Spellbound (1945)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
This film draws more explicitly from psycho-analysis than any other I've seen (The Woman in the Window comes to mind as a competitor). It ends up doing so quite well, and is an entertaining and suspenseful film.
Ingrid Bergman plays a psychiatrist at a mental hospital where Gregory Peck arrives as its new head. However, it soon becomes clear to her that, although she has fallen head over heels in love with him despite her analytical and detached nature, he is an imposter suffering from amnesia derived from a guilt-complex.
As he becomes suspected of the man he's imitating's death, they run away from the law and work on solving the mystery by breaking down the barriers in his mind. Suspenseful moments come both from the external dangers on their trail, but also from the terrifying possibility that Peck's character may kill anyone around him at any time. And perhaps even that the truth they'll discover will be the one they fear!
This film was a bit slow at the beginning. Peck's swooning about and Bergman's swooning over the swooning didn't really win me over. Later, though, as the suspense builds and they go on the run, it became very engrossing and entertaining.
It's worth mentioning that there is a dream sequence central to the plot designed by Salvador Dali. Apparently Hitchcock didn't very much like that, and there is a disconnected feeling to the film perhaps stemming from this dissatisfaction and Selznick's interference. Still, it's a very good film and I highly recommend it.
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