Spellbound
Added 6/27/2009
Spellbound is just what its title indicates. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and is one of the better who-done-its to be put on film. Ingrid Bergman is excellent as the psychiatrist who takes a more-than-clinical interest in her patient, Gegory Peck. She is, as most women tend to be, irrational in her views of events due to her infatuation with Peck and his intriguing portions of memory. When she gets close to the answers, she turns totally female, ignoring her training and duty to remaain impartial, and refuses to push for the whole truth for fear it will prove her new-found love for Peck is misplaced.
Spellbound is typically Hithcock - a convoluted, red-herring-filled tale which, if you haven't seen it before, leads you to conclusion after wrong conclusion until the very end. Excellent supporting cast lends authenticity to an already marvelous acting job by the leads. Fabulous tale told by the Master.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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A Classic...
Added 4/3/2009
As a mental health professional, this movie is a great representation of the power of the unconscious mind. A time honored aspect of the discipline that has been lost on more Band-Aid like contemporary forms of treatment offered to the public.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Flips The Script With A Vengeance!
Added 3/18/2009
I know full well that this 1945 thriller is not considered to be among Hitchcock's best, and is often found wanting when compared to his other works-like Notorious, for example. However, Spellbound is my favorite Hitchcock film, one of the reasons being that it flips the script on what is typically done in the cinema.
Usually in movies it is the damsel who is in distress, and the hero who must rescue this poor woman, but in this story it is the man who is in dire straits and the heroine who is the rescuer. The character of JB is a beautiful, troubled, vulnerable, and possibly dangerous young man who desperately needs the woman he's fallen in love with to save his life-even though he may fight her at times. I also love the fact that JB, as portrayed by Gregory Peck, looks every inch the conventional hero-tall, dark, handsome, broad shouldered, seemingly cool and self confident-but his exterior deceives. Mr. Peck plays his role to sweet perfection, as does Ms. Bergman as Dr. Constance Petersen-the woman who risks her career, and possibly her very own life, to save JB. Bergman's character is incredibly strong to go through what she does in this film, and she is perhaps the smartest character in the movie( except for Dr.Bruloff, "the Biggest Brain in all of Science!").
And could any movie pairing then, or today, beat Bergman and Peck as a couple? They are, not only the best looking pair that I've ever feasted my unworthy eyes upon, but their chemistry is amazing. There is a profound sweetness and a desperate yearning between them that I can only compare to tunnel vision-only they exist and to hell with everyone else!
Spellbound is a haunting love story and an edge- of -your- seat thriller that is my favorite thriller! It's such a pity that Bergman and Peck never did another movie together. Oh, well. You can't have them all, as they say.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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3 stars out of 4
Added 1/28/2009
The Bottom Line:
Spellbound is not one of Hitchcock's best (the psychoanalysis angle is pretty dated and it never generates a high level of tension) but it's a well-made mystery with several standout scenes and an inspired Dali dream sequence.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Excellent storytelling
Added 1/13/2009
Let's face it folks, these days, movies that tell good solid stories are very hard to come by...If you are the type of movie watcher who enjoys a really great story, then Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound is good for you...
If you've never seen it before, you won't be disappointed, and you won't be able to look away from the screen. If you've seen it before, it will be just as good the next time around. Spellbound
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Spellbound
Added 6/27/2009
Spellbound is just what its title indicates. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and is one of the better who-done-its to be put on film. Ingrid Bergman is excellent as the psychiatrist who takes a more-than-clinical interest in her patient, Gegory Peck. She is, as most women tend to be, irrational in her views of events due to her infatuation with Peck and his intriguing portions of memory. When she gets close to the answers, she turns totally female, ignoring her training and duty to remaain impartial, and refuses to push for the whole truth for fear it will prove her new-found love for Peck is misplaced.
Spellbound is typically Hithcock - a convoluted, red-herring-filled tale which, if you haven't seen it before, leads you to conclusion after wrong conclusion until the very end. Excellent supporting cast lends authenticity to an already marvelous acting job by the leads. Fabulous tale told by the Master.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
A Classic...
Added 4/3/2009
As a mental health professional, this movie is a great representation of the power of the unconscious mind. A time honored aspect of the discipline that has been lost on more Band-Aid like contemporary forms of treatment offered to the public.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Flips The Script With A Vengeance!
Added 3/18/2009
I know full well that this 1945 thriller is not considered to be among Hitchcock's best, and is often found wanting when compared to his other works-like Notorious, for example. However, Spellbound is my favorite Hitchcock film, one of the reasons being that it flips the script on what is typically done in the cinema.
Usually in movies it is the damsel who is in distress, and the hero who must rescue this poor woman, but in this story it is the man who is in dire straits and the heroine who is the rescuer. The character of JB is a beautiful, troubled, vulnerable, and possibly dangerous young man who desperately needs the woman he's fallen in love with to save his life-even though he may fight her at times. I also love the fact that JB, as portrayed by Gregory Peck, looks every inch the conventional hero-tall, dark, handsome, broad shouldered, seemingly cool and self confident-but his exterior deceives. Mr. Peck plays his role to sweet perfection, as does Ms. Bergman as Dr. Constance Petersen-the woman who risks her career, and possibly her very own life, to save JB. Bergman's character is incredibly strong to go through what she does in this film, and she is perhaps the smartest character in the movie( except for Dr.Bruloff, "the Biggest Brain in all of Science!").
And could any movie pairing then, or today, beat Bergman and Peck as a couple? They are, not only the best looking pair that I've ever feasted my unworthy eyes upon, but their chemistry is amazing. There is a profound sweetness and a desperate yearning between them that I can only compare to tunnel vision-only they exist and to hell with everyone else!
Spellbound is a haunting love story and an edge- of -your- seat thriller that is my favorite thriller! It's such a pity that Bergman and Peck never did another movie together. Oh, well. You can't have them all, as they say.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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