Spellbound (1945)
Composite Score: 81.53
Starring: Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov, and Leo G. Carroll
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Ben Hecht, John Palmer, and Hilary St. George Saunders
Genres: Film-Noir, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
MPAA Rating: Approved
Box Office: $19,000 worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Spellbound is Hitchcock’s romantic psychological thriller about a psychiatrist and a man with amnesia trying to unlock his memories to clear his guilt for the crime of murder. It features many of Hitchcock’s classic bits like psychologically damaged men, a strong female protagonist, a film score that drives home much of the film’s action, and some very creative angles of character deaths. Together with strong acting on the part of the film’s romantic leads (Bergman and Peck), these bits help form a solid romantic thriller worth watching.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
Strong and confident as Bergman’s Dr. Constance Petersen is, the men of the film, for the most part, approach her with some problematic gender norms from the 1940s. Some of these men are painted as misogynistic and generally not great people, like Dr. Fleurot, another psychiatrist at Green Manors who only views Dr. Petersen as a potential romantic partner; or Dr. Murchison who is ultimately revealed as the film’s villain and basically tells Constance that such advances from Dr. Fleurot are simply to be expected because she is a woman. On the other hand, Dr. Brulov – Constance’s mentor and the man she and Edwardes/Ballantyne turn to when they go on the run – also holds some problematic views about women, saying that they “make the best psychiatrists...” until they fall in love. His views are ultimately proven false by Dr. Petersen when she helps uncover the true nature of Dr. Edwardes’s murder and John Ballantyne’s neurosis while being in love with him, but Brulov never actually renounces his claim, making Constance’s victory out almost as an exception to rather than proof against the rule.
Another weak point of the film is its twist and final act. Murchison being revealed as Edwardes’s killer feels obvious almost from the jump, so the actual reveal after John is taken to prison falls short of some of Hitchcock’s more memorable turns. Also unsatisfactory in the final portion of the film is the return of Ballantyne’s memory. Obviously, with an amnesia patient, revealing anything about the character prior to the amnesia is next to impossible, but suddenly being introduced to a dead brother in a memory, while possibly working to jolt someone’s memory, does little in the realm of emotional or intellectual connection for the audience; it simply feels like a convenient plot device to get John’s memory back before he is arrested.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, and even Michael Chekhov each deliver solid performances in Spellbound. Bergman’s Dr. Petersen exudes confidence and professionality in her psychiatry while also being vulnerable and driven in her romance with John, getting the audience fully bought in to both sides of her life. Peck convincingly plays the frustrated and sincere John Ballantyne, showing true concern for his own mental state and for the safety of those around him while falling in love with Dr. Petersen and seeking with increasing vulnerability to recall his memories. Chekhov’s Dr. Brulov might have some problematic views on women in STEM, but his performance as the seasoned psychiatrist garnered love from the Academy, getting a nomination for Best Supporting Actor, most likely for his ability to deliver his many technical lines with a familiarity beyond what one would expect from one outside of the psychiatric profession.
As a film-noire, Spellbound offers a unique take on the genre. Rather than centering on a male protagonist, it features the woman as its driving force, still investigating a mystery and still with multiple potential “masc fatales” if you will. Traditional film-noire tropes would have audiences believe John’s guilt when he is taken to jail after the revelation of a bullet wound on the body of Dr. Edwardes, making Ballantyne the proverbial femme fatale of the film. However, Hitchcock throws an extra wrench into the works by bringing in the second twist, predictable though it may be from a story standpoint, and making Dr. Murchison into the true femme/masc fatale of the film.
Thanks to a unique take on its genre, strong leading performances, and the tried-and-true formula of Hitchcock, Spellbound forms itself into a film worthy of the title “Great”. While some of its gender stereotypes are certainly problematic and it suffers from a weak third act, the overall progressive nature of its take on film-noire and the path taken to the ultimate conclusion of the film help elevate it. It might not be at the top of a must-watch list, but it should certainly be somewhere on there, especially for fans of film-noire and of Hitchcock.
