Hitchcock at Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, I plan to watch "Notorious," which has been called "Hitchcock's best film," and also "the best movie Cary Grant appeared in." (Debates begin: now.)

A thick new Cary Grant biography emerged a few weeks ago ("A Brilliant Disguise," by Scott Eyman), and among its notes are these:

*"Notorious" is subversive because the protagonist is rather psychologically "ugly." The villain is actually easier to like, in some ways.

*Cary Grant complained that Hitch had "thrown the film to Ingrid" (though he wouldn't have a similar complaint for his final two Hitchcock films, "To Catch a Thief" and "North by Northwest").

*Ben Hecht did a great deal of the writing work, but Clifford Odets made some contributions.

Grant had just made "Night and Day," one of his worst movies--so the context, here, is inspiring for all of us.

I'm looking forward to a cup of tea, a filmed tale of intrigue, and a fire in the fireplace.

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