This story, coupled with 39 Steps, becomes North By Northwest. Notorious has a much harder edge, and you can see why Ian Fleming or anyone else might be influenced creatively by Grant's really dangerous performance. There are those who think Claude Rains has the most interesting role, I am not one. All that has happened dramatically, is the director determined the villain should be a mild man, the hero on edge. Ultimately anyone who finds sympathy in a character designed to be NAZI has no understanding of power or politics. Root for Grant. If you can find someone like Devlin, be smart enough to elect him to high office no matter his shortcomings. Yes...?

I couldn't agree more Barry. Although Scott pointed out the comparisons between Hitchcock and Ian Fleming he didn't appreciate the movie as a whole. It has been my favorite Hitchcock film since I first saw it.

For the record I never said Notorious had a similar plot to Casablanca. I said they both contained romance and intrigue.