When I first saw "Notorious", the last five minutes left me angry. I felt sorry for Alex Sebastian, perhaps the most sympathetic of all Hitchcock's villains, to the point I even questioned his vileness.Indeed, he might be a former Nazi as far as the viewer is concerned (and with Hitchcock, he always is) but Sebastian never professes any pro-Nazi statement, never acts violently and unlike Captain Renault, Claude Rains for once plays a character whose heart is his most vulnerable spot, and it was enough to earn my sympathy... and the Academy's Oscar nomination. He's genuinely in love with Alicia Huberman unknowing that she's working for Devlin (Cary Grant) and the American government. And unlike his rival 'Dev', what Sebastian says does reflect how he feels and given how much time Grant and Bergman spend playing hide-and-seek with their feelings, that's good enough to appreciate Sebastian.I'm not the Cary Grant type, I never got the Bergman-type either so maybe that's why I empathize with a diminutive gentlemanly mamma's boy who wants to gets a girl out of his league, there's just something so innately pathetic in Sebastian. Even his decision to kill Alicia was dictated by self-preservation... and his domineering mom (Leopoldine Konstantin). So when he was begging Devlin and was shut off from the car with Alicia harboring a triumphant smirk, knowing what fate was awaiting the poor man, I was so sad for him I couldn't cheer for the heroes. I guess Hitchcock's efforts to build a triangular love leading up to that climactic confrontation worked just too well. And as strongly as I rooted for Rains, I did root for Ingrid Bergman who plays here perhaps her most fascinating character, a woman endowed with breathtaking beauty but forced by birth to live in a world of duality, smartly conveyed by Hitchcock's establishing shots.When we first meet her, she's at her father's trial, a German scientist who betrayed USA and replied to the verdict with a rant his lawyer advised him to stop... Alicia didn't need such advice, remaining silent and dignified as a woman capable to hide her feelings. Off the record, she's a whole different character. We see her during a party, surrounded by friends, drinking, wearing a zebra-outfit and being courted by a crass rich man and observed by a fellow whose back is the only hint of presence, that and the impassible and impersonal tone of his voice. The tone is set indeed: Alicia is a woman of contradictions constantly subjected to men's observations, and Dev is a straightforward man who can only express a few feelings based on what he sees, missing the unspoken so many times he's enwalling himself in the same trap. With the woman who was seen too much and the man who couldn't see enough, the characterization is perhaps the most achieved and mature of any of his films. Working in the same pitch than writer Ben Hecht, Hitchcock could make a great post-war thriller and a splendid romance whose most memorable moment remains that clever and unforgettable three-minute series of kisses, none of them exceeding three seconds, quoting Bergman herself, Hitchcock was an adorable (and quite truculent) genius. And Bergman has always been perfect in duality roles, portraying women forced to wear masks of pretension, "Gaslight", "Casablanca", "Spellbound" are all stones paving the road to "Notorious". Her Alicia is a woman notoriously known as as a seductress but in love, she's a fragile and vulnerable creature, at first sight, she embodies the cynicism of many citizens after the war while expressing her idealism in front of a traitor. It's only when facing injustice, that her real and heroic self can blossom. She doesn't disguise her feelings for too long, her tragedy is that Dev isn't quite the same.Grant is so stuck-up he almost 'gaslights' Alicia into a state of depression. His treatment made me as furious as the one Sebastian underwent but the two subplots created a fine mechanical irony: it's precisely for the obvious chemistry between Dev and Alicia, that Sebastian's suspicion is misguided. He's so insecure and so busy believing she still loves Dev that he never suspects she might be a spy, not that it changes anything for Alicia who turns out to be the prey of two men and a third one, behind the camera. "Notorious" is seldom mentioned as a masterpiece of voyeurism but it's the film with the most subtly voyeuristic moves where the attention is the most demanded from the audience."Notorious" also contains one of the most memorable trick shots from the master: the long zoom on the entrance hall leading to the infamous 'UNICA' key in Alicia's twisting hand, a simple key opening a wine cellar, we're in Hitchcock's comfort zone with his most cherished darling, the McGuffin. We never know exactly what the key opens, but when Sebastian holds Alicia's closed fists and kisses a hand, I held my breath. We know the stakes from the start, no mistake is allowed and Alicia is a triple heroine because unlike Devlin, she doesn't have any backup and she doesn't have any respect. I guess if it wasn't for Devlin's final chivalrous move, I would have hated his guts.Now, should they have taken Sebastian with them or let him sign his own death warrant? He knew the poison hence the antidote, he could provide all the information they needed... instead, they just leave. And when Sebastian is asked to come and the door closes, we prefer not to know what happens next.And if you think Hitch would sacrifice a memorable ending for the sake of plausibility, you haven't seen many Hitchcock movies.

A beautiful drama, albeit a couple of holes. I had been expecting Alicia's father to play a larger role in the film, given how much he had been discussed in the beginning. I had also expected a bigger deal to have been made over the role of the uranium ore. I was hoping to hear more about what the Nazis wanted with it, yet the film ended without explanation. I did like the ending however. The to Notorious is rather unconventional, leaving the fate of the leading lady Alicia rather wide open, and instead sealing the fate of Alex Sebastian in the last moment of the film. Alex Sebastian had what was coming to him, yet the end of the film made you feel for a bit, as the camera followed him up the stairs to certain death. It was suspenseful and excellently filmed, not his best, but close to it.

In many of Alfred Hitchcock's wartime pics (from WWII to the Cold War era), the master of directing is a bit too heavy in the "rah rah America" department for the films to truly stand the test of time. They played very well for their era, but don't necessarily thrill as much today. Luckily, thanks to some tremendous acting, "Notorious" holds up much better.For a basic plot summary, "Notorious" sees an undercover agent named Devlin (Cary Grant) recruit a young lady (Ingrid Bergman) to infiltrate the home of a suspected German subversive (Claude Rains) setting up a base in the United States.In terms of overall plot, this movie is "three star" all the way, as it is a quite average story. It has the typical Hitchcock "MacGuffin" that drives the action, and the ending is not satisfying whatsoever.However, there are two factors that make this movie very watchable:1. Great acting. Rains is spot-on as the villain of the tale, while Grant & Bergman have incredible chemistry with each other. When the general storyline fails to excite from time to time, the acting carries the proceedings.2. Genuine suspense. There are a couple of scenes in this film that deftly show off the "Hitch touch" in the realm of edge-of-your-seat drama/suspense.Overall, a more accurate rating of "Notorious" would be 3.5 stars. It isn't in the highest echelon of Hitch films, but it is very watchable and never ever outright boring. It suffers from diminishing returns from repeated viewings, but "Notorious" holds it own in the Hitch canon.

At first I was not overly thrilled by this movie - the concept was interesting enough, and the actors were all great, but I found the pacing to be somewhat slow at first. However, when it got to the party scene, I instantly became much more interested - the suspense in the scene was so palpable you could cut it with a knife. After that, the movie just got better and better.The acting is great in this movie. Grant, Bergman, and Claude Rains all play their parts well, but German actress Leopoldine Konstantin especially stands out - she plays the mother of Alexander Sebastian, and although her role isn't the largest, every scene with her is wonderfully sinister. Her and Rains' performance in the ending is also great - you can almost taste their fear.