Notorious

(Alfred Hitchcock, US 1946, 102 min., 35mm)

In one of Hitchcock’s crowning achievements, the master of suspense utilizes all of his technical and storytelling acumen in the realization of this gripping thriller. A young woman (Ingrid Bergman) is recruited by the government to spy on a group of Nazis, while her contact (Cary Grant) must put duty before love to save her life. From a script by Ben Hecht, Notorious takes an almost masochistic delight in the gray moral areas in which it places its characters, and stands as one of the director’s most mature, engaging works.