Spellbound
1945
***
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov, Leo G. Carroll, Rhonda Fleming, John Emery, Norman Lloyd, Bill Goodwin, Regis Toomey, Paul Porcasi
A psychoanalyst at Green Manors mental hospital becomes infatuated with the new director. When he turns out to be an amnesiac impostor with repressed trauma, she becomes determined to help him uncover his true identity. Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller was one of the first studio films to explore psychoanalysis. The premise is intriguing but the film is overlong and very dialogue-heavy. It is best remembered for the surreal dream sequence designed by Salvador Dali. Based on the 1927 novel The House of Dr. Edwardes by John Palmer and Hilary A. Saunders.
