- The Master of Suspense probes into the subconscious mind for a cerebral thriller
- Freudulent: Based on once popular but now largely debunked ideas on psychoanalysis
- Sigmund’s theories no longer universally accepted but Spellbound still a rattling good yarn
- Composer Miklós Rózsa’s Oscar winning score is among Hitchcock’s best known and most iconic
- Blockbuster: Marketing blitz ensured transatlantic success, breaking many audience records
- Titian-haired beauty Rhonda Fleming, 21, features as a mentally unstable nymphomaniac!
- Married stars Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck had a real-life love affair during filming
Note: this is part of an ongoing series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles; any dead links are to those not yet published. Subscribe to the email list to be notified when new ones appear.
Spellbound: Writing on a Classic; Making of a Masterpiece; Collectors Guide, Pt 2: Home video, 3: Soundtrack, 4: Re-recordings, 5: Concerto
US 1949 re-release: insert poster (still); half sheet, style B (alt); lobby cards
Contents
Synopsis
This conventional trailer came close to being like the one for Psycho; or perhaps an alternative was made but is now lost…
Spellbound features two of the screen’s most revered stars, Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman in this witty and satirical psychological mystery. Ingrid Bergman plays Dr. Peterson, a detached and brilliant psychiatrist, who falls helplessly in love with Dr. Edwardes (Gregory Peck), only to find he is an amnesiac and imposter suspected of murdering the true Dr. Edwardes. Determined to prove his innocence, Dr. Peterson becomes a fugitive with the imposter known only as J.B. and through skilful detective work she manages to access the dark and confused chambers of his mind, finding the clues which help her unravel this perplexing mystery. For Bosley Crowther of The New York Times, the “lovely Miss Bergman is both doctor and prescription in this movie”. A unique and unusually intimate movie “that begins working its magic right from the credits”, according to Bill Collins. – Australian ABC Video VHS
Spellbound is an enigmatic psychological drama from Alfred Hitchcock. Gregory Peck stars as Dr. Edwardes, the new director of a mental institution who has attracted the romantic interest of Dr. Peterson (Ingrid Bergman). When Bergman discovers that her new lover is actually a mental patient and an imposter, she must hide him from the police until the fate of the real Dr. Edwardes is resolved. It’s a game of cat and mouse in a tale that searches the hidden depths of the human mind. With a 1945 Academy Award winning musical score and a haunting dream sequence by surrealist Salvador Dalí, Spellbound has all the elements of a truly unique classic. – US ABC/Time Life VHS (1991)
As with many of Hitch’s so-called adaptations, only the basic premise was retained of of Francis Beeding’s 1927 source novel, The House of Dr. Edwardes [later retitled Spellbound after the film]. The original gothic mystery takes place entirely in the sanitorium and is more concerned with Satanism than psychoanalysis. Hitch and his crew were subjected to their boss David O. Selznick’s infamous, relentless amphetamine-fuelled memos throughout production and the producer had almost as much of a hand in (mis)shaping the finished article as his director. He even installed his own therapist, May Romm, on set, who constantly disagreed witch Hitch on how to do his job. Most notoriously, Selznick insisted on cutting most of the intended lengthy dream sequence; he clearly didn’t subscribe to the adage, “”You don’t buy a dog and do your own barking.” As good as the film is, due to Selznick’s many changes it’s destined to remain one of the great cinematic “what ifs”.
- Hitchcock and Selznick: Their Rich and Strange Collaboration in Hollywood (1987/1999) – Leonard J. Leff | review
Marketing
What a fibber: she literally never touched the stuff. From Movieland, Nov 1945; here’s more. Incidentally, sad news about Ruth Warrick and Erik Rolf, though I’ve no idea what it has to do with “the Henry Fondas”.
As amply demonstrated by its US pressbook, the marketing blitz for Spellbound included free ticket offers, tie-in jewellery, hats, dresses, gloves, shoes, handbags, haircuts, rain capes, beauty contests… you name it! Speaking of beauties, second female lead Rhonda Fleming appeared in her breakout role as glamorous but violent nymphomaniac Mary Carmichael. I know. Different times. Her character’s worst excesses didn’t make it past the censors but although still not the most wholesome association, off the back of it Fleming lent her name and likeness in service of Lynette’s coincidentally-eponymous perfume launched two years earlier.
But it seems extremely unlikely she ever actually posed with the stuff and all the publicity was mocked up. It appears to have been on the market until being discontinued in 1948 when remaining stocks were sold off, and is entirely unconnected to the scent of the same name sold by Estée Lauder since 1991. Also coincidentally, Lynette had a perfume named Notorious, likewise launched a couple of years before Hitch’s follow-up film, but for which there appears to have been no marketing tie-in.
Amazingly, there are no full length English-language documentaries or biographies of this rare talent who was dubbed the “Queen of Technicolor” for her fleming, er, flaming red hair. Nonetheless, she lived until 2020 and the ripe of age of 97, and told her story many times, including in “A Cinderella Story: Rhonda Fleming” (2008, 10:16), a bonus featurette on the remastered US discs of Spellbound. She also has a dedicated episode of Hollywood Remembers The Leading Ladies: Rhonda Fleming (2000, 25min). But there is a comprehensive German biography and, somewhat obliquely, she has her own entry in the long running Paper Dolls series.
- Rhonda Fleming Paper Dolls (2009) – Norma Lu Meehan
- Rhonda Fleming: Cinderella in Hollywood/Queen of the Bs (2021) – Robert Zion
On the radio
There are just three English-language dramatisations to date, the first of which features Alida Valli, star of Hitch’s then current film The Paradine Case; and Joseph Cotten, star of the upcoming Under Capricorn. Of course, he was previously the devil incarnate in Shadow of a Doubt and would later appear in three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and two of its associated series, Suspicion. He and Valli were also reteamed in 1949’s The Third Man and the following year’s Walk Softly, Stranger.
- Lux Radio Theatre, March 8, 1948 (60min) – Joseph Cotten and Alida Valli | CD, cass; also on US Criterion and MGM discs.
- Screen Directors Playhouse, January 25, 1951 (60min) – Joseph Cotten and Mercedes McCambridge; Hitch as guest | Radio Spirits 6-CD/cass | MP3
- BBC Radio 4, 16 February, 2008 (57min) – Benedict Cumberbatch and Hattie Morahan
Documentaries
TCM Cinéma | TCM | interviews: 1957, 1964
If Peck and Bergman exhibit great onscreen chemistry, that’s because they had even more offscreen, embarking on an affair – despite both being married with children at the time – which Peck confessed to long after his co-star’s death. Here are just a few of the many documentaries about the pair. The above 50-minute doc, originally titled Ingrid (1984, 69min), is by Gene Feldman and Suzette Winter, a husband and wife writing-producing-directing team who specialised in Hollywood subjects. Most have been released in several differently titled, edited and narrated iterations; in this case between 1984 and 2015, and with its shortest edit just 28 minutes. The 50-minute version has been released on streaming and:
However, the original 69-minute version is also available on streaming (and much rougher quality here) and two physical releases:
- US: Janson Digipak DVD (2020) – region 0 NTSC; plays anywhere
- Australia: Ovation DVD/alt (2008) – R0 PAL
Hollywood Remembers: Ingrid Bergman (1997, 28min)
Short version | long version, French, Spanish
Also from Feldman, the original 60-minute version of Gregory Peck: His Own Man (1988) is also available on streaming and a DVD with extras:
- US: Janson Digipak DVD (2020) – region 0 NTSC; plays anywhere
Hollywood Remembers: Gregory Peck (1998, 25min)
Playing it cool: young lovers Peck and Bergman relax between takes
Spellbound: Writing on a Classic; Making of a Masterpiece; Collectors Guide, Pt 2: Home video, 3: Soundtrack, 4: Re-recordings, 5: Concerto
Related articles
This is part of a unique, in-depth series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles.
