175. Spellbound (1945)

Running Time: 111 minutes
Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock
Written By: Angus MacPhail, Ben Hecht
Main Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov, Leo G. Carroll, John Emery

HITCHCOCKTOBER FEST!: PART II

Just as a side note, I'll quickly mentioned that after writing my "Shadow of a Doubt" review I immediately bolted over to Amazon and ordered the DVD. Yeah, it's that good! This movie in the other hand is not that good, as we go from fantastic Hitchcock film to barely mediocre Hitchcock film.

"Spellbound" takes place at a mental hospital in Vermont, Green Manors, headed up by Dr. Murchison (Carroll). With Murchison's senility in question, he is being replaced by Dr. Edwards, whom, upon the films opening, is set to arrive. Dr. Peterson (Bergman) is the only female psychotherapist on the staff and out central character. Soon after Dr. Edwards arrives, the staff and more specifically Peterson notices that he's not acting altogether there. He freaks out when Peterson draws fork lines on a table cloth and winces and shouts at the sight of Peterson's white robe. Eventually it is uncovered that Edwards is not who he says he is and that the real Dr. Edwards is presumed dead. The impostor Edwards can't seem to remember anything about his own identity except that his initials are "J.B." and that he thinks he may have traveled to Rome with the real Dr. Edwards. Prior to this revelation Peterson and "Edwards" a.k.a. J.B. (Peck) fall in love and Peterson is determined to help him remember his past and get over his obvious guilt complexes. If she fails, then he could very well be committed where he would undergo shock therapy and thus never be the same.

I had to stop about an hour into the film when my wife called me to dinner (I watched the movie last night but didn't get to the review till today) and I can definitely say that if you can stick it out through the first half of this film then there is a minor payoff in the end. The first half drags like a canine with a brick tied to it's tail and there is so much psychology talk: guilt complex this and guilt complex that and I totally knew what it was the first time they explained it, but they keep throwing the term out there, as if the actors had just learned what the term meant and wanted to flaunt it. Also during the first hour almost nothing happens. "Dr. Edwards" arrives at Green Manors, there's some chit chat between the current staff of Green Manors and we see also in the first hour that "Dr. Edwards probably isn't who he says he is or is probably sick himself, due to the fact that he freaks out over the color white. That's it. One hour and that's all we really are treated to. I really think there was also a serious case of miscasting going on here, as I'm all for a Gregory Peck movie, but he just didn't seem to fit in here. I find Gregory Peck to be a good, reasonable, sane character...a voice of reason kind of guy, not someone who is apparently insane. And while I've never seen an Ingrid Bergman movie before, she seemed like she really had some acting chops, but it felt as if she was being held back here and that this script was a bit below her standards.

SPOILER ALERT!

The second half definitely picks up, but not quite enough to turn this into anything worthwhile. There's a pretty cool dream sequence, which comes about after they hypnotize J.B. There's also some pretty clever little camera tricks, such as Gregory Peck's view from outside the bottom of a glass of milk. We also start to get some questions answered in the second half and in fact, that turns into a bit of a problem, as the ending seems rushed, with such a slow start and such a fast finish. The film would've been well served to have had a little more pacing and the action and advancement of the plot could've been spread out a little better. Anyway, I was talking about the second half...so yeah, we get some questions answered and Peterson and J.B. end up at her old colleague, Dr. Brulov's home, played brilliantly by Michael Chekhov, someone who dodged the miscasting bullet and nailed his part.

I think I've pretty much said all that needs to be said. There were some hot moments in the film, but also quite a few dry ones and in the end it turns out to be a disappointment for this Hitchcock fan.

RATING: 4.5/10 I was gonna' go for a '5' but even the interesting second half couldn't get it to the average marker. Next up is "Notorious".

MOVIES WATCHED: 158
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 843

October 7, 2010 1:51pm