STUFF YOU GOTTA WATCH - Spellbound (1945)

SPELLBOUND

(1945)

With Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov, Leo G. Carroll, Rhonda Fleming
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Black and White
Reviewed by JL

Ingrid Bergman falls in love with Gregory Peck as she's trying to cure him of a worse case of amnesia than he would have 21 years later in MIRAGE. Hailed as a masterpiece when released, SPELLBOUND now seems comically naive in its understanding of psychology and dream interpretation. It is, therefore, perhaps the only Hitchcock film whose reputation has diminished over the years, though if you can get past the Freudian gobbledygook, there's a top-notch mystery thriller underneath -- one of the Master's most suspenseful, in fact. The film is most noted for its memorable and splashy visuals, especially a gaudy see-it-to-believe-it dream sequence designed by Salvador Dali. - JL