 | | |  | | | | | | SPELLBOUND
Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1945
Thursday 18 September 2003 11pm-12.50am | | | | | When 'Doctor Edwardes' arrives at Green Manors mental asylum he is met by the glacial Constance Peterson, whose icy façade quickly melts as she falls in love with her new boss. But it soon becomes apparent that the recent arrival is an amnesiac, merely masquerading as the doctor. More chillingly, he may have murdered the real Edwardes. Peterson joins forces with the imposter to unlock his memory and uncover the truth about the missing medic. Or, as director Alfred Hitchcock described Spellbound, it's "another manhunt story wrapped up in pseudo-psychoanalysis". Hitchcock was, of course, employing typical flippancy in his summation - producer David O Selznick had insisted a doctor was onset to ensure a degree of authenticity. Indeed, the setting worked so well it heralded a Hollywood fixation, with psychoanalysis and improbably glamourous psychiatrists becoming well-worn staples of American cinema. Few films capture the mind's mechanics with such flair, however, and the movie's famous dream-sequence, designed by Salvador Dali, remains admired and discussed in equal measures. Spellbound entranced the world. It cost around $1.5 million to make and triumphantly took over $7 million. The director perceived Bergman as pivotal to its success and the Swedish star, suggested by Selznick, became the first actress to portray the heroine in three of Hitchcock's American movies, a record only equaled by Grace Kelly. Selznick also helped on the script, based on Francis Breeding's novel, The House of Doctor Edwardes, and although he gave Hitchcock autonomy on the studio floor he was merciless in the editing suite, slashing 20 minutes of the work to produce a tightly paced and fast-moving thriller. Spellbound may lack the depth of later Hitchcock masterpieces such as Vertigo and Marnie, but it stands out as one of the Master's most purely entertaining works. Suspenseful, visually brilliant and well acted, it remains wildly implausible, but hugely enjoyable. Gavin Collinson
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Composer Miklos Rosza was awarded an Oscar for Spellbound's swirling, evocative score 
