Sunday, July 19, 2009

Spellbound

Spellbound
1945
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov, Leo G. Carroll


Has everyone else watched this wonderful film but me? Where have I been? Dreaming?
Spellbound is a murder mystery solved through psychoanalysis. Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck were both simply wonderful. Even though psychoanalysis is no longer practiced as it is portrayed in the film - which makes some of the scenes humorous - Hitchcock's ability as a director to create suspense still makes Spellbound an excellent film. Although I'm not personally a great fan of artist Salvador Dali, it was incredible to see what remained of his dream sequences. Apparently the original ran for twenty minutes, but only part of it was filmed and then most of what was filmed was cut. And, although the movie is in black and white, there were two frames during the climactic scene that were hand-tinted red. Spellbound was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor (Michael Chekhov), but won for Miklos Rozsa's score.

1 comment:

Heidenkind said...

I loved Michael Chekhov! He was so cute. Not to mention the only sane person in the movie.