Master Rank #560

Notorious

1946

GCML Total8.2040% Greatness · 40% Engagement · 20% Ease

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

CastCary Grant · Ingrid Bergman · Claude Rains

USAEnglishThriller / Drama102 minNot Rated
Sight & SoundNarrative FeatureModerate pace
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List

Spoiler-free premise

An American agent recruits the daughter of a convicted traitor to infiltrate a Nazi network in Brazil.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

American agent T. R. Devlin recruits Alicia Huberman, daughter of a convicted Nazi, to infiltrate German expatriates in Rio de Janeiro. Her assignment requires marrying wealthy Alexander Sebastian while she and Devlin conceal their own love and distrust.

Why it belongs

Notorious makes espionage an agonizing test of intimacy through keys, wine bottles, poisoned coffee, and Grant and Bergman's withheld feeling.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

The long kiss, mansion staircase, cellar key, shrinking champagne supply, coffee cup, and subjective close-ups frame objects as emotional evidence. Ingrid Bergman's exposed Alicia faces danger intensified by Cary Grant's punitive restraint.

Major award wins

No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.

Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20

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