Notorious

RKO Radio Pictures | Release Date: September 6, 1946

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

100	METASCORE Universal acclaim based on 17 Critic Reviews

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

100

Marjorie Baumgarten

Bergman and Grant sizzle in this espionage tale written by Ben Hecht. Read full review

100

Dave Kehr

The virtuoso sequences—the long kiss, the crane shot into the door key—are justly famous, yet the film's real brilliance is in its subtle and detailed portrayal of infinitely perverse relationships. Read full review

100

Roger Ebert

Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious is the most elegant expression of the master's visual style, just as Vertigo is the fullest expression of his obsessions. Read full review

100

The GuardianPeter Bradshaw

Notorious has fascinating echoes of other Hitchcock movies such as Rebecca and Psycho. A must-see or must-see-again. Read full review

100

Bosley Crowther

It is obvious that Alfred Hitchcock, Ben Hecht and Ingrid Bergman form a team of motion-picture makers that should be publicly and heavily endowed. With Cary Grant as an additional asset, it is one of the most absorbing pictures of the year. Read full review

100

TV Guide Magazine

This brilliant Hitchcock offering combines romance, suspense, and international intrigue with unforgettable performances from Grant and Bergman. Read full review

100

Staff (Not Credited)

Production and directorial skill of Alfred Hitchcock combine with a suspenseful story and excellent performances to make Notorious force entertainment. Read full review

100

EmpireDavid Parkinson

Difficult love, Nazis, and a lovely soupy plot...brilliant. Read full review

Chris Cabin

Love is a dark, corroded obsession in Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious, a black-velvet biocide brimming with notes of tabloid titillation, spy-versus-spy nonsense, and romance as rotten as a half-eaten Granny Smith left out in the summer sun. Read full review

100

Wally Hammond

A great film. Read full review

Jay Carr

What gives the film its tension, apart from Hitchcock's masterly manipulation of suspense as he sends them into a wine cellar used to conceal uranium, is his way of connecting with Bergman's masochism and Grant's stoniness as they circle one another, mutually attracted but holding back. [03 Apr 1992, p.94]

100

Michael Wilmington

Scripted by Ben Hecht, and with Salvador Dali's notorious surreal dream sequence as a shocking interlude, this was one of Hitchcock's most romantic and popular '40s movies [26 Nov 1999, p.A]

100

Janet Maslin

One of the more remarkable things about Notorious is that it hasn't seemed to age; if anything, it grows more timely. [26 Oct 1980, p.17]

Pauline Kael

Bergman is literally ravishing in what is probably her sexiest performance. Great trash, great fun.

100

Crosby Day

Notorious is a flawlessly executed espionage adventure that combines romance and suspense in a smooth blend of mystery and action without a single violent sequence. [22 June 1997, p.62]

100

Alasdair Bayman

Notorious is a phenomenally rich experience whether it is on the first or the hundredth viewing. Hitchcock’s most emotionally nuanced and most adult depiction of relationships feels as vital as ever. Read full review

100

Movie NationRoger Moore

The suspense Hitchcock mastered in his films of the ’30s becomes excruciating here as we watch the various threads unravel into a deadly finale. Read full review