Introduction
Welcome to my corner! This week, I'm sharing my thoughts on the film Spellbound. The TCM television channel played Spellbound as part of their 'Sundays with Hitch' lineup (as in Alfred Hitchcock) on October 5. Enjoy!
Spellbound
Spellbound is a 1945 American psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov and Leo G. Carroll. It follows a psychoanalyst who falls in love with the new head of the Vermont hospital in which she works, only to find that he is an imposter suffering dissociative amnesia, and potentially, a murderer. Although the film is loosely based on the 1927 novel The House of Dr. Edwardes by Hilary Saint George Saunders and John Palmer, the plots are dramatically different.
Filming of Spellbound took place in the summer of 1944 in Vermont, Utah and Los Angeles. Spellbound was released theatrically in New York City on Halloween 1945, after which its U.S. released expanded on December 28, 1945. The film received favorable reviews from critics and was a major box-office success, grossing $6.4 million in the United States, breaking ticket sales records in London. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards including for Best Picture and Best Director and won in the category of Best Original Score.
Plot: When Dr. Anthony Edwardes (Gregory Peck) arrives at a Vermont mental hospital to replace the outgoing hospital director, Dr. Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman), a psychoanalyst, discovers Edwardes is actually an imposter. The man confesses that the real Dr. Edwardes is dead and fears he may have killed him but cannot recall anything. Dr. Peterson, however, is convinced his imposter is innocent of the man's murder and joins him on a quest to unravel his amnesia through psychoanalysis.
Acting: Ingrid Bergman played Dr. Constance Petersen. Bergman is considered one of the best actresses of all time winning three Academy Awards (Oscars). Most of you should know who she is, and if you don't definitely start by watching Spellbound! Her four most notable titles are Casablanca, Spellbound, Gaslight and Notorious. Of her films that I've seen, my current favorite is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) with Spender Tracy.
Gregory Peck played Dr. Anthony Edwardes/John Brown/John Ballantyne. I love me some Gregory Peck. He's nice to look at and listen to, plus he's a great actor. Spellbound was one of his first movies. As a relatively new actor, I think he did a great job in this role. It was a complicated one with varying emotional states. His four most notable titles are To Kill a Mocking Bird, Spellbound, Roman Holiday and The Boys from Brazil. My favorite is To Kill a Mocking Bird.
Technical Aspects: Selznick originally wanted Joseph Cotten, Dorothy McGuire, and Paul Lukas to play the roles ultimately portrayed by Peck, Bergman and Chekhov, respectively. Greta Garbo was considered for the role of Dr. Constance Petersen. Hitchcock wanted Joseph Cotten to portray Dr. Murchison. Selznick also wanted Jennifer Jones to portray Dr. Petersen but Hitchcock objected.
Spellbound was shot in black and white, except for two frames of bright red at the conclusion, when Dr. Murchison's gun is fired into the camera. This detail was deleted in most 16mm and video formats but was restored for the film's DVD release and airings on Turner Classic Movies.
From TCM: The dream sequence was designed by Salvador Dali and was originally supposed to run for 20 minutes. It included a scene with Dr. Petersen covered in ants. Only part of it was filmed, and even less of it ended up in the release version.
The shot where the audience sees the killer's view down a gun barrel pointing at Petersen was filmed using a giant hand holding a giant gun to get the perspective correct.
Leo G. Carroll was a Hitchcock favorite; he had already appeared in Rebecca (1940) and Suspicion and would later work on The Paradine Case (1947), Strangers on a Train (1951) and North by Northwest.
The final suicide drew sharp criticism from the Production Code Administration, whose explicit standards held that suicide was "to be discouraged as morally questionable and as bad theater—unless absolutely necessary for the development of the plot." Selznick personally intervened and managed to convince Joseph Breen and Geoffrey Sherlock that the suicide was essential.
Final Thoughts: Spellbound was an interesting take on mental health/illness in film. For a long time, the topic of mental health/illness was taboo and scoffed at. Some people still think mental illness isn't real, like depression or anxiety. "Just get over it," they say. Easier said than done folks, thanks. When mental health/illness was portrayed in film or television, the character dealing with such things was often the antagonist, or bad guy, or the crazy one no one took seriously.
This movie is set in a mental hospital and centers around the doctors and patients. Therefore, it's pretty hard to avoid mental health/illness in this movie. Despite this, they still don't broach the topic very much. Peck's character has dissociative amnesia which is considered a mental health condition, but his is only temporary and not ongoing. As son as his memories are unlocked he's essentially back to being an ordinary person that doesn't have a mental illness. I'm here to tell you that is not how mental illness works. It would be nice if it did.
While the depictions of mental health may not be the best, Spellbound is still a good movie and deserves a watch.
Where to watch it: According to Google, Spellbound is not currently available on any subscription service. But, you can also purchase or rent a digital copy for a few dollars. I've also donated a DVD copy of the film to the Emil M. Larson Public Library in Clark for you all to enjoy if you choose to.
That's it for this week! What were your thoughts? Feel free to share them with us! You can call us, email us, visit us at the office, leave us a comment or message on Facebook, or even mail us something. Keep the comments, suggestions, questions, submissions, etc. coming our way! We'd love to hear from you!
