Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Hitchcock Review: Notorious

Notorious is one hell of a good 40s movie.

Starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, Hitchcock works suspense into this one and nothing really happens. We become so engrossed with the characters that just threatening them becomes painful to the viewer.

Cary Grant is an American agent and Ingrid Bergman (another wonderful actress that puts today's to shame in beauty and talent) is the daughter of a Nazi war criminal. (Or something like that.) She can make amends--seduce none other than Claude Rains, another Nazi-type agent, and find out what he's doing.

Grant and Bergman create a relationship. But how far will she go to entrap Rains? Maybe even marriage?

I can't give away this movie with the mundane details. It works on so many levels. A first-rate cast takes this movie far. Hitchcock delivers suspense and never has to deal a knockout punch. Not only is this one of Hitchcock's best, it is one of Grant's best, and probably Bergman's finest performance.

Go rent this now. This one gets my highest possible recommendation.

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