In order to help bring Nazis to justice, U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin recruits Alicia Huberman, the American daughter of a convicted German war criminal, as a spy. As they begin to fall for one another, Alicia is instructed to win the affections of Alexander Sebastian, a Nazi hiding out in Brazil. When Sebastian becomes serious about his relationship with Alicia, the stakes get higher, and Devlin must watch her slip further undercover.
Direction
That two-and-a-half-minute kiss scene broke the Hays Code spectacularly.
Acting
Bergman's wounded dignity, Grant's repressed longing—chemistry for the ages.
Cinematography
The wine cellar key shot—visual storytelling at its most iconic.
Director
Alfred Hitchcock
Cary Grant
T.R. Devlin
Ingrid Bergman
Alicia Huberman
Claude Rains
Alexander Sebastian
Leopoldine Konstantin
Madame Anna Sebastian
Louis Calhern
Captain Paul Prescott
Alex Minotis
Joseph
Reinhold Schünzel
Dr. Anderson
Ivan Triesault
Eric Mathis
Moroni Olsen
Walter Beardsley
Wally Brown
Mr. Hopkins
Fay Baker
Ethel
Friedrich von Ledebur
Knerr (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hitchcock had to choreograph the famous kissing scene around the 'three-second rule'—actors couldn't kiss longer than three seconds. So they nuzzled, talked, kissed again. Revolutionary.
Bergman was actually taller than Grant, so Hitchcock built ramps and trenches to hide it—yet cast her as the 'fallen woman' and him as the moral authority. The gender politics are... complicated.
US
