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THE STORY:
Dr. Murchison has retired from his position as head of the Green Manors Mental Asylum, and his replacement, the famous psychiatrist Dr. Edwards, finds himself attracted to the beautiful, but cold, Dr. Constance Petersen. However, Dr. Petersen soon realizes that he is a paranoid amnesiac imposter and tries to cure him while solving the mystery of what happened to the real Dr. Edwards.
BEHIND THE SCENES:
The snow? Cornflakes spray painted white!
THE DIRECTOR:
Greg on Hitchcock: "A remarkable experience...I admire him greatly. He is the greatest of all film technicians and all directors learn from him."
Later in '67, and after a few more movies under his belt, Peck would say, "I wish I could work with him now. When I worked for him I was still untutored and not able to do my best for him."
On Hitchcock's paternal nature: "He is totally unlike his tv and press facade. He's warm and sympathetic, and he always treated me paternally. "Because he thought it sad that I didn't know about good wines he sent me a case of 12 vintage bottles. On each was a note explaining when it should be used."
THE PRODUCER:
By this time everyone wanted a piece of Peck. Selznick, who after running Peck through a brief screen test just two years earlier referred to the young actor's test as "nothing to get excited about", jumped at the opportunity to pair Peck with his own newcomer, Ingrid Bergman. Ingrid had already worked with Selznick in Intermezzo and had won an Oscar for Gaslight. Selznick was pretty hot at the time too...having some success with such films as David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, A Star is Born, Rebecca, and a little film called Gone with the Wind.
Selznick's own psychoanalyst, whom he had been seeing to help him come to terms with his own brother's death, served as technical advisor.
THE AWARDS:
Nominated for six Academy Awards: Cinematography, Director, Musical Scoring, Special Effects, Picture, and Supporting Actor (Chekov). The film won the Oscar for it's original score by Miklos Rozsa.
The New York Film Critics Circle awarded its Best Actress honors to Bergman.
THE CRITICS:
Peck on his performance in Spellbound: "I was lousy."
RELATED LINKS:
Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense
The David O. Selznick Collection
Cinema Paradiso's Spellbound Page
The Great Filmmaker's Society: Hitchcock
Spellbound Fan Page
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