious" he got it all right. Cary Grant is pure understated brilliance, this role is now seen as his best but was passed by at the time perhaps for being so subtle. Grant never once raises his voice in passionate anger towards Alicia sleeping with another man, he makes cruel remarks towards her character to cover up his pain. He's bitter, and lonely, had another actor played Devlin, the character might've been harder to relate to, but in Grant's hands every man can understand what Devlin is going through.

As Alicia, Ingrid Bergman perhaps has her one role to rival Ilsa in "Casablanca" for its immortality. Alicia is the main sympathetic character who must go through hell and back in order to gain her redemption, she's the one who is being put in danger in order to prove her love for Devlin and in order to gain his in return.

Claude Rains had terrific range and I love him in everything he's in but Sebastian may be his best performance. Sabastian is a classic Hitchcock villain, a momma's boy who does gain our sympathy simply because of his true and sincere devotion to Alicia who we know is betraying him all through the film. Rains makes Sebastian a villain for the ages and should be thought of as fondly as Norman Bates or Bruno Anthony.

Ben Hecht might be the unsung hero of this film as the screenwriter. His prolific career in Hollywood included the best gangster films, comedies, adventures, and melodramas ever made, he understood what Hitchcock wanted and gave it to him in spades.

Looking back at "Notorious" now after so many years, I feel like there is so much lost time to be made up, it's such a rich film, and complex, it deserves multiple viewings like all masterpieces should, perhaps in time I may see some cracks or flaws in the film, but right now I want to bask in all its glory.