Spellbound (1945)

	Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock	COUNTRY USA GENRE Mystery/Thriller NORWEGIAN TITLE Trollbundet RUNNING TIME 111 minutes
	Produced by: David O. Selznick
	Written by: Angus MacPhail Ben Hecht

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Dr. Constance Petersen	Ingrid Bergman	½
Dr. Anthony Edwardes / John Ballantyne	Gregory Peck
Dr. Alex Brulov	Michael Chekhov	½
Dr. Murchison	Leo G. Carroll	½
Mary Carmichael	Rhonda Fleming
Dr. Fleurot	John Emery
Dr. Graff	Steven Geray
Dr. Hanish	Paul Harvey

Review

Of Hitchcock's many meanderings into the human psyche, this "Freudian slip" of his has arguably stood the test of time least well – despite, or perhaps because, it was also the most outright. The mystery is Gregory Peck's brain, and the detective is the enamoured Ingrid Bergman. She's surrounded by condescending wiseacres telling her all the mistakes she's making because of her infatuation and sex. It's all very didactic. Hitchcock tries to help things along by treating us to a number of creative shots which are meant to intensify the nonstop psychobabble – which unfortunately is what most of the script comes off as today. Peck and Bergman do their best to stay on top of it and make their relationship credible, which of course it isn't (except for in real life, as it were), but the real problem here is that the film relies too heavily on psychological theories and concepts which have long since been more or less debunked. What remains when viewed today is the film's value as a curiosity along with a handful of unintended amusing scenes, such as the hilarious skiing scene towards the end.