Notorious

Alfred Hitchcock’s film began as a Selznick production and ended with the RKO logo. Selznick sold the package, script, Bergman and director, for 800,000 dollars plus half the profits, and Hitchcock produced himself for the first time. Alicia is asked to seduce her father’s old associate, not to marry him. The proposal comes from Sebastian, and she accepts after seeing Devlin’s indifference: the marriage comes from hurt feelings, not from the assignment. Most of it was shot on RKO stages, and even exterior looking scenes were built with rear projection. The one scene that had to be filmed outdoors is the riding club where Devlin and Alicia arrange to meet Sebastian: the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia. Second units gathered the Miami, Rio and Santa Anita plates. Claude Rains stood a few inches shorter than Bergman. For the shots of them walking hand in hand, Hitchcock had ramps built outside the camera’s view and suggested elevator shoes, which Rains wore for years. The Academy gave the film two nominations and neither became an award: Rains for supporting actor, Ben Hecht for original screenplay. A good fit if you believe a wine cellar key in a palm can carry a whole sequence. Not for anyone who wants Rio itself; the city is largely second unit footage and stage work.