Notorious

The American-raised daughter of a convicted Nazi spy, Alicia (Ingrid Bergman) is enlisted by government agent TR Devlin (Cary Grant) to infiltrate a suspected cabal of wealthy Hitler-sympathizers exiled in Rio de Janeiro. To do so, she must play on the affections of an old friend of her father, Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains). This is doubly painful, because Alicia and Devlin have fallen in love…

Although Hitchcock famously opined that “actors should be treated like cattle”, and would later remind an overly-earnest Ingrid Bergman that “It’s only a movie,” for many critics, Notorious marks the first fully-fledged mature work in the Hitchcock canon. While he had dabbled in espionage in many of his previous movies, this tale of subterfuge carries real emotional force.

As the director described it, “the story of Notorious is the old conflict between love and duty. Cary Grant’s job—and it’s rather an ironic situation—is to push Ingrid Bergman into Claude Rains’s bed. One can hardly blame him for seeming bitter throughout the story, whereas Claude Rains is a rather appealing figure, both because his confidence is being betrayed and because his love for Ingrid Bergman is probably deeper than Cary Grant’s. All of these elements of psychological drama have been woven into the spy story.”

Jun 11: Intro by filmmaker and educator, Professor Harry Killas

Harry Killas is Professor and Assistant Dean in the Film + Screen Arts program at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver. His most recent documentary films include Collective Agency about a group of seniors who became photo-artists in late life, and Greek to Me, an autobiographical documentary about his family and ethnic identity. His research/ filmmaking theme areas include education, the arts, and social, political and other histories. As a curator, Killas programmed seven seasons of the series The Image Before Us: A History of Film in British Columbia at The Cinematheque.