Other Titles • Spellbound (1945) • Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound • The House of Dr. Edwardes • Ich kämpfe um dich (1952)
Synopses for Spellbound (1945)
1.
Drawing on psychoanalysis to frame a transcendent love story, Alfred Hitchcock's SPELLBOUND is a mind-bending study of just how far people might go to escape trauma or to pursue passion. Gregory Peck is introduced as Dr. Edwardes, the newly arrived director of a mental asylum. However, when Edwardes starts displaying strange behavior in a meeting with the staff, Dr. Constance Peterson (Ingrid Bergman) begins to suspect that all is not right with him. Edwardes proves to actually be John Ballantine, a patient suffering from amnesia--and a consuming dread in relation to the missing Dr. Edwardes. As suspicion of murder falls over Ballantine, the icy Peterson finds herself growing more and more emotionally attached to him and more and more convinced that curing his amnesia is the key to proving his innocence. Retreating to an upstate residence, Peterson enlists the help of leading psychoanalyst Dr. Brulov (Michael Chekhov). Pursuing the truth of the mysterious disappearance of Dr. Edwardes leads deep into the tangled mindscape of Ballantine and proves that danger is very close indeed. To illustrate the psychological journey Ballantine undergoes, the film includes a captivating dream sequence designed by the legendary surrealist painter Salvador Dali.
2.
Spellbound was nominated for six Academy Awards and won the Oscar for its original score. Based on Francis Bleeding's novel "The House of Dr. Edwardes," it is one of Hitchcock's finest films, full of classic plot twists and featuring a riveting dream sequence by Salvador Dali.
Dr. Murchison has retired from his position as head of the Green manors Mental Asylum, and his replacement, the famous psychiatrist Dr. Edwards (Gregory Peck), finds himself attracted to the beautiful, but cold, Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman). However, Dr. Petersen soon realizes that he is a paranoid amnesiac impostor and tries to cure him while attempting to solve the mystery of what happened to the real Dr. Edwards.
3.
Alfred Hitchcock takes on Sigmund Freud in this thriller in which psychologist Ingrid Bergman tries to solve a murder by unlocking the clues hidden in the mind of amnesiac suspect Gregory Peck. Among the highlights is a bizarre dream sequence seemingly designed by Salvador Dali--complete with huge eyeballs and pointy scissors. Although the film is in black and white, the original release contained one subliminal blood-red frame, appearing when a gun pointed directly at the camera goes off. Spellbound is one of Hitchcock's strangest and most atmospheric films, providing the director with plenty of opportunities to explore what he called "pure cinema"--i.e., the power of pure visual associations. Miklós Rózsa's haunting score (which features the creepy electronic instrument, the theremin) won an Oscar, and the movie was nominated for best picture, director, supporting actor (Michael Chekhov), cinematography and special visual effects. --Jim Emerson
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