I should point out that I have seen many Hitchcock films and although he made many excellent films, I feel he made quite a few turkeys that somehow seem to have been ignored by those who have proclaimed Hitchcock's genius. I think he was a very good director but feel his reputation is greatly inflated. A far more successful director would be William Wyler--whose quality and consistency of work is unmatched in America. As examples of not so hot Hitchcock movies, I name this one and especially the Paradine Case (a wretchedly dull Gregory Peck "drama"),Marnie and Jamaica Inn (among others).

Secondly, I need to point out that I have extensive training in individual and group psychotherapy and this ruins the movie for me BUT might not ruin it for the average viewer. Many of the theories espoused in the movie are complete psychological "mumbo jumbo" and the behavior of Ingrid Bergman (as Peck's therapist) would result in her having her license to practice stripped in all 50 states (and probably result in criminal prosecution).

So what did I like? First, though brief, I like the dream sequence created by Salvador Dali for the film. It's weird and wacky but cool. I like to show it to my Psychology students for insight into both dream interpretation and the analytic approach to therapy (that is no longer in vogue). Second, I like the nutty character portrayed by Leo G. Carroll. He's only in the movie here and there, but he's malevolent and calculating.

Unfortunately, despite their amazing talents, this movie does nothing to improve the reputations of Peck, Bergman or Hitchcock when viewed today. Ingrid Bergman plays a female therapist that hardly seems professional, but is instead a hyper-emotional and rather silly woman--hardly a shining example for women's rights. Peck plays a guy who spends most of the movie behaving "flaky"--and that's about about deep as his role is allowed to progress. Maybe at the time this was seen as slick stuff, but today it just seems silly and so full of holes and inconsistencies.

I watched Spellbound for the first time this morning, and overall I was very impressed. While Spellbound is far from his best film, it is in general very well done, and I would definitely watch it again for a number of reasons. Hitchcock's direction is noteworthy, maybe not as tight as it usually is, but still noteworthy. The film is shot with breathtaking black and white cinematography, particularly the scene in the countryside, in fact the only scene where it didn't quite work was in the skiing scene, it looked rushed and a tad too amateurish. On a more positive note, the music score by Miklos Rosza was absolutely outstanding; it is without a doubt one of the best film scores I have ever heard, and in my opinion one of the more memorable scores in any Hitchcock film. From the beautiful sweeping title theme, to some truly haunting parts in especially the scene with the sleepwalking. The final solution is exceedingly clever and unpredictable, and the dream sequence by Salvador Dali while short was essential to the plot and very effective. Speaking of the plot, mixed with psychological nuances and a young doctor's struggles to help her patient/ lover and prove his innocence, has its usual twists and turns and is pretty suspenseful. I will admit some of it is implausible, and the script may just lack the sophistication of the scripts of Hitchcocks like Vertigo or Rebecca, but on the whole it was cleverly crafted. The performances are in general very good; Gregory Peck is disappointingly one-note, but as the beautiful but cold Constance Peterson Sweedish beauty Ingrid Bergman is a revelation. The standout supporting turns come from Michael Chekov as Alex and Leo G. Carroll as Murchison, both add a lot to the film and do very well, and Hitchcock himself makes a cameo. All in all, has its flaws, and is definitely not Hitchcock's best, but I do recommend it. And I do think that along with StageFright it is one of the more undervalued Hitchcock movies. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Psychiatry isn't as simple as Spellbound would have you believe, the reasons for one's neuroses sure can't get cured with two or three sessions with Ingrid Bergman. But certain events can definitely be explained and it all seems quite reasonable when the explanations come from Alfred Hitchcock.

Spellbound gave both Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman their first Hitchcock films and their only film together. Peck arrives at a sanitarium to take the place of director Leo G. Carroll. But after a short time, the other psychiatrists realize that he's not all he seems.

In fact he's not a psychiatrist at all, but in fact a mental patient who has stolen the doctor's identity. The doctor has disappeared and in all likelihood been murdered. Peck flees the sanitarium, but Ingrid doesn't believe he's guilty of anything and she pursues and finds him and together they try to unravel what's locked up in his mind.

Back when I was in college I took an introductory psychology course to fill up my electives and Spellbound got to mean something to me then. I had a professor who I wasn't quite sure didn't belong in an asylum run by Leo G. Carroll. It was a running joke in the class that we were all in the midst of a Spellbound like drama that this man had killed the real professor and that at any time the men with the nets were going to drag our teacher away.

Episodes in Peck's life from childhood and the war and the trauma of seeing what happened to the real doctor have made him an amnesia case out of Peck. It's up to Ingrid to unravel it all by trying to interpret some recurring dreams.

The dream sequences involve some sets courtesy of Salvador Dali and it's the main reason that Spellbound is remembered today as opposed to being just another of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpieces. For fans of the great painter this film is a must.

Spellbound got a whole slew of nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and several more in technical categories. Spellbound and Alfred Hitchcock came up short against The Lost Weekend and Billy Wilder. Michael Chekov got a Best Supporting Actor nomination but lost to James Dunn for A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. Chekov plays Ingrid Bergman's mentor and he's right out of central casting as a Viennese Freudian psychiatrist.

Spellbound took home one award for Miklos Rosza's score and it will linger with you a long time after you've seen Spellbound.

Rhonda Fleming got her first critical notice as a homicidal mental patient, it's a brief but telling role. John Emery who is probably best known for being Tallulah Bankhead's husband plays a wolfish analyst on the make for Ingrid Bergman and plays it well.

When Bergman finally unravels it all, her final confrontation scene with the villain is one of Hitchcock's masterpieces. Talk about coolness under fire.

Though simplistic in its treatment of psychiatry, Spellbound will leave you just that when you see it.