Spellbound

SPELLBOUND (PG)

D: Alfred Hitchcock (& Salvador Dali)

Selznick/Vanguard (David O. Selznick)

US 1945

111 mins

Mystery/Thriller

W: Ben Hecht & Angus MacPhail [based on the novel "The House Of Dr. Edwardes" by Francis Beeding]

DP: George Barnes

Ed: William Ziegler & Hal C. Kern

Mus: Miklos Rozsa

Ingrid Bergman (Dr. Constance Petersen), Gregory Peck (Dr. Anthony Edwardes / John Ballantyne), Leo G. Carroll (Dr. Murchison), Michael Chekhov (Dr. Alex Brulov), Rhonda Fleming (Mary Carmichael), John Emery (Dr. Fleurot)

The new head doctor at a mental asylum is actually an imposter with a mysterious past, but his real identity is protected by a young woman who falls in love with his charm.

Ingrid Bergman is perfectly cast, but Gregory Peck doesn't quite carry the air of mystery necessary for his character, he's just far too debonair, which, in fairness, does make the romance angle of the plot seem a lot more feasible.

The first act of the film is really bogged down with psychoanalysis and psychiatry babble before the mystery and suspense finally kicks in.

To call this one of Hitchcock's most overrated films would be a little unfair, but it's certainly not as iconic as the usual output from the master of suspense.

The famous Salvador Dali-inspired dream sequence is undoubtedly the highlight of the picture, in the only real scene which matches up to the description of the film's title.

7/10