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Double Indemnity is the perfect noir.
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Nice review ahwell, doesn't really match the eventual rating but still a good read.
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The Stranger (1946)
Directed by: Orson Welles
Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Orson Welles, Loretta Young
As one would expect from Orson Welles, the cinematography in The Stranger is remarkable, with a smooth camera, plenty of deep focus shots, and an almost excessive use of shadows. The film features no real surprises, since practically all of the facts are given to the audience from the start, however the story still manages to garner suspense and retain some degree of intrigue. It's obviously no Citizen Kane, but it's still a very enjoyable thriller.
With the exception of the last few scenes, I rather liked Orson Welles as Rankin. His style of acting can be divisive at times, but I found that it worked rather well with how character here was written. In particular, the scenes where he speaks of philosophy and history are fantastic to watch. The only actor I didn't like was Richard Long, who appeared disinterested and mumbled most of his lines. Luckily his role was minimal, and he was almost always accompanied by Robinson, who gives a nearly perfect performance as Mr. Wilson.
It was a little strange to hear him mention “the will to truth” on multiple occasions though, since I wasn't sure if it was an intentional allusion to Nietzsche's writings, or if it was just a coincidence in the script. If it was wilful wordplay, the context doesn't exactly match its use in the dialogue. However much like my previously posted fixation on the checker board, I might just be over-analyzing things again. Those questions didn't negatively impact my opinion regardless, and perhaps its even a credit to the film I'm willing to put in extra time thinking about possible hidden meanings.
With the exception of the last few scenes, I rather liked Orson Welles as Rankin. His style of acting can be divisive at times, but I found that it worked rather well with how character here was written. In particular, the scenes where he speaks of philosophy and history are fantastic to watch. The only actor I didn't like was Richard Long, who appeared disinterested and mumbled most of his lines. Luckily his role was minimal, and he was almost always accompanied by Robinson, who gives a nearly perfect performance as Mr. Wilson.
It was a little strange to hear him mention “the will to truth” on multiple occasions though, since I wasn't sure if it was an intentional allusion to Nietzsche's writings, or if it was just a coincidence in the script. If it was wilful wordplay, the context doesn't exactly match its use in the dialogue. However much like my previously posted fixation on the checker board, I might just be over-analyzing things again. Those questions didn't negatively impact my opinion regardless, and perhaps its even a credit to the film I'm willing to put in extra time thinking about possible hidden meanings.
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The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Directed by: John Huston
Starring: Sam Jaffe, Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern
Outside of the opening and closing sequences, there is a distinct lack of music in The Asphalt Jungle. The silent soundtrack helps set a bleak tone, and manages to enhance the tension in certain scenes more than a dramatic score ever could. The shots are very well balanced and framed, and when combined with the editor's apparent aversion to unnecessary cuts, it looks and feels very realistic. In this context, the choice not to use Expressionistic lighting effects actually helps the film achieve a darker atmosphere as well.
The story is told primarily from the side of the criminals involved in a major heist, which was an uncommon perspective at the time of The Asphalt Jungle's release. Instead of focusing on their execution of the crime, we're given a rather slow build-up where a lot of time is spent first with the central characters, and then on the consequences of their actions. The script is overall very well written, but I've never understood the reasoning behind why “Doll” was so in love with a character like Dix, who we only ever see treating her poorly, or talking down to her.
It's not an unheard of situation, I just would've liked to have more insight into their relationship. Similarly, the performances are pretty spectacular across the board, but again with an exception involving Dix. While he did at least look the part, I do not particularly like Sterling Hayden in this film for some reason. His first few lines are delivered as though he just walked off the set of a bad western, and they don't improve much from there. Luckily the other main actors and the entire supporting cast do a great job around him; it's just disappointing that I was never able to connect with a character who we're supposed to feel sympathy for.
The story is told primarily from the side of the criminals involved in a major heist, which was an uncommon perspective at the time of The Asphalt Jungle's release. Instead of focusing on their execution of the crime, we're given a rather slow build-up where a lot of time is spent first with the central characters, and then on the consequences of their actions. The script is overall very well written, but I've never understood the reasoning behind why “Doll” was so in love with a character like Dix, who we only ever see treating her poorly, or talking down to her.
It's not an unheard of situation, I just would've liked to have more insight into their relationship. Similarly, the performances are pretty spectacular across the board, but again with an exception involving Dix. While he did at least look the part, I do not particularly like Sterling Hayden in this film for some reason. His first few lines are delivered as though he just walked off the set of a bad western, and they don't improve much from there. Luckily the other main actors and the entire supporting cast do a great job around him; it's just disappointing that I was never able to connect with a character who we're supposed to feel sympathy for.
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This is mostly unrelated, but does anyone else have a hard time spelling "asphalt" correctly?
I definitely didn't have to slow down typing and double check every time.
I definitely didn't have to slow down typing and double check every time.
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This is mostly unrelated, but does anyone else have a hard time spelling "asphalt" correctly?
I definitely didn't have to slow down typing and double check every time.
I definitely didn't have to slow down typing and double check every time.
Except everything.
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The Asphalt Jungle covers the weakest subgenres of noir...the man on the run. When you do a chase film it's often very difficult to carry that storyline for an hour. The strength of the film is that it breaks up the chase into multiple storylines. The fence, break-in guys, and the cops all expand on the story so you get four endings rather than one.
Huston does a good job expanding on the use of women in the story. It's kinda funny how all of these toughs going running to different women once the heat gets put on them and you've got a futility in that chase. My favorite scene in the film is the diner scene where the german is just watching this girl dance and is confronted by how time has past him bye.
The film is also notable for Marilyn Monroe's screen debut and she looks and plays young, almost a Judy Garland but sexy aspect to her that is especially creepy when her sugar daddy is 40 years older than her and she calls him uncle.
At the end of the day the film was fine...I think I'm going to try and do one review a day to try and figure what my list is going to end up as. The biggest problem I had with the film is that the impetus for the story is the heist and the heist was just kinda dull to me. The film is also hurt by being a lesser Huston noir it's really not as good as The Killers, Key Largo, and Maltese Falcon that Huston adapted beforehand. I believe this was his last noir until his comeback decades later.
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The Big Heat (1953)
Directed by the formidable Fritz Lang, with memorable noir lighting by cinematographer Charles Lang (no relation), the film features one of Glenn Ford’s grittiest roles, while the other stars themselves compete for similar grittiness in this sordid tale of murder, graft and betrayal; all prime noir ingredients.
Ford plays a detective who initially investigates the suspicious suicide of a fellow detective who may have had ties to the mob which is virtually running the city. As a result, his wife played by Jocelyn Brando (Marlon’s sister), ends up accidentally paying the price. Ford embarks on a possessed revenge hunt which brings him into contact with the incomparable Gloria Grahame, the sadistic Lee Marvin, and the chilling crime boss Alexander Scourby.
In 1953 the good guys still won out in the end, but there is a full array of story and action packed into the movie’s 90 minutes. There is a surprising amount of frank brutality and violence for its time, unique for its day. In one scene Gloria Grahame is the recipient of a cruel act that was so shocking that it remains today as a memorable example from the era. Lang had a penchant for brutality, and he let out all the stops in this picture.
An interesting point about this film is that, although films noir are often noted for their use of a femme fatale, here we see Ford used practically as anhomme fatale: all four women who he is involved with meet a violent end.
Despite that noir had already been well developed by 1953, this picture is a prime example of the form in general and Fritz Lang’s style in specific.
Directed by the formidable Fritz Lang, with memorable noir lighting by cinematographer Charles Lang (no relation), the film features one of Glenn Ford’s grittiest roles, while the other stars themselves compete for similar grittiness in this sordid tale of murder, graft and betrayal; all prime noir ingredients.
Ford plays a detective who initially investigates the suspicious suicide of a fellow detective who may have had ties to the mob which is virtually running the city. As a result, his wife played by Jocelyn Brando (Marlon’s sister), ends up accidentally paying the price. Ford embarks on a possessed revenge hunt which brings him into contact with the incomparable Gloria Grahame, the sadistic Lee Marvin, and the chilling crime boss Alexander Scourby.
In 1953 the good guys still won out in the end, but there is a full array of story and action packed into the movie’s 90 minutes. There is a surprising amount of frank brutality and violence for its time, unique for its day. In one scene Gloria Grahame is the recipient of a cruel act that was so shocking that it remains today as a memorable example from the era. Lang had a penchant for brutality, and he let out all the stops in this picture.
An interesting point about this film is that, although films noir are often noted for their use of a femme fatale, here we see Ford used practically as anhomme fatale: all four women who he is involved with meet a violent end.
Despite that noir had already been well developed by 1953, this picture is a prime example of the form in general and Fritz Lang’s style in specific.
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Outside of the opening and closing sequences, there is a distinct lack of music in The Asphalt Jungle. The silent soundtrack helps set a bleak tone, and manages to enhance the tension in certain scenes more than a dramatic score ever could. The shots are very well balanced and framed, and when combined with the editor's apparent aversion to unnecessary cuts, it looks and feels very realistic. In this context, the choice not to use Expressionistic lighting effects actually helps the film achieve a darker atmosphere as well.
The story is told primarily from the side of the criminals involved in a major heist, which was an uncommon perspective at the time of The Asphalt Jungle's release. Instead of focusing on their execution of the crime, we're given a rather slow build-up where a lot of time is spent first with the central characters, and then on the consequences of their actions. The script is overall very well written, but I've never understood the reasoning behind why “Doll” was so in love with a character like Dix, who we only ever see treating her poorly, or talking down to her.
It's not an unheard-of situation, I just would've liked to have more insight into their relationship. Similarly, the performances are pretty spectacular across the board, but again with an exception involving Dix. While he did at least look the part, I do not particularly like Sterling Hayden in this film for some reason. His first few lines are delivered as though he just walked off the set of a bad western, and they don't improve much from there. Luckily the other main actors and the entire supporting cast do a great job around him; it's just disappointing that I was never able to connect with a character who we're supposed to feel sympathy for.
The story is told primarily from the side of the criminals involved in a major heist, which was an uncommon perspective at the time of The Asphalt Jungle's release. Instead of focusing on their execution of the crime, we're given a rather slow build-up where a lot of time is spent first with the central characters, and then on the consequences of their actions. The script is overall very well written, but I've never understood the reasoning behind why “Doll” was so in love with a character like Dix, who we only ever see treating her poorly, or talking down to her.
It's not an unheard-of situation, I just would've liked to have more insight into their relationship. Similarly, the performances are pretty spectacular across the board, but again with an exception involving Dix. While he did at least look the part, I do not particularly like Sterling Hayden in this film for some reason. His first few lines are delivered as though he just walked off the set of a bad western, and they don't improve much from there. Luckily the other main actors and the entire supporting cast do a great job around him; it's just disappointing that I was never able to connect with a character who we're supposed to feel sympathy for.
YES, Asphalt IS one of those words that make you fumble and stumble lol
Regarding the lack of music and how it helps: "set a bleak tone, and manages to enhance the tension in certain scenes more than a dramatic score ever could--" I just finished Rififif for the Recommendation HoF and I found several comparisons being made between these two films when researching Rififi. A French "heist" film that also uses the sans music for the entirety of the heist with a very similar effect. (I believe they said for a length of 30 mins - which it did NOT feel like AT ALL). I remember Le Trou doing the very same thing with equal effect.
As for why Doll likes Dix?
(tee hee! -- Sorry, that sounds too much like Debbie Does Dallas to this dirty old fart.)
Anyway, I can't help feeling that some "Dolls" like bad "Dix" and likes, as well, to be treated badly by the bad "Dix". It happens. To quite a few of us. And the lucky ones have a very high "like" to a minimal amount of being treated "badly".
I'm kinda so-so with Hayden as well, though he does fit the role perfectly. Not often do you get the "brute" and he ACTUALLY looks like a brute.
And I understand the "disappointment" of not having sympathy for his character,
WARNING: "Considering" spoilers below
the very ending and there's more of a shrug, 'Oh well, too bad, so sad - so what," than a more impactive reaction to what should be, just that, MORE of an impact.
I was of a similar mind, thinking: Wow that should hit me a lot more than it barely did. So I know what you mean.
Still, great ending all the same.
I was of a similar mind, thinking: Wow that should hit me a lot more than it barely did. So I know what you mean.
Still, great ending all the same.
The Asphalt Jungle covers the weakest subgenres of noir...the man on the run. When you do a chase film it's often very difficult to carry that storyline for an hour. The strength of the film is that it breaks up the chase into multiple storylines. The fence, break-in guys, and the cops all expand on the story so you get four endings rather than one.
Huston does a good job expanding on the use of women in the story. It's kinda funny how all of these toughs going running to different women once the heat gets put on them and you've got a futility in that chase. My favorite scene in the film is the diner scene where the german is just watching this girl dance and is confronted by how time has past him bye.
The film is also notable for Marilyn Monroe's screen debut and she looks and plays young, almost a Judy Garland but sexy aspect to her that is especially creepy when her sugar daddy is 40 years older than her and she calls him uncle.
At the end of the day the film was fine...I think I'm going to try and do one review a day to try and figure what my list is going to end up as. The biggest problem I had with the film is that the impetus for the story is the heist and the heist was just kinda dull to me. The film is also hurt by being a lesser Huston noir it's really not as good as The Killers, Key Largo, and Maltese Falcon that Huston adapted beforehand. I believe this was his last noir until his comeback decades later.
I like the description you made about the "expansion of women in the story" and the "futility of the chase".
And, yes, that was a very good scene, indeed, with the older German watching the dancing girl.
And I do get when the key of the movie, in here, the heist, doesn't work for you, it can and will bring the film's enjoyment down rather heavily.
The Killers, Key Largo, and Maltese Falcon ARE Huston's, and for the genre, and, hell, films in general, the very best of the best. I wouldn't put Asphalt Jungle in that mix. It's solid Huston and a very, very solid film for me, but, yeah, not in the top three's level.
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I'll have to rewatch The Asphalt Jungle tonight so I can commit...and yes I just misspelled Asphalt
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LOOVE the review! Always enjoy reading your perceptions of a given film.
I remember Le Trou doing the very same thing with equal effect.
And I understand the "disappointment" of not having sympathy for his character,
WARNING: "Considering" spoilers below
the very ending and there's more of a shrug, 'Oh well, too bad, so sad - so what," than a more impactive reaction to what should be, just that, MORE of an impact.
I was of a similar mind, thinking: Wow that should hit me a lot more than it barely did. So I know what you mean.
I was of a similar mind, thinking: Wow that should hit me a lot more than it barely did. So I know what you mean.
WARNING: "Ending" spoilers below
Despite kind of creepily watching a young girl dance, I thought Riedenschneider being caught was more tragic than Dix's last breaths. I liked him a lot more than Dix, and the fact that Dix stuck by Riedenschneider was the only thing that really endeared me to Dix's character in the first place.
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Thank you! I often wonder if I focus too much on things no one else cares about or notices, so I really do appreciate hearing that at least one person likes my insights haha.
WARNING: "Ending" spoilers below
Despite kind of creepily watching a young girl dance, I thought Riedenschneider being caught was more tragic than Dix's last breaths. I liked him a lot more than Dix, and the fact that Dix stuck by Riedenschneider was the only thing that really endeared me to Dix's character in the first place.
WARNING: "Yes," spoilers below
Riedenschneider getting caught did have a more tragic effect on me as well. Liked him a lot.
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The Asphalt Jungle (John Huston 1950)
A private journey into the shadowy world of criminals who dream of much more than their bleak lives offer...and the effects of their chosen lifestyle on the women who love them.
The earliest noirs were quite stylized with their flamboyant characters and noir-ish lighting & canted camera angles, like Murder, My Sweet or The Maltese Falcon...Then there's the 1950s noir films, where a shift occurred to the, you-are-there docudrama style of movie making. John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle is a prime example of that later style of noirs that permeated the 1950s...these then gave rise to the popular 50s & 60s TV cops shows.
In The Asphalt Jungle, the traditional style of story telling was done away with and replaced with an insiders fly-on-the-wall look at three key criminal figures. The traditional hero/badguy & leading man/leading lady is absent...leaving us with a dichotomy of the perfectly planned criminal endeavor, turned sour by random circumstances in true noir tradition.
What makes The Asphalt Jungle different than most noirs is the humanistic study of the relationships. Director John Huston has various players paired up and forming believable & complex relationships:
Dix is said to be a typical hooligan with a brain, but with a screw lose. I kept expecting Dix to haul off and hit poor Doll but he never does. Dix seems to be anti-social, he doesn't or can't interact well with other people and yet in his own way he seems to care about Doll. He does offer to let her stay in his room and sex doesn't seem to be the reason for that. When she leaves he wants her new address so he contact her... is it only in case he needs a place to say while on the run or does he have some feelings for her? They're a curious couple and for me, a big reason why I love this film.
I'm a big fan of Sterling Hayden and I've seen him in a docudrama interview from the 1970s and yes he does talk and act a whole lot like Dix, that's just the way he is. I think he's a strong point in the film as is Jean Hagen who brings so much depth to her hopeful, yet sad character.
Another pairing was Doc (Sam Jaffe) the elderly gentlemen career criminal and Dix. In an early scene Dix flew off the handle when the nervous booky asked for his money...and yet the elderly criminal is like a father figure to the wound up tight Dix. The two seem to care for each other, so much so that Doc takes Dix into his confidence, trusting him with his life and even ask Dix to go with him to live high on the hog in Mexico. There's something touching with the way these two criminals respect each other.
Another director might have made the lawyer (Louis Calhern) a conniving evil man. And indeed he is conniving and tries to double cross his partners in crime. And yet Calhern plays his lawyer with so much pathos that even though he's a scoundrel cheating on his wife with a young Marilyn Monroe, Huston makes it clear that he's still got a heart inside him. He clearly loves his wife and plays cards with her, but as she's bed ridden he's entered into a relationship with Angela (Miss Monroe). I love the scene where the cop says he's kicking in the door and she angrily opens it and calls him a 'big banana head!' Too funny!
Every moment of the movie seems to reveal another layer of the onion of human endeavor. I think I'll end here.
Last edited by Citizen Rules; 11-06-23 at 01:09 PM.
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Great review as always CR! 
Well if he actually talks like that, then I guess his performance was much better than I've been giving him credit for. The only role of his I distinctly remember is from Dr. Strangelove, where he did a spectacular job, but he also practically had that cigar in his mouth the entire time, which likely changed the manner in which he spoke a bit.
I'm a big fan of Sterling Hayden and I've seen him in a docudrama interview from the 1970s and yes he does talk and act a whole lot like Dix, that's just the way he is.
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Great review as always CR!
Well if he actually talks like that, then I guess his performance was much better than I've been giving him credit for. The only role of his I distinctly remember is from Dr. Strangelove, where he did a spectacular job, but he also practically had that cigar in his mouth the entire time, which likely changed the manner in which he spoke a bit.
Well if he actually talks like that, then I guess his performance was much better than I've been giving him credit for. The only role of his I distinctly remember is from Dr. Strangelove, where he did a spectacular job, but he also practically had that cigar in his mouth the entire time, which likely changed the manner in which he spoke a bit.
I know I was a bit long winded in my review, but I'm so enthusiastic about the film that I couldn't contain myself. What's weird is, after I wrote that, I though to myself, 'did I ever review that before?' And so I searched in the Review link and yes I did...and I said the same kind of stuff too, but shorter! Well I guess I'm consistent. Though I only rated it a which I can't fathom why? Now I'd rate it like this
Oh, on the DVD extras of The Asphalt Jungle is an old interview with Sterling Hayden. It's short, but fascinating to hear him talk about his role in the McCarthy Communist investigations and just talking about himself. He's a pretty interesting dude!
Here's a link if interested:
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Crossfire (1947)
Directed by the inestimable Edward Dmytryk, and starring the 3 Roberts (Young, Mitchum, Ryan) along with the always fascinating Gloria Grahame, the film is a complex whodunit with noir treatment by cinematographer J. Roy Hunt.
John Paxton wrote the screenplay based upon the novel The Brick Foxhole written by Richard Brooks. In the book the object of murder was a homosexual. But since homosexuality could not be mentioned in 1947, the unfortunate character was switched to Jewish. In that way the premise was somewhat weakened, since Jews were not heavily ostracized to the degree that homosexuals were. The comparatively gentler prejudice that Jews received at the time was showcased in Gentleman’s Agreement, released later that year.
Nonetheless, starting with a somewhat shaky premise did not hurt the film’s power, which was predominantly provide by its actors, direction and photography. Robert Young was especially effective somewhat against type, playing a semi-hardboiled police investigator. His continual pipe smoking actually served to soften his character, giving him more of a fatherly or professorial image.
Robert Ryan on the other hand registered a powerful performance of a near sadistic, dominant bully type-- a role which would more or less pigeonhole him for the rest of his career. Mitchum was his silky self in a portrayal of an honest concerned everyman soldier who simply wants to get to the truth. And Gloria Grahame played a tramp who is finally convinced to tell what she knows.
Crossfire is not in the highest ranking on my list of personal favorite noir pictures, nor in general are films which prominently feature aggressive bully types. Still this is a well done memorable picture with notable themes and performances, and is an essential example of top mystery film making from Hollywood’s golden era.
Directed by the inestimable Edward Dmytryk, and starring the 3 Roberts (Young, Mitchum, Ryan) along with the always fascinating Gloria Grahame, the film is a complex whodunit with noir treatment by cinematographer J. Roy Hunt.
John Paxton wrote the screenplay based upon the novel The Brick Foxhole written by Richard Brooks. In the book the object of murder was a homosexual. But since homosexuality could not be mentioned in 1947, the unfortunate character was switched to Jewish. In that way the premise was somewhat weakened, since Jews were not heavily ostracized to the degree that homosexuals were. The comparatively gentler prejudice that Jews received at the time was showcased in Gentleman’s Agreement, released later that year.
Nonetheless, starting with a somewhat shaky premise did not hurt the film’s power, which was predominantly provide by its actors, direction and photography. Robert Young was especially effective somewhat against type, playing a semi-hardboiled police investigator. His continual pipe smoking actually served to soften his character, giving him more of a fatherly or professorial image.
Robert Ryan on the other hand registered a powerful performance of a near sadistic, dominant bully type-- a role which would more or less pigeonhole him for the rest of his career. Mitchum was his silky self in a portrayal of an honest concerned everyman soldier who simply wants to get to the truth. And Gloria Grahame played a tramp who is finally convinced to tell what she knows.
Crossfire is not in the highest ranking on my list of personal favorite noir pictures, nor in general are films which prominently feature aggressive bully types. Still this is a well done memorable picture with notable themes and performances, and is an essential example of top mystery film making from Hollywood’s golden era.
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Here's a link if interested:
Luckily it was only about 40 seconds of just French haha.
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I watched Le Corbeau last night as well. I also found that it was missing a lot of key noir elements, but I didn't really mind.
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Spellbound (1945)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a screenplay by Ben Hecht and Angus MacPhail, this is a different application of noir from a time when the style was still young. Rather than a detective, we have a psychoanalyst, while the early protagonists are not who or what that they appear to be.
The main characters are Gregory Peck, who plays the young newly installed head of a mental hospital, and Ingrid Bergman who shines as a prominent psychiatrist on staff. The inimitable Leo G. Carroll plays the previous head of the hospital who had been forced into retirement. Michael Chekhov (of the Chekhov acting method) plays Bergman’s teacher and mentor.
Bergman notices some peculiar behavior by Peck, and suggests psychoanalysis. During his analysis some shocking truths come out which set up a series of criminal discoveries, escape, further revelations, and death. Naturally Peck and Bergman are drawn to each other, which attraction flows to a romantic ending.
Mention must be made of the superb dream sequences authored by the surrealist artist Salvador Dali. They remain as some of the only video work by Dali in film. The sequences constructed by Dali and Hitchcock were reportedly initially 20 minutes in length, but producer David O. Selznick didn’t approve, and had them cut to roughly 2 minutes. This unfortunate deletion resulted in the loss of that valuable footage, remaining only in some photographic stills.
The score went to Miklos Rozsa when his normal collaborator, Bernard Herrmann was busy with other projects. The music featured the novel use of the theramin to underpin the weird scenes. Rozsa has used it once before to great effect in The Lost Weekend earlier in 1945.
Spellbound was the final film while under a 7 year contract with Selznick. Hitchcock had directed several films for other studios during that time, notable among them was Suspicion (1941) which was his first American film as both producer and director. Freed from Selznick’s meddling Hitchcock turned out several top pictures which lead into his most productive and memorable 1954-64 era.
Hitchcock characterized the film as, “Just another manhunt story wrapped up in pseudo-psychoanalysis.” Yet Spellbound is a fine film with an other-worldly feel to it despite its serious themes.
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Directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a screenplay by Ben Hecht and Angus MacPhail, this is a different application of noir from a time when the style was still young. Rather than a detective, we have a psychoanalyst, while the early protagonists are not who or what that they appear to be.
The main characters are Gregory Peck, who plays the young newly installed head of a mental hospital, and Ingrid Bergman who shines as a prominent psychiatrist on staff. The inimitable Leo G. Carroll plays the previous head of the hospital who had been forced into retirement. Michael Chekhov (of the Chekhov acting method) plays Bergman’s teacher and mentor.
Bergman notices some peculiar behavior by Peck, and suggests psychoanalysis. During his analysis some shocking truths come out which set up a series of criminal discoveries, escape, further revelations, and death. Naturally Peck and Bergman are drawn to each other, which attraction flows to a romantic ending.
Mention must be made of the superb dream sequences authored by the surrealist artist Salvador Dali. They remain as some of the only video work by Dali in film. The sequences constructed by Dali and Hitchcock were reportedly initially 20 minutes in length, but producer David O. Selznick didn’t approve, and had them cut to roughly 2 minutes. This unfortunate deletion resulted in the loss of that valuable footage, remaining only in some photographic stills.
The score went to Miklos Rozsa when his normal collaborator, Bernard Herrmann was busy with other projects. The music featured the novel use of the theramin to underpin the weird scenes. Rozsa has used it once before to great effect in The Lost Weekend earlier in 1945.
Spellbound was the final film while under a 7 year contract with Selznick. Hitchcock had directed several films for other studios during that time, notable among them was Suspicion (1941) which was his first American film as both producer and director. Freed from Selznick’s meddling Hitchcock turned out several top pictures which lead into his most productive and memorable 1954-64 era.
Hitchcock characterized the film as, “Just another manhunt story wrapped up in pseudo-psychoanalysis.” Yet Spellbound is a fine film with an other-worldly feel to it despite its serious themes.
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