Notorious : The Ending

The Ending

The Original ending had Ingred Bergman die with Cary Grant waiting and overhearing someone say "She was Notorious" They changed the ending so we don't see her die, but she dies.
Was change good?

Re: The Ending

I think that the ending was just fine the way it was. It's left a bit open-ended, which is okay. I think that the audience is supposed to assume that she lives but that her hubby is killed.

~~
💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍

Re: The Ending

Or audience can believe that she dies but they stopped before getting to that point. Either way, it doesn't show a happy or the original ending.

Re: The Ending

Fair enough....although she didn't look like she was on her death-bed in those final scenes. Very sick, yes, but was she dying? I don't know.

I'm surprised that Hitchcock got away with such an ending. Back in those days, all the bad guys had to be either arrested or killed, and here it looked like some of those ex-Nazis would still survive after killing Alex. I don't know how Hitch got away with such an ending. I know that audiences can assume that Devlin would send in cops to raid the house and arrest everyone there, but I understood that this is something that had to be shown back in 1946.

~~
💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍

Re: The Ending

That's the way the movie first was filmed. Cary Grant doesn't save her and while sitting on bench, he hears someone say about her "She was notorious" and music and credit rolls. It is understandable that audiences didn't like the too dark ending, so her death was edited out.
Original version of Invasion of Body Snatchers is dark and they slapped on a quick, really bad happier ending. Did the same with Orson Welles film. They put in hopeful scene without his permission.

I wondered about that myself. Thought movies would show Nazi being killed. Notorious is my favorite, even though it has very strange things about it.

Re: The Ending

And back in those days, the bad guys had to be arrested and/or killed, so Claude Rains' character had to be dealt with in some way. I'm surprised that the others didn't get arrested.

I was impressed with how they filmed the scene with Cary Grant coming down the stairs with Ingrid Bergman. All those criminals surrounding them, and none of them could do a thing about the fact that those two were leaving. Brilliant and creative.

~~
💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍

Re: The Ending

It never really occurred to me that the ending was at all ambiguous. I always thought it was obvious she lived...but I can see now how it could be interpreted otherwise, though I must say I wouldn't like the film half as much if she didn't make it :-)

And that's a really good point about the bad guys making it out alive. It never occurred to me to wonder about that. I wonder why some of them were allowed to escape...

Re: The Ending

I admit that I had to think twice about the ending of this film, since I haven't seen it in over a year.

But yeah, the film ends with that one ex-Nazi heading back to the house, ready to be murdered. This implies that the ones who kill him will continue to live. How on earth did Hitchcock convince the censors to allow this? Maybe he had connections...

At the same time, the ending is extremely effective.

~~~~~
Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇

Re: The Ending

Of course didn't Cary Grant get some of the sample from the bottle in the wine cellar? Maybe that paired with Ingrid Bergman's testimony after she recovers will be enough to bring some trouble down on the other Nazis? I would have to re-watch the film though to see if that could make sense.

Maybe though since the main villain was going to be punished, the censors were alright with letting the side villains get away, especially since they were the ones bringing the main villain to justice.

I remember another movie, Robin and the Seven Hoods, in which the main characters are all mobsters so in the end they don't really get away successfully with their crimes, and when I commented on here that I didn't much care for the ending someone said it likely happened due to the censors at the time. Thinking back on that movie, some side villains also escape unscathed (and in one case, actually comes out on top!), so perhaps the censors were more forgiving of the supporting cast avoiding punishment for their crimes.

Re: The Ending

True. If the movie were to continue, the main characters would probably send police to the house to arrest the rest of the Nazis. Even though the lady was very ill, she would still make sure that the cops were called ASAP.

~~~~~
Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇

Re: The Ending

I am going to go with she lives in the end since they changed the original ending. This is one of my favorite films and with the original ending, I would not love it as much. Those last 7 minutes your heart pounds out of your chest. She has to live.

Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation (Eat, Pray, Love)

Re: The Ending

I'm with you, Jordy. After all, we see her smile and look so relieved (even looking better/stronger) in the car, just after Devlin locks the door. :)

“I have a theory that movies operate on the level of dreams, where you dream yourself.” Meryl Streep

Re: The Ending

Did they actually film the alternate? I was going through the supplementals on the Criterion and I didn't see it. They did have some original early drafts for alternate endings, but they all had her and Dev surviving while Sebastian died. I think their were 4-5 such ideas.

Re: The Ending

I believed they filmed the first ending, but it may not be available.
Notice that at the end of what we see today, there is no ending with her happy, alive and kissing Cary Grant. So it doesn't end showing that she survived being poisoned.
This reminds me of the Original Ending of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The original ending is there where he shouts "You're Next" but they tacked on an additional silly ending and beginning hospital scene. In Notorious, you see Cary Grant sitting on a bench At this point someone says woman has been killed and was Notorious. (original ending) Did they also add additional scene after test audiences didn't like it? Maybe.

Re: The Ending

I never heard about that "original" ending. Was it changed after an audience sneak preview?

"No, I don't like to cook, but I have a chicken in the icebox, and you're eating it."

Re: The Ending

Off the top of my head, I can't recall if it was the audience preview or not, but a good possibility. A DVD commentary on the film is where I believe I got the info.

Search and you'll see they are adding orginal ending to Sucpension.

Re: The Ending

Thank you for your prompt reply. I would not have appreciated The Third Man having a happy ending.

"No, I don't like to cook, but I have a chicken in the icebox, and you're eating it."

Re: The Ending

I searched and came across the book The New Schelling which states that in the first outline of the story " Alicia wins redemption by the film's end, but loses Devlin, who is killed ... Devlin confronts the Nazis and flees with Alicia, but Alicia dies in the process."

Now that is too damned horrible.

Re: The Ending

Thank you shermandemetrius. I think I'll stick with Hitchcock's ending!

"No, I don't like to cook, but I have a chicken in the icebox, and you're eating it."

Re: The Ending

Yes.
Somebody must have said, let's have " Devlin confronts the Nazis and flees with Alicia, but end it there. Let's not show Alica dying."

Re: The Ending

Did you notice that Dr. Anderson wasn't standing in the doorway? He was portrayed more sympathetically than the others. He and Ingrid seemed to get along and he was really concerned about her health.

Re: The Ending

I just discovered in the original outline " Devlin confronts the Nazis and flees with Alicia, but Alicia dies in the process."
That is from The New Scnelling 2004

Re: The Ending

According to an extra on the Blu-Ray version there was also a third ending considered. I'm afraid that I don't remember what it was!

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

Re: The Ending

It is funny that I can easily find original ending of many Hitchcock Films such as The Birds and Vertigo, and Suspicion but recall Notorious orginal ending in DVD commentary that I don't have. (notice that Hitchcock wanted the heroine to die in Suspicion.)
You can locate:
" Bill Krohn's research into the various endings that were considered for Suspicion
Bill Krohn's revised findings about which ending was first previewed, and other matters
Introduction by Ken Mogg (Editor of 'The MacGuffin'). Hitchcock told Truffaut that he always wanted to end Suspicion by having Johnnie (Cary Grant) poison his wife Lina (Joan Fontaine). "

Re: The Ending

Thanks for that. I can't imagine an ending with her dying would have been very popular in those days. another titbit from the extras was that it was Hitchcock who coined the term MacGuffin, the most famous of which was probably The Maltese Falcon.

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

Re: The Ending

Suspicion was book where the woman had a dull life and is so happy with the excitement and great sex that the Cary Grant character produced that she knows the drink is poison, but happily drinks it down because she is so grateful for the happy life Grant provided.
It appears Hitchcock wanted the movie to be that way.

Re: The Ending

I kind of like the original ending, with some tweaks, I guess.

If you're not taking any steps forward, you're not moving at all.

Post deleted

This message has been deleted.

Re: The Ending

Alex and his mother are dead meat. The same fate that followed Emil. Both screwed up and the Nazis weren't having it.
Top