Product Details

• Actors: Gregory Peck, Ingrid Bergman, Leo G. Carroll
• Directors: Alfred Hitchcock
• Format: Black & White
• Language: English (Mono)
• Subtitles: English
• Dubbed: English
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: MGM
• DVD Release Date: January 24, 2012
• Run Time: 118 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (124 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0065N6KNW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,225 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Alfred Hitchcock takes on Sigmund Freud in this thriller in which psychologist Ingrid Bergman tries to solve a murder by unlocking the clues hidden in the mind of amnesiac suspect Gregory Peck. Among the highlights is a bizarre dream sequence seemingly designed by Salvador Dali--complete with huge eyeballs and pointy scissors. Although the film is in black and white, the original release contained one subliminal blood-red frame, appearing when a gun pointed directly at the camera goes off. Spellbound is one of Hitchcock's strangest and most atmospheric films, providing the director with plenty of opportunities to explore what he called "pure cinema"--i.e., the power of pure visual associations. Miklós Rózsa's haunting score (which features a creepy theremin) won an Oscar, and the movie was nominated for best picture, director, supporting actor (Michael Chekhov), cinematography, and special visual effects. --Jim Emerson

Product Description

"The secret recesses of the mind are explored with brilliant and terrifying effect" (New York Herald Tribune) in this fascinating psychological thriller from Alfred Hitchcock. Featuring powerful performances from Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck, this masterpiece of mystery, romance and suspense boasts an OSCAR®-Winning score by Miklos Rozsa and a haunting dream sequence by Salvador Dalí.

Dr. Constance Peterson (Bergman) is a dedicated psychiatrist who puts all her passion into her work — until she falls in love with Dr. Edwardes (Peck). Unfortunately, it soon becomes clear that Edwardes is an impostor — an amnesiac — who may or may not be a cold-blooded murderer. Pursued by the police, Constance must decide whether to turn in her mysterious lover...or risk her life by trying to unlock the dark secrets in his mind.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Review of Criterion's Spellbound DVD October 12, 2002

By keviny01

Format:DVD

The video quality of Criterion's DVD version of SPELLBOUND discs look a bit sharper, more detailed, but grainier than Anchor Bay's re-pressed version from 2000 (in which the flash-of-red color shot was restored). The audio quality of Criterion's 1.0 mono soundtrack is also a little more detailed and more distinct than Anchor Bay's 2.0 mono track. The Anchor Bay disc also sounds much louder, but there are audio distortions in a few places. The soundtrack of the Criterion disc (and many DVDs) was recorded at a much lower volume level, which is usually an effort to retain as much as possible the dynamic range of the source material. The Criterion DVD booklet says the film's original overture and exit music has been included on the disc for the first time. This is simply not true, for the re-pressed Anchor Bay disc also has the overture and exit music. The initial pressing of the Anchor Bay disc, in which the red-color shot is erroneously shown in B&W, does not have the overture and exit music, however.

Although SPELLBOUND helped solidify Hitchcock's position in Hollywood, it isn't one of his best films. But Marian Keane's remarkable analytical audio commentary on the Criterion disc should heighten your appreciation of the film. Keane juxtaposes the themes in the film against the manner in which Hitchcock made his films and the manner in which we, the viewers, watch them, and suggests that they are somehow interrated. She points out that many Hitchcock films (including SPELLBOUND) are about people who take pleasure in watching and analyzing other people, which is also the very thing that we, the viewers, do when we watch such films. As in her commentary for the NOTORIOUS DVD, she injects an extra layer of significance within the film by refering to certain elements in the film as "surrogate authors," "scriptwriting sessions," and "director's assertion of his authorship." Keane single-mindedly concentrates on the interpretation, deconstruction, and theorization on the subject of Hitchcock, and the result is one of the most remarkable dissertations ever recorded on DVD. I give 4 stars to the film itself, but 5 to Keane.

I give 5 stars to the supplements on the Criterion disc as well, like I routinely do. There is a wonderful, rather detailed photo-essay segment on the making of the Dali sequence. Two film clips of the surrealist film UN CHIEN ANDALOU is included ! to show some earlier inspirations for the SPELLBOUND dream sequence. Memos from the filmmakers and production photos show how the dream sequence was re-shot several times due to logistic difficulties and artistic differences. There are also production photos of the deleted "ballroom" sub-sequence, in which Ingrid Bergman plays a statuesque figure bewildering Gregory Peck.

Other extras include about 150 production and publicity photos, a half-hour audio interview of the film's composer, a 7-minute radio program on the subject of theramin, a 1-hour radioplay version of SPELLBOUND, "story treatments" that show how the original novel was loosely adapted into a filmmable story, and other correspondences from psychoanalysts and Production Code officials who offered advices to the filmmakers. The booklet contains two very good essays; one is about the making of the film, while the other offers some artistic analyses (some of which echo Keane's comments).

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Dreams of Morality Perversion and Exposed Evil April 17, 2003

By gobirds2

Format:VHS Tape|Amazon Verified Purchase

SPELLBOUND was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by David O. Selznick in 1945. As the story unravels it is essentially a murder plot interwoven around psychiatrists and psychoanalysis. It is actually Alfred Hitchcock's approach to the story and his collaborations with composer Miklos Rozsa and surrealist artist Salvador Dali that highlights this film. Gregory Peck plays John "J.B." Ballantine who poses as a psychiatrist while in a state of amnesia. Uncovered by Dr. Constance Peterson played by Ingrid Bergman, Ballantine must find out if he is responsible for the death of the missing psychiatrist that he posed as and simultaneously discover his own identity. Miklos Rozsa's score is both romantic yet eerie as Ballantine tries to remember what happened through analysis of his dreams. Alfred Hitchcock hired Salvador Dali to design illustrations and paintings in order to construct a crisp and vivid rendering of these dreams. Hitchcock did not want to use conventional techniques such as blurred camera shots to recreate the dreams. He wanted them to be as clear and even sharper than the rest of the film. He wanted Dali's style of using shadows, lines of convergence and the idea of infinite distance incorporated into the dream sequences. In the dream sequence we see a black stage highlighted with people at gambling tables with huge mysterious looking eyes peering over them. A man cuts away at the fabric of one eye with a giant scissors revealing another eye. In another part of the dream we see a man standing on a roof behind a chimney that has sprouted roots. The hooded man holds what looks like a deformed or eccentric wagon wheel in his hand. In the distance there is a formation of rocks and boulders, which look like they are sprouting into the shape of a man's head. Another part of the dream shows a man running down a pitched geometric plane as the shadow of a bird follows him. In the background there are geometric shapes and lines that go off into infinity. All these images must be interpreted into experiences from reality. Dali's images are unsettling and thought provoking. Eventually, the eccentric wagon wheel turns out to represent the chambers of a revolver pistol and reveals the true identity of the murderer. A surrealistic painting brings to the canvas an image from reality but puts it into a context of the unreal. I think Dali was successful in translating the realistic elements from the plot into a vision of incomprehensibility of the conscious human mind. Hitchcock and the scriptwriter Ben Hecht then had their characters translate Dali's images back into plausible reality. This is brilliant filmmaking years ahead of its time.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fans of Hitch will be spellbound with a very nice presentation of classic film January 24, 2012

By Wayne Klein HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Blu-ray

Combining Hitch's fascination with Freudian symbolism, desire to work with Salvador Dali and writer Ben Hecht, "Spellbound" manages to be very entertaining even if it is a flawed Hitchcock classic. Compromise started with casting with Hitch forced to take Gregory Peck for the lead opposite his choice Ingrid Bergman. Peck does a nice job even if he is a bit stiff in the role of Dr. Edwardes--only he isn't Edwardes at all. It turns out that "John" suffers from amnesia and must rely on Dr. Constance Peterson (Berman) to discover who he is and what happened to the real Dr. Edwardes.

Blu-Ray Transfer: "Spellbound" will leave fans of the film, well, spellbound. The film receives a handsome transfer. How does this compare to the Criterion? "Spellbound" looks sleeker in a good way with nice, consistent grain (for the most part) with the only major flaw I could detect some over use of edge enhancement (resulting in some intrusive haloing). Could this look better? Probably--the use of edge enhancement was unnecessarily heavy handed but, on the whole, it bests just about every DVD presentation I've seen of the movie.

Bear in my that the bigger your screen, the higher resolution your monitor and the more noticeable the improved resolution/depth will be. It isn't a huge difference but it IS there (depth though is noticeable different on both small and large screens).

"Spellbound" had a very troubled production from conflicts between Hitchcock and Selznick's consultant on the film, to butting heads over the dream sequence (which uses a lot of Dali's concepts but was actually redesigned by William Cameron Menzies at Selznick's request)which was heavily edited for the film. Selznick had a heavier hand in this Hitchcock production compared to other films from the period (with the exception of "Rebecca" which Hitchcock always stated wasn't a "Hitchcock picture" and "The Paradine Case" about which star Gregory Peck responded he'd love to see burned when asked if he could pick one film to be destroyed from his extensive filmography).

As usual when Hitch had a conflict or couldn't quite find an angle to the material he focused his attention on certain sequences such as the last shot of the film (which briefly uses an innovative moment of color in an otherwise black and white film) and the sequence where Bergman experiences her sexual awakening.

That isn't to say that this set doesn't have some flaws. For example the lack of a main menu is a bit annoying although not a deal breaker.

The special features are solid throughout.

We get a really good commentary track featuring Thomas Schatz and Charles Ramirez Berg both film historians with some interesting observations about the movie, it's production history and the issue that Selnick had with the dream sequence (and had the bulk of it cut unfortunately).

We also get a featurette on Dali and Hitch's collaboration as well as Selznick's discomfort with the dream sequence.

"Guilt By Association: Psychoanalyzing Spellbound" is a solid featurette highlighting the narrative hook of psychoanalysis and dream interpretation. Hitch was primarily interested in Freud only as a means to tell a story.

We get a unique presentation--Hitchcock directing the radio play of "Spellbound" featuring Joseph Cotten subbing for Peck.

We also get one of Peter Bogdanovich's Hitchcock interviews.

There's also a good featurette on co-star Rhonda Fleming as well as the theatrical trailer in standard definition.

Although it isn't a flawless classic "Spellbound" has enough of Hitch's set pieces to make this interesting and Bergman is, as always, beautiful. Hitchcock's "Spellbound" receives a nice transfer to Blu-ray courtesy of MGM and, while this isn't one of Hitch's best films, it has enough moments to make it worthwhile for Hitchcock fans.

Is this the ultimate edition on Blu-ray? It's hard to tell because MGM and the company they've hired for the restoration done here has done a fine job on the film. It's possible that Criterion or another studio could do some additional work that might make this edition obsolete but, for now, THIS is the best showing of the film even with the occasional bit of noise, edge enhancement and other minor imperfections in the transfer.

Recommended for Hitchcock fans.