Spellbound (1945)

VHS CASE/SIDE

Length of film:  111 Minutes (Roadshow: 118 minutes)

Rated:   A

Genre: Film-Noir, Mystery, Romance

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov, Leo G. Carroll, Rhonda Fleming, John Emery, Norman Lloyd, Bill Goodwin

IMDB Rank: 7.5/10

***Originally released in a roadshow format.

Part 1 Time:  66 Minutes (Roadshow: 70 minutes)

Part 2 Time:  45 Minutes (Roadshow: 48 minutes)

Where does the first part end? Dr. Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) embraces a fainted John (Gregory Peck) who has just gone through another anxiety attack.

Final line of dialogue on the first part: “Oh darling, you mustn’t be frightened, you mustn’t we are making progress, we have the word ‘white’ on our side,” Dr. Constance Petersen states aloud.

First line of dialogue on the second part: John wakes up in the middle of the night. The first dialogue happens 3 minutes into the second half when John walks down the stairs. “Is that you Mr. Brown?” Dr. Alexander Brulov (Michael Chekhov) announces.

How jarring is it when the first part ends? Somewhat, John is still suffering from amnesia and is convinced that he is responsible for the death of Dr. Edwards. Will Dr. Constance Petersen discover the true identity of John and his mysterious past?

Which part is better? Part two is better as both the mystery of Dr. Edwards’ whereabouts is solved and the identity of John is finally discovered.

Academy Awards: Best Music- Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Director (Nominated), Best Supporting Actor (Nominated- Michael Chekhov), Best Picture (Nominated), Best Effects- Special Effects (Nominated), Best Cinematography Black- and -White (Nominated),