Nice glasses. She must be wicked smart.(1945) **1/2
Our story deals with psychoanalysis, the method by which modern science treats the emotional problems of the sane. The analyst seeks only to induce the patient to talk about his hidden problems, to open the locked doors of his mind. Once the complexes that have been disturbing the patient are uncovered and interpreted, the illness and confusion disappear ... and the evils of unreason are driven from the human soul. - Introduction to Spellbound (1945)
I was imagining AC and JPX spraining their eyes from rolling them in exasperation at all the hokey pseudo-Freudian garbage thrown about in this semi-disappointing Hitchcock.
Ingrid Bergman plays the WORST PSYCHOANALYST IN THE WORLD, and Gregory Peck (Ok, so they do make a damn fine looking couple) is her boss/patient/lover. The plot is similar to Stage Fright, in that it involves a woman trying to help prove the innocence of her beloved, who "seems" wrongly suspected of murder.
This is the shortest technicolor shot ever filmed.There's a lot of plot twists and mistaken identities in Spellbound, so it's a tough one to pick apart too thoroughly without giving away spoilers, so I'll just give some brief comments:
- There's a great dream sequence based on Dali's work--I think he even collaborated on it. So if you want to see Peck run around in a scene of melting clocks, cutting eyeball draperies with big scissors (and you SHOULD want to see that), then this is for you.
- There's tons of easy misogyny. I suppose that's not particularly unique for Hitch, but it seemed more naked and jarring in this one. Much of the plot rests on Ingrid Bergman being an irrational "woman in love." You never can tell what such creatures will do next, after all!
- And in case you don't know the Billy Bragg song based on Woody Guthrie's lyrics: "Ingrid Bergman"
