Notorious

Genre: suspense

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Release: 1946

Studio: Vanguard Films, RKO Radio Pictures, Universal

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.5/10

Loves Me, Loves Me Not

Miami, August 1946. After Joe Huberman is sentenced to 20 years in jail for treason, his daughter Alicia (Ingrid Bergman) is approached by a Secret Service agent who believes she’s ideally suited to trap Joe’s associates in Brazil. Next thing you know, the poor girl’s on a plane to Rio… and she’s not going there for the Carnival. With Cary Grant (T.R. Devlin, the agent), Claude Rains (Alexander Sebastian), Louis Calhern (Captain Paul Prescott), Leopoldine Konstantin (Anna Sebastian), Reinhold Schǘnzel (Wilhelm Renzler), Ivan Triesault (Eric Mathis), Alex Minotis (Joseph) and Eberhard Krumschmidt (Emil Hupka).

NOTORIOUS revolves around nuclear energy but draws more on star power to propel its story of intrigue and romance. Ingrid Bergman wasn’t just a beautiful woman; she also possessed genuine talent and her performance here is both credible and very natural. As for Cary Grant, I wasn’t fond of him when I began watching movies but I’m learning to appreciate how great a thespian he really was. With such a combustible duo as Devlin and Alicia, you can expect their working relationship to be muddled by uneasiness and personal feelings… but let’s leave it at that. Claude Rains is also vital to NOTORIOUS for he provides that spark of danger the movie needed after a rather inauspicious start. The rest of the cast is quite commendable, especially Leopoldine Konstantin as one really mean mother.   

The movie also stands as a classic because of its overall direction – Hitchcock was a fine helmer, obviously – and brilliant screenplay by Ben Hecht, one of the best writers Hollywood has ever known. Hecht’s storytelling gets stronger and stronger as the drama builds towards an exciting climax and his dialogues are funny, intelligent and sarcastic. As a collective work, NOTORIOUS is exemplary, a movie to cherish much like CASABLANCA or GONE WITH THE WIND.

For those of you who haven’t seen Hitchcock’s monochrome marvel, you’re in for one hell of a treat. And when you’ll hear Devlin saying that Alicia ‟is first, last, and always not a lady”, don’t you believe him!

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Giant

Genre: family saga

With: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean

Director: George Stevens

Release: 1956

Studio: Giant Productions (A George Stevens Production), Warner Bros.  

Rating: PG

MBiS score: 8.4/10

QuickView

Story-line: this sprawling movie tells the tale of the spirited Benedict clan and of its large cattle-ranching operation in Texas from the 1920s to the 1950s. Get ready for happy times, bad blood and family crises in loving, living WarnerColor! 

Pluses: glorious performances by our three leads, a gripping story based on a novel by Edna Ferber, splendid photography by William C. Mellor and vivid dialogues.

Minuses: none whatsoever. This film is pure entertainment!

Comments: like Tara in GONE WITH THE WIND, Reata Ranch is another mythical property of movie lore and the Benedicts certainly rival Scarlett and her O’Haras. GIANT depicts that time when ranchers and oilmen were struggling to coexist in the Lone Star state. Seeing a jubilant Jett Rink covered with crude will strike you as one legendary moment in Hollywood history.

  

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