Spellbound
Short description
Spellbound centres on Dr. Constance Petersen, a psychoanalyst at a Vermont mental hospital, and the new director who arrives to take charge of the institution. She falls in love with him, then discovers that he is not the eminent Dr. Anthony Edwardes he claims to be. The man admits the real Edwardes is dead and that he cannot remember what happened, and suspicion falls on him as the killer. Convinced of his innocence, Constance helps him escape and takes him to her elderly mentor, Dr. Brulov, hoping to recover the truth buried in his mind. Their search turns on the analysis of his dreams.
Alfred Hitchcock directed the film, the twentieth of the forty-three he made, following Lifeboat and preceding Notorious. Ben Hecht and Angus MacPhail wrote the screenplay, David O. Selznick produced, and Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck lead a cast of thirty-two credited players, with Michael Chekhov as Brulov and Leo G. Carroll among the supporting roles. Made for about two million dollars, it took roughly seven million worldwide.
On IMDb it holds 7.5 from around 56,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.4 from about 1,000. A critics' score of 7.2 from forty-four reviews sits close to those audience figures, suggesting the film has held up about equally well with reviewers and viewers.
What's left behind the scenes
- Hitchcock persuaded Selznick to buy the rights to the novel for $40,000.
- The role of Dr. Bryulov was played by Mikhail Chekhov, nephew of Anton Chekhov, who emigrated from the Soviet Union to the USA in 1928.
- The dream sequence in the film was staged by artist Salvador Dalí. According to some sources, the film's producer, David O. Selznick, cut all other scenes created by Dalí.
- Miklós Rózsa's music in this film inspired the distinguished composer Jerry Goldsmith to begin his musical career.
- A preview screening of the film took place on September 27, 1944, after which Selznick cut 14 minutes from the movie, including footage showing the treatment of the mentally ill.
- Hitchcock suggested calling the film "Hidden Impulse." Then studio secretary Ruth Rickman came up with the title "Spellbound," which was approved.
- As was his custom, Hitchcock makes a brief appearance in his film as a man with a cigar, exiting an elevator in the Empire Hotel, around the 37th minute of the film.
- Hitchcock was an admirer of Dalí and understood that no one could create Ballantyne's dream better than he could. David O. Selznick was initially opposed to Dalí's participation, as it cost him a considerable sum, until he decided that having the artist's name in the credits was a good marketing move.
- While writing the screenplay, Ben Hecht consulted with many leading psychoanalysts.
- Producer David O. Selznick wanted a large part of the film to be based on his personal experience; he even brought his psychotherapist to the set as a technical consultant. Once, while arguing with Hitchcock about a certain "psychological" moment in the film, the doctor heard him reply: "My dear, it's only the movies."
- The snow falling on Ballantyne and Dr. Peterson during the ski descent is actually cornflakes.
- This black-and-white film features color sequences. Near the end, Marchison turns a gun on himself and fires – a flash briefly illuminates a couple of frames in red.
- "Spellbound" is one of the first Hollywood films to make psychoanalysis a central theme.
- During filming, a passionate romance began between Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck, causing a considerable scandal. Bergman's husband demanded that the producer immediately influence this relationship.
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