Spellbound
This is love! Complete...reckless...violent!
Country
Budget
$1 696 377
Box office
$7 003 333
Director
Actors
Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov, Leo G. Carroll, Rhonda Fleming, John Emery, Norman Lloyd, Bill Goodwin, Steven Geray, Donald Curtis
All actors and roles (10)
All actors and roles (10)
Scenario
Producer
Camera operator
Composer
Artist
John Ewing
Audition
Editing
Hal C. Kern
Whole Team (34)
Whole Team (34)
Short description
When Dr. Anthony Edwardes arrives at a Vermont mental hospital to replace the outgoing hospital director, Dr. Constance Peterson, a psychoanalyst, discovers Edwardes is actually an impostor. The man confesses that the real Dr. Edwardes is dead and fears he may have killed him, but cannot recall anything. Dr. Peterson, however is convinced his impostor is innocent of the man's murder, and joins him on a quest to unravel his amnesia through psychoanalysis.
What's left behind the scenes
- Hitchcock persuaded Selznick to buy the rights to the novel for $40,000.
- The role of Dr. Bryulov was played by Mikhail Chekhov, nephew of Anton Chekhov, who emigrated from the Soviet Union to the USA in 1928.
- The dream sequence in the film was staged by artist Salvador Dalí. According to some sources, the film's producer, David O. Selznick, cut all other scenes created by Dalí.
- Miklós Rózsa's music in this film inspired the distinguished composer Jerry Goldsmith to begin his musical career.
- A preview screening of the film took place on September 27, 1944, after which Selznick cut 14 minutes from the movie, including footage showing the treatment of the mentally ill.
- Hitchcock suggested calling the film "Hidden Impulse." Then studio secretary Ruth Rickman came up with the title "Spellbound," which was approved.
- As was his custom, Hitchcock makes a brief appearance in his film as a man with a cigar, exiting an elevator in the Empire Hotel, around the 37th minute of the film.
- "Spellbound" is one of the first Hollywood films to make psychoanalysis a central theme.
- Hitchcock was an admirer of Dalí and understood that no one could create Ballantyne's dream better than he could. David O. Selznick was initially opposed to Dalí's participation, as it cost him a considerable sum, until he decided that having the artist's name in the credits was a good marketing move.
- While writing the screenplay, Ben Hecht consulted with many leading psychoanalysts.
- Producer David O. Selznick wanted a large part of the film to be based on his personal experience; he even brought his psychotherapist to the set as a technical consultant. Once, while arguing with Hitchcock about a certain "psychological" moment in the film, the doctor heard him reply: "My dear, it's only the movies."
- The snow falling on Ballantyne and Dr. Peterson during the ski descent is actually cornflakes.
- This black-and-white film features color sequences. Near the end, Marchison turns a gun on himself and fires – a flash briefly illuminates a couple of frames in red.
- During filming, a passionate romance began between Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck, causing a considerable scandal. Bergman's husband demanded that the producer immediately influence this relationship.
Similar movies
8.4/10
8.3/10
8.2/10
8.1/10
8/10
8/10
8/10
7.9/10
7.9/10
7.9/10
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
