Spellbound (1945)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

John Palmer (novel) and
Hilary St. George Sanders (novel) ...

Release Date:

28 December 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Strange . . . Strange . . . Their Irresistible Love! Dark . . . Dark . . . Their Inescapable Fears !

Plot:

A female psychiatrist protects the identity of an amnesia patient accused of murder while attempting to recover his memory.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Amnesia | Impostor | Psychiatrist | Memory

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Ingrid Bergman	...	Dr. Constance Petersen
Gregory Peck	...	John Ballantine / Dr. Anthony Edwardes
Michael Chekhov	...	Dr. Alexander 'Alex' Brulov
Leo G. Carroll	...	Dr. Murchison
Rhonda Fleming	...	Mary Carmichael
John Emery	...	Dr. Fleurot
Norman Lloyd	...	Mr. Garmes
Bill Goodwin	...	House detective
Steven Geray	...	Dr. Graff
Donald Curtis	...	Harry
Wallace Ford	...	Stranger in Hotel Lobby
Art Baker	...	Det. Lt. Cooley
Regis Toomey	...	Det. Sgt. Gillespie
Paul Harvey	...	Dr. Hanish

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (USA) (promotional title)
The House of Dr. Edwardes (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

111 min | Canada:95 min (Ontario)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Spain:18 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:L | Germany:16 (f) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #10456)

Filming Locations:

Alta Lodge - 10230 E. Little Cottonwood Road, Alta, Utah, USA

Company:

Vanguard Films

Trivia:

The dream sequence was produced by "Poverty Row" studio Monogram Studios. Its initial efforts kept getting rejected by David O. Selznick until he hired leading production designer William Cameron Menzies to oversee the production. Alfred Hitchcock himself was barely involved.

Goofs:

Continuity: The burn on JB's hand is only visible during the scene where they talk about it. It disappears in every other scene where his hand is visible (like when he is sitting on the couch with Dr Brulow).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Nurse: [offscreen] Miss Carmichael, please. Dr. Petersen is ready for you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Spellbound Concerto

Amnesia,Freud and Dali.

Could this one be the most underrated of all Hitchcock's American movies/What?only 7.6?And however,you've got plenty of movies for the price of one!Come on ,wake up,and give this triumph its due!

1.It's a mystery movie:Peck suffers from amnesia,he may or may not be a criminal,only snatches of memory come back and he can't put them together.Some clues appear,the "lines" vision is the most famous.

2.It's a movie full of suspense;great scenes:the letter which Bergman tries to hide,the news papers at the railway station.

3.It's a chase movie:Bergman and Peck escape from the nursing home and search a shrink's colleague help.

4.It's a dreamlike movie:not only for the Dali's -too often unfairly dismissed-dream.Actually, the whole story is wrapped in a supernatural,eerie atmosphere.

5.It's a romantic story:the scenes outside the nursing home in country landscapes are wonderfully and lovingly filmed.

6.It's a movie of redemption:Bergman falls in love with her patient,and she's got to struggle -thanks Mister Freud- to help Peck to recover his

full memory.

7.It's a technically astounding movie,as in every Hitch movie:it features the shortest color scene (it's a black and white movie)in cinema.And I won't tell you when it appears,watch out.

8.It's a movie from the Master of suspense,and I trade you "a lapse of memory","shattered" and "the third day " for "Spellbound"!It deserves to be in the top 250!