Spellbound: Hitchcock, Selznick & Psychoanalysis

• Character names should be used when discussing the film.
• If unsure, check IMDb.

Production Credits:

• Alfred Hitchcock directed the movie, whose theme revolves around proving the innocence of an innocent person.
• The protagonist typically identifies and tracks down the actual guilty party before being captured.
• The external chase for justice mirrors an internal, psychoanalytic quest.
• The film has been described as a "manhunt story wrapped in pseudo-psychology" by some critics.
• David O. Selznick was a powerful director during Hollywood's classical era, having Hitchcock, Bergman, and Peck under exclusive contract.
• Selznick, a devotee of psychoanalysis, sought to resolve guilt over his brother's death and his impending divorce.
• May Romm, M.D., Selznick's analyst who consulted on the film, frequently feuded with Hitchcock.
• Ben Hecht, a screenplay author and "script doctor", was also in psychoanalysis during the film's production.
• Miklos Rozsa won the film's only Oscar for the score, despite five other nominations.
• The score features anxiety-provoking sounds from a theremin and romantic music.
• The theremin is an electronic instrument played by waving hands around two antennae to control pitch and volume.
• Salvador Dali, a Spanish surrealist, created the set for the famous dream sequence, originally 22 minutes before cuts.

Cast of Characters:

• Ingrid Bergman plays Dr. Constance Petersen, a character whose name signifies constancy and persistence.
• Gregory Peck plays Dr. Anthony Edwardes, who is later revealed to be JB (John Brown) and Dr. John Ballantine.
• Michael Chekhov plays Dr. Brulov, a stereotypical German/Austrian analyst portrayed as absent-minded.
• Leo G. Carroll plays Dr. Murchison, the administrator of the sanitarium, forced into premature retirement.
• Norman Lloyd plays Mr. Garmes, a character plagued by ambiguous guilt.

Film Notes:

• The prologue gives a one-person psychology description.
• Dr. Petersen and Dr. Brulov both suggest that the analyst's job is to sort out and piece together the patient's scrambled thoughts.
• Psychoanalysis presents itself as self-important, cult-like, and akin to a religion, demanding devotion despite a lack of faith.
• Psychoanalysis is presented as a "hard science" like Chemistry or Physics.
• A.H. makes a cameo appearance.
• Manifestations of transference are present, especially negative transference from JB, who finds Constance smug.
• Constance's therapeutic stance can be seen as smug and condescending at times by JB.
• Petersen's appearance evolves, becoming more feminized through hairstyle and lighting.
• Repetitive images of tracks or parallel lines may foreshadow events.
• Exposition is artfully accomplished within the first 20 minutes of the movie, condensing a lot of backstory.
• Lighting is used meaningfully to convey shadows of confusion and the glow of love, imitating film noir.
• The film incorporates Gothic elements, featuring a woman in a bad situation because of her love for a troubled and potentially dangerous man.

Notable Quotes:

• John Ballantine: "I'm haunted, but I can't see by what!"
• John Ballantine: "That Freud stuff's a bunch of hooey."
• Dr. Alex Brulov: "Oh, you are a fine one to talk! You have a guilt complex and amnesia and you don't know if you are coming or going from somewhere, but Freud is hooey! This you know! Hmph! Wiseguy."
• Dr. Alex Brulov: "What is there for you to see? We both know that the mind of a woman in love is operating on the lowest level of the intellect!"
• Dr. Alex Brulov: "And how do you know what his real character is?"
• Constance Petersen: "I know. I know."
• Dr. Alex Brulov: "She knows. This is the way science goes backward. Who told you what he is? Freud?, or a crystal ball?"
• Constance Petersen: "I'm here as your doctor only. It has nothing to do with love."
• Constance Petersen: "Nothing at all. Nothing at all..."