SPELLBOUND

(October 1945, U.S.)

Alfred Hitchcock was considered the master of suspense. He wasn't perfect, though, in my opinion. Even the great "masters" have their flaws. SPELLBOUND is far from flawless. In fact, as I sat down to watch it last night for the first time in years for the purpose of writing this post, I slowly piled up in my brain, everything about the film that was irritating me. To begin with, its intent on addressing the professional practices of psychiatry and psychoanalysis feels considerably overdone and overblown at times. Yes, we get it, Hitch - you were fascinated by the insights into the human mind and what made it "tick", so to say. You overstretch its point, in my opinion. Then there's what I consider a real negative stretch for such a gifted actor as Gregory Peck in which he overdoes the catatonic bit of his amnesiac mental state and his repeated aggressive outbursts and fainting dizzy spells. In fact, if one were to over-analyze SPELLBOUND, it may easily be accused of passing itself off as nothing greater than a full-length documentary on psychoanalysis starring two of the biggest movie stars of the era. In short, this Hitchcock film comes very close to fall on its ass compared to such other great masterpieces that came later by the great master!

So, why, you may ask am I here even discussing it if I'm starting things off with such negative feelings? Well, it's Hitchcock, for starters, and that means always giving everything he did a fair chance. There's also a fine and surprising resolution at the film's end, which manages to save it all, but I'll get into that later. From the moment the opening credits gives its audience some insight into the profession and practices of psychiatry, we're immediately introduced to a Vermont mental hospital called Green Manors where its patients and their "problems" are portrayed with a certain degree of resistance. Remember, this is the 1940s, so the level of violence from mental illness is bound to be restrained on screen. We have a woman who's your basic man hater and a man who appears to be afraid of his own shadow as he's convinced he killed his own father. Dr. Constance Peterson (played by Ingrid Bergman) is a rather emotionless and detached psychoanalyst who, while not believing in the concept of the emotions behind falling in love, manages to fall head-over-heels for Dr. Anthony Edwards (played by Gregory Peck) when he arrives at Green Manors to replace its former director, Dr. Murchison (played by Leo G. Carroll, a frequent Hitchcock performer), who is being forced into retirement after a mild breakdown of his own. Constance is in love now, but her new male fancy may not be what he seems. First, he may not actually be Dr. Edwards, but rather the man who murdered Dr. Edwards and then assumed his identity to hide any guilt complex he may be experiencing following the crime.

(you following all of this, so far?)

Second, the good doctor suffers from a bizarre phobia about parallel lines against white backgrounds (???). Through her own investigation into his handwriting, Constance soon realizes that her new love interest is not who he pretends to be and is in need of help. Of course, in real life, most women would run for their lives from a potentially dangerous man they've only known a few days. But this is Hollywood and it's Ingrid Bergman - you know, the woman who always seems to stand by her man in nearly every film she does - so we know the young doctor in love is going to stand by this man, too, and try to help cure him of his amnesia, his phobias and his unknown demons because she believes him to be innocent of any crimes. Now we get to watch the patient on the couch, the shrink with the glasses and the notepad, and the detailed interpretations of Peck's surrealistic dream, courtesy of none other than artist Salvador Dalí himself...

Is the fake Dr. Edwards psychotic, schizophrenic, amnesiac, homicidal...or just in need of some good 'ol fashioned couch time? We're trying to find out as we watch Constance not only try to get to the heart of her lover's mind, but also evade the police with him, as well. In the end, we learn that the fake Dr. Edward's mental state and guilt complex is ultimately linked to an incident from his childhood when he accidentally killed his brother. But that's not the end of the story, nor the big revelation that saves SPELLBOUND in the end. We still have the body of the real Dr. Edwards that was discovered on a ski mountain to contain a bullet in its back. Somebody shot him, but who? Looks like it was Peck and it looks like he's going to get the chair for it. Ah, but things are (thankfully) never that neat and tidy in a Hitchcock mystery. Remember the director of Green Manors who was forced into retirement due to his own breakdown? Turns out he was on the ski mountain with a gun the day the real Dr. Edwards fell over a treacherous cliff and Gregory Peck "took the fall" for it. Constance is not only a great psychiatrist, but a pretty talented detective, too. So, in the end, Peck is miraculously healed, seemingly without any leftover trace of the psychosis that ailed him, and he now gets to live happily-ever-after and sleep with Ingrid Bergman. That's Hollywood, my friends!

Favorite line or dialogue:

Dr. Murchison (pointing a gun at Constance): "You're an excellent analyst, Dr. Peterson, but a rather stupid woman."