Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Ingrid Bergman,
Hitchcock made so many great films that it's nearly impossible to choose favorites, but while the already-mentioned VERTIGO has a place in my heart I find that I'm partial to his 1946 classic. Why? The casting certainly helps- Bergman is at her most vulnerable and beautiful here, Grant is at his most suave, and Rains is just about perfect. The plot (later cribbed by MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2) has Bergman recruited by Grant to spy on her former lover Rains, a Nazi sympathizer who is still in love with her, and much of the film's suspense comes from the uncomfortable situation Bergman is in- she has feelings for Grant, and it's because of this that she puts herself in danger. Many of Hitchcock's films have tense set-pieces, but this is probably his best-sustained suspense story, as Bergman has to be loyal to the man she's pretending to love on one level while sticking by the man she really does love. The film's final scenes, in which Grant finally decides that Bergman has done enough and comes to her aid while Rains is powerless to stop him, are as perfectly-realized as anything Hitchcock has ever done.
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