Customer Reviews
I don't believe in dreams. That Freud stuff is a lot of hooey... - By: IWFIcon, 02 Sep 2008 
Featuring a script from one of Hitchcock's favourite writers, Ben Hecht, the acting talents of Cary Grant & Ingrid Bergman & dream sequences by Salvador Dali Spellbound should be an excellent slice of Hitch.
That it doesn't quite match the sum of it's parts is perhaps not surprising when one factors in the censoring eye of David O Selznick. There is an argument that Selznick is unfairly maligned, but in this case there seems little doubt that by removing some of the funniest bits of the original script & callling in his own psychiatrist to give "realism" to the film (with Hitchcock, as usual, having no interest in tedious authenticity) certainly hampered the end product.
The leads give strong performances, although the viewer will have little sympathy for Grant's character - a man with a "guilt complex" who may or may not have murdered a doctor - & may grow slightly weary of the constant psycho analysis that Bergman's character makes him go through.
Still there is much to enjoy; the Dali scenes are well done (even if most was cut out and/or reshot), it's packed with numerous stylistic technical touches & if it's not entirely successful it is still a very interesting movie. If only it had ended 30 seconds earlier than it does.
Mr. H's best work - By: Sarah H., 25 Nov 2007 
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock & produced by the ever popular David O. Selznick, with a cast that anyone would die for (and a few do), this is the formulae for the perfect movie.
As with alll of Hitchcock's work, it's not the "what" but the "how it's handled" that makes it work.
Gregory Peck is John Balllantine who poses as a psychiatrist, alll while he's having amnesia. Ingrid Bergman decides she thinks he's the murderer of the real physhiatrist & tries to figure everything out. Confused? You won't be when you see it.
There are many dreams in this movie, & a lot of inuendo & subtle references to sex, death, & just about everything else. Shadows abound & images turn from one thing into another. This is probably Hitchcock's most dream-like movie.
I read somewhere that Hitchcock used Dali images or at least those like Dali, for much of the film. Ben Hecht was also part of the filmmaking process & it shows. Great film.
far from spellbinding - By: A Reader, 23 Jan 2007 
As others have suggested, this movie is very hard to take seriously nowadays. Not just that Freud is more or less discredited, but the explanations of psychoanalysis are patronisingly simplistic, the over-literal interpretation of dreams etc is risible (gabriel vallley, give me a break), the flash of red is tacky, Dali's contribution seems distinctly underwhelming & dated.
For a master of technique, Hitchcock often seems clumsy & this is no exception. It's impossible to ski down a mountain in a straight line, hardly moving your body, as the heroes do. Given his physique I guess Hitch didn't spend much time on the slopes.
Neither does he bother with a plot that makes sense. As Murchison says, Ingrid is a very stupid woman to tell him what she knows without police backup. Why would she do that? She points out that he could get away with some time inside for the first murder, but killing her would mean the chair. So presumably his desire to live is what stops him from popping her. So why, five seconds later, does he turn the gun on himself?
And having watched Casablanca many times, it's interesting to see the lovely Ingrid bring out the same succession of ticks & gestures here, in a slightly different order - a saddening confirmation that she was an actor of limited range.
It Makes You Want To Write A Review! - By: Budge, 13 Jan 2006 
It has been said to be one of Hitchcock's more interesting "failures". I loved it & I think the reason that it has been deemed a failure is because it doesn't consentrate on suspense as much as his others around that time. Plus David O. Selznick was not the best partner for Hitch & interfeered a lot.
The story revolves on the axis of psychoanalysis & maybe consentrates on the theme a little too much as Hitch was interested in the criminal mind. But it is obviously a classic Hitchcock and, contrary to another reviwer, has stood the test of time.
As for suspense, there are a number of obviouse occasions where it is being put to great use- With the gun at the end & the ski slope to name but two. And alll through the movie there is a lingering shadow, or rather layer of dread that they may be found out before Peck is cured.
There are also some ingenuitive & ingenious Hitchcock moments; the milk glass & the flash of colour (in a black & white movie) as the gun is fired- from a great angle... plus Dali's dream sequence which is entrawling! Just one of those examples will definetly whet your apetite.
Ingrid Bergman is absolutly fantastic in this film; better, even, than in Notorious, & is a delight to watch. It will strike you straight away & she keeps it up throughout the entire picture.
Gregory Peck is, as always, a treat & matches Cary Grant as one of Hitchcock's top leading men.
The twists at the end are captivating & will get your pulse racing.
Maybe Hitchcock's most unusual U.S film & a must have for collectors & fans. It pairs well with the different but brilliant Notorious!
Nuff' Said!
Not really stood the test of time - By: L. Davidson, 15 Dec 2005 I am sure that when this film was released in 1945, it appeared dazzling & intriguing to its audience, dealing with presumably a novel subject to the cinematic medium at the time ; psychoanalysis & the interpretation of dreams. The plot is fairly straightforward & the pace of the film ponderous as Ingrid Bergman's Constance tries to unravel the mystery behind Gregory Peck's Dr. Edwards ,a man who is not what he appears. Romance fuses with a murder mystery as psychoanalytic techniques are used to solve the puzzle. There have been so many films & TV shows featuring psychoanalysis in some way since "Spellbound" that it's effect has been dulled over time & the lauded Dali Dream Scene now seems a bit tacky & dated , as indeed will alll SFX & CGI based scenes from modern day films appear in the near future as well.
