Spellbound (1945)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Ben Hecht (screenplay)
Frances Beeding (suggested by novel The House of Dr. Edwardes)
(more)

Release Date:

28 December 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Film-Noir | 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:

Memory | Police | Amnesia | Murder | Impostor

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Ingrid Bergman	...	Dr. Constance Petersen
Gregory Peck	...	John Ballantyne
Michael Chekhov	...	Dr. Alexander 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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean Acker	...	Matron (uncredited)
Irving Bacon	...	Railway Gateman (uncredited)
Richard Bartell	...	Ticket Taker (uncredited)
Harry Brown	...	Gateman (uncredited)
Joel Davis	...	John Ballantine as a Boy (uncredited)
Jacqueline deWit	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Edward Fielding	...	Dr. Anthony Edwardes (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man Leaving Elevator (uncredited)
Teddy Infuhr	...	John Ballantine's Brother (uncredited)
Victor Kilian	...	Sheriff (uncredited)
George Meader	...	Hallett - Railroad Clerk (uncredited)
Matt Moore	...	Policeman at Train Station (uncredited)
Constance Purdy	...	Dr. Brulov's Housekeeper (uncredited)
Addison Richards	...	Police Captain (uncredited)
Erskine Sanford	...	Dr. Galt (uncredited)
Janet Scott	...	Norma Cramer (uncredited)
Clarence Straight	...	Secretary at Police Station (uncredited)
Dave Willock	...	Bellboy (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
Ben Hecht		(screenplay)
Frances Beeding		suggested by novel The House of Dr. Edwardes &
John Palmer		suggested by novel "The House of Dr. Edwardes" (uncredited) &
Hilary St. George Sanders		suggested by novel "The House of Dr. Edwardes" (uncredited)
Angus MacPhail		(adaptation)
May E. Romm		contributing writer: foreword (uncredited)

Produced by
David O. Selznick	....	producer

Original Music by
Miklós Rózsa		(as Miklos Rozsa)

Cinematography by
George Barnes		(photographed by)

Art Direction by
James Basevi

Production Management
Fred Ahern	....	unit manager (uncredited)
Richard Johnston	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lowell J. Farrell	....	assistant director
Charles Barton	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Salvador Dalí	....	dream sequence designed by (as Salvador Dali)
John Ewing	....	associate art director
Emile Kuri	....	interior decorator

Sound Department
Richard DeWeese	....	recorder (as Richard De Weese)
Arthur Johns	....	sound effects mixer (uncredited)
Arthur Johns	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Jack Cosgrove	....	special effects
Clarence Slifer	....	special effects associate (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ned Scott	....	still photographer (uncredited)
John F. Warren	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Rex Wimpy	....	second camera operator: dream sequence (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Howard Greer	....	gowns: Miss Bergman (uncredited)
Ann Peck	....	wardrobe supervisor: women (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Hal C. Kern	....	supervising film editor
William H. Ziegler	....	associate film editor

Music Department
Audrey Granville	....	associate composer (uncredited)
Samuel Hoffman	....	musician: theremin (uncredited)
Earl B. Mounce	....	music mixer (uncredited)
Eugene Zador	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Barbara Keon	....	production assistant
May E. Romm	....	psychiatric advisor (as May E. Romm M.D.)
Ann Harris	....	research director (uncredited)
Eileen Johnston	....	psychiatric advisor (uncredited)
Clarita Heath Reiter	....	technical director: skiing sequence (uncredited)
Rex Wimpy	....	transparency projection shots (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Selznick International Pictures (presents) (as Selznick International) (as A Selznick International Picture also)
• Vanguard Films (as Vanguard Films Inc.)

Distributors

• United Artists (1945) (USA) (theatrical)
• Sonoro Filme (1946) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Actueel Film (1947) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Meteor Film Productions (1947) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (as Meteor Film)
• Selznick Distributing Corporation (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (reissue)
• Suomi-Filmi (1951) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Schorcht Filmverleih Gmbh (1952) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• National Telefilm Associates (NTA) (1958) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• ABC Distribution Co. (1973) (USA) (TV)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1978) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• CBS/Fox (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Key Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Pioneer (1994) (UK) (video) (laserdisc)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• EuroVideo (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• EuroVideo (2002) (Germany) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Manga Films (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2008) (Canada) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• CBS/Fox (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Capital Cities/ABC Video Enterprises Inc. (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Intrada  score album released by (Excalibur Collection) (uncredited)

Also Known As:

"Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound" - USA (promotional title)
"Ich kämpfe um dich" - Austria, West Germany
"Trollbunden" - Finland (Swedish title) (imdb display title), Sweden
"A Casa Encantada" - Portugal
"Cuéntame tu vida" - Argentina
"Ekstasis" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Elbűvölve" - Hungary
"Ik zal u redden" - Belgium (Flemish title)
"Io ti salverò" - Italy
"Je te sauverai" - Belgium (French title)
"La maison du docteur Edwardes" - France
"Noiduttu" - Finland
"Nyhta agonias" - Greece (reissue title)
"Nyhtes agonias sto Spellbound" - Greece (reissue title)
"Obsessie" - Netherlands (alternative title)
"Quando Fala o Coração" - Brazil
"Recuerda..." - Spain
"Troldbunden" - Denmark
"Trollbundet" - Norway (imdb display title)
"Urzeczona" - Poland
"Zacaran" - Serbia

Runtime:

111 min | Canada:95 min (Ontario)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Two frames tinted) | 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) | Netherlands:18 (original rating) (1947) | UK:A (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | USA:Unrated | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (re-release) (2008) | USA:Approved (PCA #10456)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Selznick International Pictures

Trivia:

David O. Selznick wanted 'Miklós Rózsa (I)' to swell the orchestra from 14 violins to 28 as he had liked the effect that that had brought when Franz Waxman did it while scoring Rebecca (1940).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dr.Brulov asks Dr. Constance to see her notes, he takes out his pencil from his jacket twice.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Just a Minute: Episode #1.7" (2012)

Soundtrack:

Spellbound Concerto

Freudian fantasy

A world in which Freudian psycho-analysis works as it's supposed to is rather like a world in which magic works - so call this film a fantasy. There's nothing whatever wrong with fantasy. Indeed, there's nothing better. Hitchcock announces at the very beginning that the story takes place in a Freudian world; thereafter he plays perfectly fair with us.

He even chose the right collaborators for a fantasy. The dream sequences were designed by Salvador Dali. (Anyone whose dreams really do look like Dali paintings maybe COULD do with some psycho-analysis.) They're not frightening - dream sequences rarely are - but they are at any rate more interesting than the usual dreams we might have or hear about. The music was by Miklós Rózsa, maybe the best of the composers who settled in Hollywood, certainly the most vividly overpowering. He was exactly the right choice for this film - however much Hitchcock disliked the score, or said that he did.

The story follows a confused Gregory Peck, who cannot remember key episodes of his recent (and not so recent) past, and who may, just possibly, be a dangerous criminal. Ingrid Bergman is a second-generation disciple of Freud who despite her professional caution finds herself falling in love with him. Perhaps it sounds cardboard already, but the performances invest the characters with more life than my descriptions did. Peck in particular is highly sympathetic. He comes across as not at all mad, not even mentally disturbed - just a man who can't remember one or two things and has an odd aversion to things like parallel lines. (That?s right - parallel lines.) Anyway, as I said, it's a fantasy: the forces of psychoanalysis must unravel the mystery before it's too late. (Why there's a "too late" is too complicated to go into.) The usual kind of Hitchcock suspense isn't there but the man WAS capable of moving outside his home genre now and then. Remember, his other fantasy was "The Birds".