Produced in 1945, “Spellbound” is one of the hardest of all the Hitchcock films to evaluate. This is due to the fact that its plot is heavily dependent on antiquated and implausible theories of psychoanalysis. Starring Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman, the film is still very much worth seeing, if not for anything else than the stellar performance of the two stars and the rest of the cast as well. (Supporting players include Rhonda Fleming, Regis Toomey and Leo G. Carroll)
Gregory Peck is John Ballantine, an amnesia victim who may have committed a murder and Ingrid Bergman is Dr. Constance Peterson, a psychoanalyst who tries to unravel his murky past. They fall in love and complication follows complication as in all films touched by the creative and technical genius of the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock.
This film was the very first in Hollywood to deal with the subject of psychoanalysis. Producer David O’ Selznick wanted much of the film to be based on his own experiences in psychotherapy and he even brought his own therapist on the set to serve as a technical advisor!
One of the most memorable scenes in the film is the dream sequence, which was very creatively executed by artist, Salvador Dali. It was originally intended to run slightly longer, but only part of it was filmed because much of the end result was not acceptable to either Hitchcock or Dali. Although the film was shot in black and white, two frames in the scene where the gun goes off while pointed at the camera are tinted red.
The snow falling on John Ballantine and Dr. Peterson during the skiing scene was actually cornflakes! The master himself can be seen about forty minutes into the film, coming out of an elevator carrying a violin case and smoking a cigarette.
What are some of your favorite moments from this most interesting movie?