Day 99: Notorious (1946)

Another Hitchcock film that deals with Nazis. I'm getting a bit tired of this WW2 propaganda-filled films, and sincerely hope this is the last one that touches on the issue. Not that the films are bad, but it just provides such a narrow bridge for Hitchcock to walk that he isn't able to explore as much as I'd like.

We're treated to another Hitchcock film starring Ingrid Bergman, this time joined by Cary Grant. With these two classic stars, it doesn't require much to make a decent film. Thankfully, an interesting story and cinematography make it a better than decent film. When Alicia's, Bergman, father is sentenced to jail for aiding the Nazis, the OSS (the pre-cursor to the CIA) ask her to travel to Rio to infiltrate a gang of Nazi conspirators and help bring them down.

While the film is obviously about the Nazi scare, it is also about alcoholism, and not very subtlety at that. While it is hinted at numerous times that Alicia is somewhat of a loose girl; there is no doubting the clear indication that she is an alcoholic. Drinking, and various symbols of it, infiltrate the entire story. Alicia spends most of the film suffering from one drink or another - whether she is hungover form alcohol or sick from poisoned coffee. In some classic foreshadowing, Alicia mentions early on in the film that "The important drinking hasn't started yet!" providing a clear indication that other drinking, that of the poisoned coffee, will be important. Not only is her alcoholism seen as a problem by the OSS, Devlin, and Sebastian, but alcohol, or wine bottles actually, hole the clue to the whole affair. In an ironic twist of fate, it is spilled wine that leads to her being uncovered, and it is drinking, though that of coffee, that nearly kills her. One could easily write a film school essay on this topic, and I'm sure it's been done. There is a lot more going on in this film that means first glance.