Spellbound is a Hitchcock thriller that looks at how the mind works and how it alters our perceptions. This 1945 film is more psychological in nature than it is physical.
Spellbound Synopsis
Ingrid Bergman plays Dr. Constance Peterson, a dedicated psychiatrist working and living at a clinic, Green Manors, along with other psychiatrists and their patients. It’s a live-in facility for people with mental and emotional problems. The doctors use psychoanalysis to get at the heart of their problems with the intent on curing them and letting them return to normal life.
Dr. Peterson’s entire life is her work. She feels analysis is the only way of delving into her patients’ problems, and while doing so she translates their dreams to help them realize what their minds are trying to tell them.
The head of the clinic, Dr. Murchison (Leo G. Carroll) has just returned from a vacation after having a breakdown. As Dr. Peterson tells him he has nothing to be ashamed about. He was overworked. But the clinic is being turned over to a new Doctor. Dr. Edwardes (Gregory Peck) arrives to replace Murchison as head of the facility. He immediately falls for Dr. Peterson, who also feels a strong attraction.
As the two characters get closer, Dr. Peterson realizes the man representing himself as Dr. Edwardes is an imposter. She confronts him and he admits that he is not Edwardes, but he has no idea who he is or how he came to take on the name and life of Edwardes.
When the police are called in he flees, with Peterson on his heels. She knows there is something dark lurking in the recesses of his mind and feels strongly that she can get to the bottom of it as well as figure out what really happened to the real Edwardes.
Film Review
In my opinion this is not one of Hitchcock’s best movies. The story is intriguing, but lags along and even though the two stars are highly regarded in their profession, they don’t inhabit their characters as they do in other films. I personally adore Gregory Peck and felt his performance in To Kill a Mockingbird was phenomenal. But he does not do justice to this role, and Bergman is somewhat stiff and unattached in her role.
There is a dream sequence, inspired by the works of Salvador Dali, which adds to the mystery quality of the story. Peterson and the amnesiac man flee to her mentor, Dr. Alexander Brulov (Michael Chekov), and together they try to decode the dream as well as what the imposter remembers. They slowly put together the pieces of his mind to uncover the real story of what happened to him and Dr. Edwardes. What makes this story unbelievable is the fact that they do not turn in the man they think is a murderer. Peterson persuades Dr. Brulov to give her more time to unlock his memory.
The Actors
Alfred Hitchcock used several actors in many of his films. Ingrid Bergman also starred in Hitchcock’s Notorious (1946) and Under Capricorn (1949). Michael Chekov who appears in this film was, at one time, Bergman’s acting coach. Leo G. Carroll also appeared in Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940), Suspicion (1941), The Paradine Case (1947) Strangers on a Train (1951), and North by Northwest (1959).
Spellbound stars Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman. Written by Ben Hecht and Frances Beeding. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Running time 118 mintues. Blu-ray from MGM Home Entertainment with a street date of January 24, 2012.
