Notorious

Starring two of Hollywood’s most beloved stars, Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, “Notorious” (1946) is not just a great spy film from the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, but one of cinema most perverse love stories. Ingrid Bergman plays Alicia, an alluring woman with a checkered past recruited by Devlin (Cary Grant), a suave, mysterious intelligence agent, to spy for the U.S. Only after she has fallen for Devlin does she learn that her mission is to seduce a Nazi industrialist (Claude Rains) hiding out in South America. Coupling inventive cinematography with brilliantly subtle turns from his mesmerizing leads, Hitchcock orchestrates an anguished romance shot through with deception and moral ambiguity. A thriller of rare perfection, the Oscar-nominated Notorious represents a pinnacle of both its director’s legendary career and classic Hollywood.