Notorious (1946)

NOTORIOUS is Alfred Hitchcock's classic romantic espionage thriller, with passionate, brilliant performances by Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, featuring one of the most famous screen kisses in film history. At the end of World War II, American military intelligence drafts the alluring daughter (Bergman) of a convicted Nazi to infiltrate a band of nefarious Germans who have fled to Brazil. She is teamed with a dashing but chilly agent (Cary Grant) with whom she falls deeply in love. Because of her past, however, the rigid and judgmental agent refuses to trust her--and their relationship falls completely apart when she agrees to marry the ringleader of the Germans (Claude Rains) in order to have better access to information. The marriage touches off an intricate downward spiral of deceit and betrayal, leaving Bergman trapped in the home of an enemy. If her husband ever discovers the truth about her mission, her life will be in mortal danger. Punchy dialog animates this action-driven thriller that maintains its suspenseful drama to the very end.