La maison du docteur Edwardes

I recently saw this film on the large screen after having not seen it for over 10 years. My memories of it were not that fond -- I recalled it as an unusually melodramatic and not very convincing thriller enlivened by a very attractive cast.

What I had forgotten about was how almost impossibly silly all the psychoanalytical claptrap is, especially in the first couple of reels, which thereby make us feel very quickly that we're not quite in the mature, masterful grip of Hitch's usual wit and taste. Yes, I know this was made in the 40's, but the first 20 to 30 minutes of the film have more sexist moments and infantile behavior by supposed doctors than one would ever expect from either Hitch or Ben Hecht.

So who's to blame? One guess -- David O. Selznick! That being said (along with the fact that the story doesn't really add up to much of anything, since all the premises on which it's based seem so shaky, naive and downright goofy), the film has some things going for it. About midway through the picture, when Michael Chekhov appears as Dr. Brulov, the film suddenly kicks into what we might call "classic British Hitch mode," with the kind of understated wit and ensemble playing the director had been doing so well since the early 30's. It almost becomes another (and far more palatable) film at this point. The scenes with Bergman, Peck and Chekhov are the highlight of the film, and I have to admit that I'm even kind of fond of the hotel lobby scene, with the appealingly breezy Bill Goodwin (of "Burns and Allen" radio fame) as the house detective. Peck has never been more handsome, in a strangely fragile way.

Also worth a look are the brief but truly unusual Dali-designed dream sequences. There is something to be said for Miklos Rozsa's score as well: although it edges a bit far into soupy overscoring, the expressive main theme has quality, and his use of the theremin (which he also employed in his score for THE LOST WEEKEND at virtually the same time) is striking and represented "something new" in film music.

One could easily make excuses for this film based on "it was only 1945" or "what people knew about psychoanalysis was still naive", etc., but even taken in context of its time it's a pretty silly film without the kind of sustained surety of style leavened with simultaneous suspense, intelligence, taste and humor that he had already proved he could do so well from more than ten years earlier. Given a standard he had already given us with examples from THE 39 STEPS or YOUNG AND INNOCENT through THE LADY VANISHES in the UK, or FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT and SHADOW OF A DOUBT here in the US, this film seems not up to his true capacities, and like his other Selznick-produced American film, REBECCA, seems both overfussy and filled with emphases and spoonfeeding of details which Hitch himself would never have given us.

You need only compare this film with his very next one, NOTORIOUS, to be painfully aware how much better Hitchcock on his own -- using his own standards of pace, momentum and the ADULT treatment of script themes -- could be when not under the thumb of Selznick. Thank God he didn't have to work for him any more after this.

Alfred Hitchcock weaves his spell binding magic into this Francis Beeding novel. In some opinions, this is Hitchcock's best project from the 40's. Powerful stars and a great story line keeps your interest until the final shot.

An amnesia patient(Gregory Peck)is believed to be a psychotic killer. Bits and pieces of his memory about a childhood accident makes him believe that he is a murderer. Ingrid Bergman plays a young psychiatrist, who helps Peck unravel his past and regain his memory and mental health. During this process, the lovely doctor tries not to fall in love with her needy patient. She takes him to her old professor(Michael Chekhov) for help. He is reluctant to get involved with solving the mystery to clear the patient's name.

Brilliant camera work and being filmed in black & white really helped the story line. There is an eye opening dream sequence designed by Salvador Dali that is down right mystic.

The strong and talented cast also includes: Regis Toomey, Leo G. Carroll and Rhonda Fleming. This film is worth the time to watch again and again.

I watched Spellbound for the first time this morning, and overall I was very impressed. While Spellbound is far from his best film, it is in general very well done, and I would definitely watch it again for a number of reasons. Hitchcock's direction is noteworthy, maybe not as tight as it usually is, but still noteworthy. The film is shot with breathtaking black and white cinematography, particularly the scene in the countryside, in fact the only scene where it didn't quite work was in the skiing scene, it looked rushed and a tad too amateurish. On a more positive note, the music score by Miklos Rosza was absolutely outstanding; it is without a doubt one of the best film scores I have ever heard, and in my opinion one of the more memorable scores in any Hitchcock film. From the beautiful sweeping title theme, to some truly haunting parts in especially the scene with the sleepwalking. The final solution is exceedingly clever and unpredictable, and the dream sequence by Salvador Dali while short was essential to the plot and very effective. Speaking of the plot, mixed with psychological nuances and a young doctor's struggles to help her patient/ lover and prove his innocence, has its usual twists and turns and is pretty suspenseful. I will admit some of it is implausible, and the script may just lack the sophistication of the scripts of Hitchcocks like Vertigo or Rebecca, but on the whole it was cleverly crafted. The performances are in general very good; Gregory Peck is disappointingly one-note, but as the beautiful but cold Constance Peterson Sweedish beauty Ingrid Bergman is a revelation. The standout supporting turns come from Michael Chekov as Alex and Leo G. Carroll as Murchison, both add a lot to the film and do very well, and Hitchcock himself makes a cameo. All in all, has its flaws, and is definitely not Hitchcock's best, but I do recommend it. And I do think that along with StageFright it is one of the more undervalued Hitchcock movies. 8/10 Bethany Cox

One of the first films in Hollywood to deal with the subject of psychoanalysis, Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound is an expertly crafted psychological thriller that works equally well as a brain teaser for its viewers. It tells the story of a psychiatrist who protects the identity of an amnesia patient, disguised as the new head of a mental asylum, and covers her attempts to recover his memory.

Cleverly directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the film is full of twists & turns throughout its runtime and repeatedly plays a dream sequence that toys with viewers' mind like a strong puzzle asking to be solved. Cinematography is a stunning work of film-noir, editing keeps the tension alive from start to finish & thanks to its terrific use of music, it manages to keep the viewers at the age of their seats for the majority of its runtime.

And also worth mentioning are its brilliant performances from Gregory Peck, Michael Chekov & the immensely beautiful Ingrid Bergman amongst whom Bergman impressed me the most for I was completely in awe of her. On an overall scale, Spellbound is a spellbinding tale by the master of suspense that never lets out the entertainment factor for its viewers & keeps them invested in its story with a sense of self-generated curiosity. Highly recommended.

You've fallen for a man who's an impostor, although his memories of before he cannot foster, a psychologist by trade, you're intent to move the shade, and prevent John Ballantyne from getting loster. He disappears, you track him down and run away, to your mentor's house you find a place to stay, as together you decrypt, in abstract dreams you find transcript, then make your way to mountains where folk ski and sleigh. It soon transpires that there's skulduggery at work, you're new loves actions, can't possibly be shirked, a slippery slope is more inclined, riven with twisting, turning lines, a casual comment fills with light, removes the dark.

Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck enchant throughout.