A top 10 Hitchcock for me--Grant and Bergman are both fantastic, with Bergman embodying courage and vulnerability in equal measure that just hits perfectly. The tension that builds, especially in the wine cellar sequence, is as taut as anything he's ever directed. But what struck me most was the romance plot that curdles into resentment until all is saved at the end--it was lovely.
A film in which it was very evident the mastery of the great Master... in the second half. Because the first seemed more an ad for Grant and Bergman.
Shout by Mike_AVIP 5BlockedParentSpoilers2024-04-18T02:24:35Z
Hitchcock's direction really shines in the 2nd half yet idiocracy with the plot abounds.
- The romantic turmoil between Grant and Bergman is silly when she's put to the spy job
- Bergman's character would have probably been followed before the marriage but she wasn't.
- Grant (and the Americans) did nothing to protect her from being poisoned