On N List of Movie Reviews

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Notorious (1946)

Rate: 4
Viewed: 5/10

5/10: I wouldn't go so far as to call Alfred Hitchcock overrated, but Notorious may give me second thoughts.

In fact, I think the movie could've turned out differently in a couple of ways. One, replace Cary Grant with somebody better like Humphrey Bogart to match Ingrid Bergman's caliber. Watching her with him, it's clear she's overdoing it. This is entirely Cary Grant's fault by being flat and one-dimensional. I can't see him as a CIA agent. Also, I can't see Ingrid Bergman as the daughter of a traitor.

Two, the dialogue is poor. It's also boring and not up to the standard. To remedy it, Alfred Hitchcock should've used somebody else other than Ben Hecht. The Hitchcockian formula is repeated to death. Slow as hell, it lacks interesting elements and has too many coincidences to believe. One thing I don't understand is if a key was needed for the wine cellar, how did Alex Sebastian get there without one since his wife had it the whole time?

All in all, because of Notorious, North by Northwest, The Birds, and others, Alfred Hitchcock may be overrated, but then, I have to think of The 39 Steps, Vertigo, and Psycho.

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