Spellbound

UPC: 883904252528

Studio: Fox Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Adult Situations, Questionable for Children]

Summary: As Alfred Hitchcock's classic psychothriller opens, the staff of a posh mental asylum eagerly awaits the arrival of the new director. When the man in question shows up, it turns out to be handsome psychiatrist John Ballantine (Gregory Peck). But something's wrong, here: Ballantine seems much too young for so important a position; his answers to the staff's questions are vague and detached; and he seems unusually distressed by the parallel marks, left by a fork, on a white tablecloth. Dr. Constance Peterson (Ingrid Bergman) comes to the conclusion that Ballantine is not the new director, but a profoundly disturbed amnesiac--and, possibly, the murderer of the real director. But is she correct in her inferences? Scriptwriters Angus MacPhail and Ben Hecht soon add to this the complication that Constance begins to fall in love with John. Director Hitchcock tapped surrealist artist Salvador Dali to design the visually arresting dream sequences in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Mystery

Awards: Best Black and White Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score - Drama or Comedy – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Special Effects – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Actress – New York Film Critics Circle Special Award – New York Film Critics Circle Best Supporting Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 10 Best Films – Film Daily 10 Best Films – New York Times

Features: Commentary with author and film Professor Thomas Schatz & film Professor Charles Ramirez Berg
Dreaming with scissors: Hitchcock, surrealism, and Salvador Dali
Guilt by association by association: Psychoanalyzing Spellbound
A Cinderella story: Rhonda Fleming
1948 radio play
Hitchcock audio interview
Original theatrical trailer

Spellbound

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 01/24/2012

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DHMA null

Runtime: 118 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Region: Blu-ray region A (North America, Central America, South America, Japan, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia)

Patrick Legare

Behind a veil of psychoanalytic babble lies a simple tale of murder in Alfred Hitchcock's popular thriller Spellbound. During the WWII era in which the film was released, it was heralded for its intellectual use of Freudian theories to solve a murder. In retrospect, however, the film reveals psychoanalytic ideas that are simplistic and obsolete to the point of becoming comical. In spite of this, Hitchcock's tremendous ability to create suspense remains a timeless one and the film's thriller elements, combined with a series of outstanding visuals, bring Spellbound within a notch of the director's best works. The psychological elements allowed Hitchcock to be creative visually and he went to the best, hiring artist Salvador Dali to design a series of incredibly eerie dream sequences. Sadly, only a few of Dali's wonderful creations made the final cut while the others were either lost or destroyed. Hitchcock often spoke of one particularly fantastic sequence in which a statue cracked and fell apart, revealing star Ingrid Bergman beneath it. Gregory Peck is a strong male lead playing the protagonist with a confused and cloudy mind, but Bergman steals the show as his love-struck shrink, a woman described by one of her peers as "a human glacier." Spellbound was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor (Michael Chekhov), but went on to win for Miklos Rozsa's chilling score. Hitchcock's cameo arrives at the film's 38-minute mark, when the director can be seen exiting an elevator. ~ Patrick Legare, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Irving Bacon  Actor 
Victor Kilian  Actor 
Ben Hecht  Screenwriter 
Alfred Hitchcock  Director 
Angus MacPhail  Screenwriter 
Miklos Rozsa  Composer (Music Score) 
David O. Selznick  Producer 
Ingrid Bergman  Actor 
Gregory Peck  Actor 
Jean Acker  Actor 
Rhonda Fleming  Actor 
Leo G. Carroll  Actor 
Donald Curtis  Actor 
Norman Lloyd  Actor 
Regis Toomey  Actor 
John Emery  Actor 
Paul Harvey  Actor 
Steven Geray  Actor 
Michael Chekhov  Actor 
Erskine Sanford  Actor 
Janette Scott  Actor 
Wallace Ford  Actor 
Bill Goodwin  Actor 
Dave Willock  Actor 
George Meader  Actor 
Matt Moore  Actor 
Harry Brown  Actor 
Art Baker  Actor 
Clarence Straight  Actor 
Joel Davis  Actor 
Teddy Infuhr  Actor 
Addison Richards  Actor 
Richard Bartell  Actor 
Edward Fielding  Actor 

Country: USA