Terrible Acting, Great Film! (Notorious review)

Notorious

* * * *

Notorious comes from The Classical Hollywood Era, and really I probably would have never watched it if it wasn’t for class. While to me this is not my taste for a good movie, the film is good nonetheless.

This is the story of Alicia (Ingrid Bergman), a woman who is trying to redeem herself by serving as an undercover spy for a greater cause. She marries a man she does not love, and seems to almost loose the man she does, professional spy Devlin (Cary Grant). As she tries to uncover what it is that her false husband, who is by the way a Nazi, is hiding she gets discovered. As the whole cover up falls apart she get’s poisoned, and is incapable of letting anyone know she is in danger. The ending is for you to find out.

This film is filled with the mastery of Hitchcock, and one truly understands why he was the master of suspense. He goes deeper than just telling a story, he tells it in the most exciting possible way. This film while it may have some issues, like being a classical conventional movie, with a conventional ending, still makes for a very entertaining movie.

One thing I would like to point out, what the hell is up with the acting. I know this film is came out way before my time or that of even my parents, so I’m not used to how different films were back then, but boy is the acting cheesy. I guess no one really knew how to act for a film yet. I’m used to seeing the Kate Winslets, and Meryl Streeps loose themselves completely in their roles. Well either way, that doesn’t mean Ingrid Bergman is not astonishingly beautiful. While she doesn’t act well, she sure kept me transfixed by her beauty.

The best part of the film is a great scene in which Alicia has to get a key to the wine cellar, but her husband is just a couple of fee away in the bathroom out of sight. It is so suspenseful because we know she takes the key, and there is just so much danger in her getting discovered. Ah that scene is brilliant and a key part of the film.

This is in black and white but don’t let that stop you from watching it. There are lots of laughs from this, but there are also some very suspenseful moments filled with dramatic music. So give it a try, and I promise you, your time will have been well spent.