Blu-ray Review: Notorious

Distributor: MGM Home Entertainment

Release Date: January 24, 2012

Region: Region A

Length: 01:41:40

Video: 1080P (MPEG-4, AVC)

Main Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)

Subtitles: English, Spanish, and French

Ratio: 1.37:1

Bitrate: 37.39 Mbps

Notes: A DVD edition of this title is also available. It was released individually and as part of The Premiere Collection boxed set. This Blu-ray title is also available as part of a three film set entitled, The Classic Collection.

“I was sailing on the Queen Elizabeth and I ran into a man called Joseph Hazen, who was an associate of producer Hal Wallis. He said to me, ‘I’ve always wanted to find out where you got the idea for the atom bomb a year before Hiroshima. When they offered us the Notorious script, we turned it down because we thought it was such a damn foolish thing to base a movie on’ … I answered, ‘Well, all it goes to show is that you were wrong to attach any importance to the MacGuffin.” —Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock was correct. Notorious isn’t a film about uranium ore. It touches on the classic theme of love versus duty but goes beyond that to explore relationship politics and the games that couples tend to play with one another. There is a scene between T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant) and Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) in which both characters are playing a game of emotional chicken. They love each other, but Devlin does not want to tell Alicia and later find out that she cannot be true to him. He has given Alicia her assignment:  She is to bed a Nazi agent in order to find out secrets about his organization.

Alicia is angry at Devlin for not speaking up for her to his superiors. Why would he not tell them that she is the wrong woman for such a job? The truth is that he did speak up for her, but he refuses to admit this to Alicia. Devlin does not want her to accept the assignment and will not let these feelings be known. He needs to know if he can trust her. Alicia wants Devlin to tell her that he believes in her and not to take the assignment because he loves her. Neither character will budge. They are testing one another and both of them fail miserably. Alicia ends up bedding the agent and Devlin ends up bitterly resenting her choice (even though she is only doing it because she believes it is what he wants). These games intensify later when Alicia baits Devlin by telling him, “You can add Sebastian’s name to my list of playmates.” This leads to the following exchange:

Devlin: I can’t help recalling some of your remarks about being a new woman. Daisies and buttercups, wasn’t it?

Alicia: You idiot. What are you sore about? You knew very well what I was doing.

Devlin: Did I?

Alicia: You could have stopped me with one word, but no, you wouldn’t. You threw me at him!

Devlin: I threw you at nobody.

Alicia: Didn’t you tell me what I had?

Devlin: A man doesn’t tell a woman what to do; she tells herself. You almost had me believing in that little hokey-pokey miracle of yours, that a woman like you could change her spots.

Alicia: Oh, you’re rotten.

Devlin: That’s why I didn’t try to stop you. The answer had to come from you.

Alicia: I see… Some kind of love test.

Devlin: That’s right.

Even Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains), plays emotional games with Alicia. At a dinner, Alicia apologizes to Sebastian for her behavior the last time that they were together. He responds by saying, “Well, then I’ll test your repentance immediately.” Sebastian worries that she has feelings for Devlin, and dances around the subject in order to get information out of her. He even pretends at one point to forget the issue and secretly continues worry. His proposal to Alicia is simply a form of manipulation. When Alicia claims that Devlin means nothing to her, Sebastian’s replies, “I’d like to be convinced. Would you maybe care to convince me, Alicia, that Mr. Devlin means nothing to you?”

In The Art of Alfred Hitchcock, Donald Spoto describes the obvious motifs of bottles and alcohol in the film and then elaborates on Alicia’s habit of using alcohol to mask her emotional pain. Devlin is also protecting himself from emotional pain, and this leads Alicia directly into the arms of Sebastian (which puts her in immediate danger). Self preservation becomes self destructive in Notorious. Of course, there are many ways to interpret this film. Great films are often rich in subtext, and this one is no different. Everything is subjective (especially in a Hitchcock film). There’s more than enough here for a book length dissection, but watching the film is more rewarding than reading about it.

The Presentation:

2.5 of 5 MacGuffins

The disc is contained in the standard Blu-ray case with reasonably attractive cover art. It is nothing earth-shattering, but the artwork is more attractive than MGM’s DVD release of the same title.

There is no menu on the disc. To access the special features or change the audio settings, one must do so while the film is already playing. This is rather bothersome and extremely inconvenient. Some people might not mind it, but this film deserves a much better presentation.

Picture Quality:

4 of 5 MacGuffins

Notorious went through a digital restoration process to prepare the film for MGM’s DVD boxed set, The Premiere Collection. This Blu-ray contains the1080p transfer of that same restoration, but this high definition disc is certainly a step up from the DVD release.

Anyone who has seen the aforementioned DVD will know before upgrading what flaws to expect from the print of the film (since the same digitally restored print was used for the Blu-ray). There is a bit of flickering and a few instances of dirt on the print. There might also be a few minor scratches. These flaws are minimal and one has to really look for these issues in order to notice them.

The detail quality is quite nice and the contrast is solid with inky blacks and well balanced grays. There is quite a bit of grain, but this would be evident in the source. The picture is much sharper than its previous home video releases thanks to its high definition transfer. Overall, I must say that it is a rather appealing picture that represents the film nicely.

Sound Quality:

3.5 of 5 MacGuffins

Notorious is given a lossless, DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix. This is probably the best I have heard the film sound. Dialogue is consistent and clear and music seems a bit more dynamic than I have previously heard it. There might be a bit of echo during certain moments of dialogue, but this never becomes distracting. The fidelity is decent for a film of its era and one feels that any issues present are inherent in its source. I did not hear any hiss or any other irritating additions to the soundtrack.

Special Features:

4 of 5 MacGuffins

Commentary by Rick Jewell

Jewell’s commentary is what he labels a “contextual commentary.” The track isn’t screen specific and a wide variety of information is discussed. Jewell wrote The RKO Story and much of the track discusses the studio’s history. He does briefly discus the political landscape of post war America. It is an interesting track and certainly worth a listen.

Commentary by Drew Casper

Casper’s commentary focused more on Notorious. His commentary is a little short on facts and instead focuses more on film theory. One might call it an oral essay. He does reveal a few interesting bits of information that most people will find interesting.

Isolated Music Track

This feature allows audiences to experience the film with only the music and sound effects.

The Ultimate Romance: The Making of Notorious — (28:15)

This is essentially a short “making of” documentary. It isn’t a very comprehensive documentary, but the information is extremely interesting. This is probably my personal favorite special feature.

Alfred Hitchcock: The Ultimate Spymaster — (13:09)

Hitchcock’s influence upon the espionage genre is discussed here. Most audiences will find this of interest.

The American Film Institute Award: The Key to Hitchcock — (03:19)

This is an extremely welcome addition to the list of features. It contains Hitchcock’s “thank you” speech and Ingrid Bergman’s presentation of the famous UNICA key to Alfred Hitchcock at AFI’s Lifetime Award ceremony honoring the director.

Hitchcock/Truffaut Interview — (16:22)

These interview clips may sound familiar to those who have read Truffaut’s book length interview with Hitchcock, but it should remain interesting regardless. This audio-only feature plays over a blank black screen.

Hitchcock/Bogdanovich Interview — (02:19)

This is a brief excerpt of Hitchcock’s interview with Peter Bogdanovich. Hitchcock is always interesting and this is no exception. Again, the audio plays over a blank black screen. The interview is not as great (or as comprehensive) as Truffaut’s, but it is always nice to hear Hitchcock discuss his films.

Restoration Comparison — (02:54)

This short piece shows clips of the film before and after restoration (mostly in split screen).

Theatrical Trailer — (02:30)

I am glad that they included the film’s vintage trailer. I always find these interesting.

Complete Broadcast of the 1948 Lux Radio Theater Adaptation (starring Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotton) — (59:31)

This radio play is interesting, but it has nothing on the actual film. The beginning of this feature includes a list of credits and then the audio plays over a blank black screen.

Final Words:

Notorious is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s essential films. It should have a place of honor on everyone’s shelf. This recommendation might stem from the excellence of the actual film and not the Blu-ray release. Regardless, this high definition release is an improvement on the DVD (even without a main menu).

Reviewed by: Devon Powell