Notorious Woman of many Desires! Fateful Fascination! Bold Intrigue!

Starring: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern, Leopoldine Konstantin, Reinhold Schunzel, Moroni Olsen

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"Every time you look at me, I can see it running over its slogans: "Once a crook, always a crook", "Once a tramp, always a tramp". Go on. You can hold my hand. I won't blackmail you for it afterwards." – Alicia Huberman

Why watch this? The building suspense within this film is quietly palpable.

Plot Summary: U.S. agent Devlin recruits Alicia Huberman, the daughter of a convicted Nazi spy, to infiltrate a group of Nazis hiding in Rio de Janeiro. Alicia agrees, but her mission becomes complicated when she falls in love with Devlin while being tasked with seducing a prominent Nazi named Alexander Sebastian, who was previously infatuated with her. This arrangement forces her into a difficult position, testing her loyalties and potentially putting her life in danger.

Dad's Preview: In my eyes, what elevates this Hitchcock thriller is its elegant anxiety. Everybody is so damn polite, and they rarely say what they really feel or intend. So much so, that when it finally occurs, it is a long-awaited reward. The film reunites Claude Rains and Ingrid Bergman from Casablanca (1942), and throws in the amazing Cary Grant. The climax is a film school master-class on how to build up tension to an ending worth remembering.

Vanguard Films; RKO Radio Pictures