Spellbound (1945)

Spellbound
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Ben Hecht and Angus McPhail (adaptation) suggested by the novel “The House of Dr. Edwardes” by Francis Beeding
1945/USA
Selznick International Pictures/Vanguard Films
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#193 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Dr. Alex Brulov: What is there for you to see? We both know that the mind of a woman in love is operating on the lowest level of the intellect![/box]

I’d be happier if Hitchcock stayed entirely away from Freud. Not one of my favorites.

Dr. Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) is an all-business psychoanalyst at the Green Manors asylum run by Dr. Murchison (Leo G. Carroll).  We know this by the way she brushes off advances by her all-male colleagues.  The management has determined that Murchison is past his prime and is replacing him with the renowned Dr. Edwardes, whom nobody has met.  When “Edwardes” (Gregory Peck) arrives, all are amazed to see how young he is.  What Dr. Peterson can’t get over, however, are his matinee idol looks.  Her heart is lost immediately.

But Dr. Edwardes has mysterious panic attacks every time he sees dark lines on a white background.  Petersen and “Edwardes” are soon in agreement that he is an imposter. Problem is that “Edwardes” can’t remember who he actually is. The real Dr. Edwardes has disappeared and is now thought murdered.  Our “Edwardes” is convinced he is the murderer and flees.  Dr. Petersen follows since love and her professional training tell her the man is suffering from a “guilt complex”.

Petersen tracks her man down to New York City where she finds him registered as John Brown.  They start posing as a married couple while Petersen tries, and fails, to maintain her professional ethics as his psychiatrist.  After a couple of close shaves, Petersen and “Brown” take refuge in the home of her mentor Dr. Brulov (Michael Chekhov).  “Brown” is almost psychotically ill by this point, but Brulov reluctantly agrees to hide the couple and help to treat him for a few days.  And that’s all it takes to cure his amnesia and “guilt complex”.  It takes a bit longer to solve the murder mystery.  With Rhonda Fleming in a very early role as a psych patient.

Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if our dreams did hold the key to all our repressed history and inner turmoil?  And if each dream symbol had an obvious correlate in the real world? What if a few conversations could unbury childhood trauma and restore us to some better adult self?  Sadly, it doesn’t work that way.  I find this a really irritating and simplistic story.  I just can’t help it.

Taking allowances for the time period in which it was made and my perhaps exaggerated reaction, there is nothing really wrong with the film.  The suspense is built by a Master after all.  The famous Dali dream sets are evocative.   And Ingrid Bergman looks exceptionally beautiful to me here.  She is allowed to have her hair kind of natural and tousled in soft curls and it makes her look like an angel.  What I could perhaps believe is that her love could go some way in curing any man.

Miklos Rózsa won an Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.  Spellbound was nominated for Academy Awards in the following categories:  Best Picture; Best Supporting Actor (Michael Chekov); Best Director; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (George Barnes); and Best Effects, Special Effects.

Trailer