The 26th Best All-Time Film

(10th Pre-1973) Notorious (1946)

Considered by many to be Hitchcock’s turning point from good to great director, (I think there is another one that deserves this label.) Notorious is certainly one of Hitchcock’s masterpieces.

It is a textbook example of how to rachet up tension, both in its set pieces as well as in the overall story. The moment with the key is almost unbearable. But the relationship at the center of the story is the real gut punch. Every film that has asked us to grapple with romantic relationships amongst spies since has referenced this film, and none as successfully. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman are perfect as the lovers torn apart by service to country, but Claud Raines and Leopoldine Konstantine are even better as the terrifying Nazi agents.

If you’ve never seen Hitchcock’s earlier stuff, his black and white films before Psycho, this is likely the one you would want to start with.