Behind the intimacy ofNotorious.
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Hitchcock even let her lover, Robert Capa, take on-set still photographs when she asked for him.
Alicia keeps coming back to him, as does the camera.
Devlin has come to Alicia with a mission.
As the daughter of a Nazi, she is in a good position to spy for the Allies.
There was something wholesome about Bergman that the public responded to, but this was just a surface reaction.
There were many other things going on with her, and many of them had to do with sex.
Of course, this got Hitchcocks full attention.
Hitchcock really makes something of this image of Grants alarmed face reacting to Bergmans profile.
Is Alicia aware of what shes doing to him?
Ive always been scared of women, but Ill get over it, Devlin jokes, very seriously.
Only those looking atNotoriousfor the hundredth time would notice such a thing.
The intimacy between Alicia and Devlin grows and she taunts him verbally with her unhappiness and his own.
She wants a maid because she doesnt mind dusting and sweeping but she hates cooking.
Almost always it was women who kissed him passionately on screen while he made himself a moving target.
He is a solitary figure, but then he is joined by Alicia, who takes his arm.
It is one of the most romantic shots in all of Hitchcocks work an oasis, a dream fulfilled.
Devlin doesnt have to be alone, but he is taking a chance on Alicia.
Besides, everything she says about herself is basically true.
They will stay in, together, just them.
They will not go out.
Well eat it with our fingers!
she says, shamelessly, happily.
This kissing scene lasts two minutes and forty seconds without music.
This is a very strange love affair, she says.
She is fishing here, but she is also reeling him in.
Actions speak louder than words, he tells her.
She asks him to bring back a nice bottle of wine (Hitchcock himself was a wine connoisseur).
It didnt feel natural to them.
And there was an element of fantasy here, too.
The carnality on display feels like a breakthrough momentous.
FromThe Camera Lies: Acting for Hitchcockby Dan Callahan.
Copyright 2020 by Dan Callahan and published by Oxford University Press.
