Mental hospital Green Manors is undergoing change. The director, Dr. Murchison (Carroll), suffered a nervous breakdown, and is replaced by famous psychoanalyst / writer Dr. Anthony Edwardes (Peck). The male staff are underwhelmed, and expect an older man. The only female psychoanalyst, Dr. Constance Petersen (Bergman), falls for the new director, who is equally smitten.
But Dr. Edwardes is not what he seems. He has odd reactions to lines draw on a white background and to a patient (Norman Lloyd). After one breakdown he tells Constance he isn't really Dr. Edwardes. He has amnesia and leaves the hospital in the middle of the night to find answers, including his own identity (his initials are J.B.). Some detectives arrive a few hours later with news of Dr. Edwardes death and to question J.B. But his disappearance leaves the impression that he is the guilty party, and a man hunt begins: Constance to psychoanalyze the man she loves, and the police to arrest him.
I remember this movie as being better. It wasn't bad, how could it be with a talented cast and director, but it wasn't as good as I remembered. There is too much emphasis on "guilt complexes" and "childhood trauma" and other psychology terms. I understand that this was big stuff when the film was made, but now it just seems dated.
Ingrid Bergman was wonderful, as usual... Apparently, this was on of Gregory Peck's earliest films... and it shows. He isn't as polished or convincing as he comes across in later films, granted, he doesn't get to do much besides speaking in a trance and collapsing, but I expected a little more. He wasn't bad, just not great. The stand out is Michael Chekhov as Constance's mentor Dr. Brulov. He is funny has some of the best lines in the film (including the quote underneath the picture), and steals every scene he is in.
There are some interesting sequences, such as the surrealist dream, which was designed by Salvador Dali. It is intriguing, and pays an homage to Un Chien Andalou (which was partially written by Dali) with the scissors cutting through the eyes in the curtain (reminiscent of the image of a razor blade cutting a woman's eye). The other great scene is the ending and how it is staged. I won't spoil the surprise, but it is pretty awesome: a bit of color at the end of a black and white film.
Decent.... take out all the psychology jargon and beef up the role of the villain, and it could stand up among the classic Hitchcock films.
Spellbound (1945) 111 minutes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Ingrid Bergman as Dr. Constance Petersen
Gregory Peck as Dr. Anthony Edwardes
Michael Chekhov as Dr. Alexander Brulov
Leo G. Carroll as Dr. Murchison
John Emery as Dr. Fleurot
No comments:
Post a Comment