Notorious Facts

– At that time, “Notorious” had what was widely touted to be “the longest kiss in film history”. It takes place in the scene where Grant and Bergman are first in Rio de Janeiro, at the hotel.

In order to get around the Hollywood morality codes, which stated that kisses could not last any longer than 3 seconds, Hitchcock broke the kiss up in short intervals: 3 second kiss, pause, 3 second kiss, pause, and on and on and on, but the embrace itself goes on, continuously for that whole time. They are on the balcony, they move inside, the phone rings, they move to the phone, he picks up the phone, he answers it, then they move to the front door where he leaves. The embrace never stops really. The kisses themselves may only last 3 seconds a piece, but the rest of the time they’re nibbling, nuzzling, hugging, giving the impression that it may be the longest kiss in screen history. It’s very erotic, and neurotic, as though they can’t quite commit.

– The whole plot circulates around those wine bottles in Claude Rains’ cellar, bottles filled with uranium ore, to be stored up for the making of bombs. Originally, the bottles were going to be filled with diamonds – but a couple of months before they began shooting, atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, and so Hitchcock changed to something more timely, more alarming.

– During the endless staircase descent in the last shot of the film, there are (apparently) more steps going down than there are going up. Hitchcock added steps for that final scene, because he wanted to draw out the suspense.