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Post by topbilled on Mar 6, 2024 3:18:25 GMT
Join us on Sunday to find out what kind of man she married...
A man attentive to her every need.
A man who didn't want anyone else to have her.
A man who did what this guy did in NOTORIOUS.
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Post by Fading Fast on Mar 6, 2024 10:38:20 GMT
To Topbilled's wonderfully intriguing introduction above, I'd add, let's also find out what kind of mother-in-law Ms. Bergman acquired in her marriage.
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Post by BunnyWhit on Mar 7, 2024 2:34:00 GMT
I'm nervous already......and it's only Wednesday!
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Post by topbilled on Mar 7, 2024 14:14:52 GMT
NOTORIOUS was re-released in British cinemas a few years ago.
The BFI created this great trailer:
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Post by topbilled on Mar 7, 2024 14:16:55 GMT
The film can be found here on YouTube:
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Post by Fading Fast on Mar 7, 2024 14:54:47 GMT
NOTORIOUS was re-released in British cinemas a few years ago.
The BFI created this great trailer:
That is an awesome trailer.
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Post by Andrea Doria on Mar 8, 2024 13:17:00 GMT
I'm nervous already......and it's only Wednesday!
I just watched the trailer and realized, I've never seen it. I imagine I would see Ingrid Bergman / Cary Grant, mix it up with "Indiscreet," and think I'd already seen it.
(Waiting nervously with BunnyWhit.)
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Post by topbilled on Mar 8, 2024 15:07:20 GMT
Some interesting behind-the-scenes info:
NOTORIOUS began as one of David Selznick's independent productions and would probably have been released through United Artists. However, his western epic DUEL IN THE SUN had exceeded its budget and still was not done. So Selznick sold ownership of NOTORIOUS to RKO for $800,000 in exchange for distribution rights and half the profits (which turned out to be a very good move for RKO). Part of the deal involved Selznick loaning Hitchcock and Bergman to RKO since they were both under contract to him.
Selznick objected to the casting of Cary Grant. There were several reasons. First, he envisioned Joseph Cotten in the role, whom he also had under contract (but Hitchcock wanted Grant and so did RKO). Also, Selznick feared Grant would try renegotiating for more money which would cut into profits. The other reason Selznick objected to casting Grant is because Grant would not be available for several months which would delay production and Selznick felt that with the war having just ended, the story was more timely hitting screens sooner instead of later.
Selznick's first choice to play Sebastian was always Claude Rains, but Hitchcock was pursuing Clifton Webb for the role on the heels of Webb's success in LAURA. However, RKO sided with Selznick this time and Rains was signed to play the role. Selznick was a big fan of Rains, and Rains earned an Oscar nomination for his work in NOTORIOUS.
Selznick offered the role of Madame Sebastian (the mother of Rains' character) to Ethel Barrymore. But she turned it down. Austrian actress Leopoldine Konstantin was cast in the part. It was her only American film, and she's very memorable. She was only three years older than Rains.
Ben Hecht wrote the screenplay with Hitchcock who was also one of the producers (but Hitchcock only took directing credit). Hecht received $5000 per week for a minimum of 15 weeks, which means he earned at least $75,000. Hecht received an Oscar nomination for his efforts.
Ingrid Bergman's contract with Selznick put her wages at only $2000 per week. NOTORIOUS was in production for ten weeks between October and December 1945. And there was an additional week of retakes early in 1946. This means, with 11 weeks of filming, Bergman made $22,000; substantially less than Hecht. Typically Grant was earning a flat fee of $100,000 per film as a freelancer, sometimes more if he renegotiated a share in the profits. Even her resounding success in CASABLANCA and hits like FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS and SPELLBOUND didn't ensure Bergman the sort of big money the men were making. Incidentally, Bergman had many quarrels with Selznick, most likely about her pay as well as how she was not allowed to do the types of scripts she wanted to do...and she did not renew her contract with him in early 1946. This was the last film she made with Selznick who was blindsided by her "lack of loyalty" since he'd discovered her, brought her to the U.S. and made her a Hollywood star.
The film's screenplay ran into various troubles with the production code office. The greatest fly in the ointment was the way Bergman's character was depicted (initially as a prostitute). Hitchcock and Hecht were forced to tone the character down and turn her into a gold digger, which meant some of her relationships with other male characters in the film had to change. The production code people told RKO that the FBI would not like some of the story's content, and they were encouraged to speak directly with Edgar J. Hoover's office. Hoover did object to several aspects of the script. In fact, Hoover was so distressed by certain plot points related to atomic bombs that he had Hitchcock followed for weeks, as he believed Hitchcock to be a subversive radical.
Three endings were conceived. Two of them had Grant's character live, and one ending had Grant's character die.
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Mar 8, 2024 15:58:06 GMT
That was fabulous TB. I have dusted off my DVD set but keep tuning out on the extras disc. Your post on the other hand had me riveted.
The Would Have/Could Haves are like catnip for me. Cotton would have worked but I am very biased on that front. Webb I am still pondering. Not a hard no but I can't imagine my heart breaking for him.
J. Edgar details are astounding - a movie within a movie.
Off to check on those alternate endings!
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Post by topbilled on Mar 9, 2024 14:52:55 GMT
That was fabulous TB. I have dusted off my DVD set but keep tuning out on the extras disc. Your post on the other hand had me riveted. The Would Have/Could Haves are like catnip for me. Cotton would have worked but I am very biased on that front. Webb I am still pondering. Not a hard no but I can't imagine my heart breaking for him. J. Edgar details are astounding - a movie within a movie. Off to check on those alternate endings! Ingrid Bergman did perform a version of NOTORIOUS with Joseph Cotten. It was for a presentation of the Lux Radio Theater in 1948. The two stars were in the middle of filming UNDER CAPRICORN with Hitchcock.
You can listen to it here:
ia800902.us.archive.org/12/items/Lux13/Lux_48-01-26_Notorious.mp3
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Post by topbilled on Mar 10, 2024 14:05:39 GMT
From one of TCM's articles:
Cary Grant's character, an FBI Agent named T.R. Devlin, is assigned to enlist the American-born daughter (Ingrid Bergman) of a Nazi war criminal in a plot to trap the Germans., Devlin often appears cagey and insensitive to the woman's feelings and the danger she's in. On the other hand, her Nazi husband Sebastian (Claude Rains) is shown to be a cultured man who truly loves her, a put-upon, almost tender man with a domineering mother, fatally betrayed by the one person he cares most about. At the end of the movie, you almost feel sorry for Sebastian!
Manipulating audience expectation is not the only thing that makes NOTORIOUS quintessential Hitchcock. There are the technical hallmarks: an incredible zoom-in from a high crane shot to an extreme close-up of a key in Bergman's hand; a famous kissing scene (designed to get around censor objections) with Grant and Bergman nibbling away at each other while talking about food; as well as the suspenseful tracking and intercutting of the final scene.
Here also are prime early examples of some trademark Hitchcock themes and motifs...a woman in her transformation to a different person, later brought to its most obsessive heights in VERTIGO (1958); the figure of the mother both adoring and deadly, who appears in various forms in STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951), PSYCHO (1960) and THE BIRDS (1963). And, of course, a "MacGuffin" is used-- Hitchcock's narrative gimmick that motivates character behavior (a search for a secret formula, an impending assassination) but is of secondary interest to the audience.
At its core NOTORIOUS is a love story rich in passion, deception, reversals, and obsession.
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Post by Fading Fast on Mar 10, 2024 18:15:51 GMT
The Continuing Adventures of Fawn and Me
Fawn: "We should get a larger TV."
Me: "Our TV is large enough."
Fawn: "And we should get real surround sound."
Me: "Our sound bar does a very good job."
Fawn: "And we need to add more streaming services."
Me: "Three is plenty, I was thinking of cutting back to two."
Fawn: "Which one of my children did you plan on taking from me?"
Me: "Being a little dramatic there?"
Fawn: "Next you'll suggest getting rid of cable and having me hold the flashlight as you project finger shadows on the wall and tell stories."
Me: "Oh come on, all I'm saying is basic cable, plus two premium channels, plus three streaming services might be more than we need. A little economizing wouldn't kill us. [Fawn affects a pose] Seriously, you don't think lying supine on the floor with a hoof draped over your forehead isn't a little overkill?"
Fawn: "Can we at least keep our indoor plumbing?"
Me: "Never mind, we'll stay with the three streaming services. Get off your back and get up here, the movie's about to start."
Fawn: "So I guess a bigger TV is out?"
Me: "Do you want me to get out the flashlight and our storybook?"
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Post by topbilled on Mar 10, 2024 18:54:26 GMT
Fawn lives a very sheltered life. LOL
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Mar 10, 2024 18:55:14 GMT
Seriously, you don't think lying supine on the floor with a hoof draped over your forehead isn't a little overkill?"
What an image! A fawn after my own heart.
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Post by topbilled on Mar 10, 2024 18:58:20 GMT
Welcome everyone!
Pressing play...
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