Notorious premiered in New York City on 15 August 1946, before its official opening in September.
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Ben Hecht (who had written 1945's Spellbound, directed by Hitchcock), producer David O. Selznick did not want Cary Grant to star, but Hitchcock invoked a clause in his contract and cast Grant (who had appeared in Hitchcock's Suspicion in 1941) and Ingrid Bergman (who had starred in Spellbound). Hitchcock initially did not want Claude Rains cast, but relented to Selznick's insistence.
Notorious was a commercial and critical success, with Hecht and Rains receiving Academy Award nominations. Hecht's screenplay was selected by the Writers Guild of America as one of the best ever written, and Notorious has been listed as one of the best films of all time (Entertainment Weekly, Village Voice).
