Notorious
A highly regarded film from the Master, though I feel it is deeply flawed. For all practical intents and purposes, this film was remade as* Topaz*. Both are dark, disturbing and depressing, though this one the more of the two. Although the occasional flash of brilliance was present (Young and Innocent, Rebecca, The 39 Steps), Hitch’s early career was marked by astoundingly bad editing. The early part of this film is no exception, though as the film goes on, it becomes much more tense and tightly edited. I think that this film was a great influence on Chinatown, which can be seen in themes and in Hitch’s awesome camera.
I think that Topaz was actually the better film, though Bergman and Grant’s chemistry here was better than any in Topaz. This movie is very claustrophobic, whereas Topaz was a lot more expansive.
The flaws come, I feel, primarily from the bad editing in the beginning, and the rather loose script. Compare the action and scripting to the tightly plotted remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much. Notorious, however, does stand as a an interesting landmark in the development of the directorial genius of the finest filmmaker to ever live.
Is it just me, or was Sebastian’s house also the Bullock estate form My Man Godfrey?
lissener! I have been trying to email you for days, but they bounce back saying your account is over quota. I just wanted you too know I’m not mad at you, or anything.