--- title: "Notorious: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/notorious/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/notorious" critics_score: 90 critics_reviews: 13 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Notorious (1946): what the critics said Critics' score 90 from 13 reviews: 13 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are unanimously positive, with praise clustering around Hitchcock’s precise camerawork and the uneasy romance driving the espionage plot. Critics repeatedly single out the crane shot and extended kiss as examples of technique that deepens both suspense and intimacy. Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant draw praise for their chemistry and troubled performances, while Claude Rains receives particular credit for giving the villain emotional complexity. Many critics find the jealousy, cruelty and vulnerability as compelling as the spy intrigue. The differences concern emphasis rather than approval. Some reviews celebrate polished thriller entertainment; others see a bleak, painful love story in which espionage gives the characters another means of hurting one another. Reservations are limited: Radio Times finds it less complex than Hitchcock’s later work, while The New Yorker describes the underlying plot as standard. Neither qualification amounts to dissent, and both reviews praise the skill of the execution. ## Radio Times — David Parkinson Rating 5/5. 9 August 2019. The film is praised as hard to beat for pure, polished entertainment despite not being as complex as later Hitchcock works. The pairing of Grant and Bergman, Rains's nuanced villainy, and one standout crane shot are singled out. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-ht2u3u/notorious/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Rating 4/4. 17 August 1997. Ebert calls Notorious the most elegant expression of Hitchcock's visual style, praising its precise plotting, innovative camera work including the famous key shot and extended kiss sequence, and the way it builds sympathy for the characters while delivering suspenseful payoffs. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-notorious-1946) ## Time Out — Wally Hammond Rating 5/5. 13 January 2009. This is described as Hitchcock's swooning, often cruel 1946 masterpiece, with the director's accuracy, efficiency and control dovetailing the thriller and romantic elements to unique effect. The script, cinematography, and especially the lead performances, particularly Grant's troubled portrayal, are highlighted. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/notorious) ## Sight and Sound — Sam Wigley Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 August 2016. The critic calls Notorious a perfect film and Hitchcock's gravest, saddest and most perverse offering, an agonised love story rather than a standard spy thriller. The performances by Bergman, Grant and Rains, along with the famous party sequence and extended kiss, are singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/notorious-70th-anniversary) ## Slant Magazine — Chuck Bowen Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 26 January 2019. The critic calls Notorious a pivotal Hitchcock work that blends control and precision from his earlier films with the feverish pathos of his later period, centering on a neurotic, power-imbalanced romance that anticipates Vertigo. Praise is given to the masterful long takes, symbolic use of objects, and the way the spy plot serves as a metaphor for male jealousy and emotional manipulation. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/notorious-blu-ray-review-alfred-hitchcock-criterion/) ## The Guardian — Philip French Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 16 January 2009. The critic describes the film as a brilliantly crafted and deliciously entertaining espionage thriller full of suspense and erotic tension, with no on-screen violence. Ingrid Bergman's outstanding performance is singled out for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jan/16/notorious-film-review) ## Empire — David Parkinson Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic highlights the film's technical mastery, including a standout crane shot over a party and the audacious extended kiss, while defending its moral complexity and strong villain performance by Claude Rains against charges of amorality. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/notorious-review/) ## The New York Times Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 12 February 2012. The review highlights Notorious as a supreme example of Hitchcock's artful variation of points of view through camerawork and praises its focus on human fallibility, with the director showing compassion for characters caught in authoritarian traps rather than the judges. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/movies/homevideo/hitchcocks-notorious-rebecca-spellbound-on-blu-ray.html) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. The piece presents the film as more bleak romance than thriller, calling it one of Hitchcock’s strongest Forties works and an intriguing precursor to Vertigo, with Ingrid Bergman atoning for her father’s treason amid romantic tensions with Cary Grant and Claude Rains. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/one-of-hitchcocks-greats-notorious-7412159.html) ## The New Yorker — John McNulty Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 17 August 1946. The critic praises Notorious as a superior spy movie made with superb slickness and expert casting, noting Hitchcock bearing down effectively on a standard plot and delivering exciting suspense tricks alongside strong performances, especially Bergman's drunk sequence. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1946/08/24/1946-08-24-042-tny-cards-000019685) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating A. 31 October 2012. Praises the sexy scene between Grant and Bergman that defies the Production Code, gorgeous cinematography, and how the romance takes center stage over the thriller elements. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/retrospective-the-films-of-alfred-hitchcock-pt-2-1940-1976-the-hollywood-years-20121031/3/) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 8 April 2006. The critic praises the perfect chemistry between Bergman and Grant, and highlights Hitchcock's masterful direction in building suspense through a witty script and gradually tightening plot. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/notorious-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) ## /Film — Audrey Fox Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 20 November 2022. Describes it as one of Hitchcock's most well-rounded films, a cracking spy thriller and steamy romance, with explosive chemistry between Bergman and Grant, and clever direction around censors. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/1110774/best-films-of-the-1940s/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/notorious.md