One of Hitchcock's most aesthetically pleasing and understandable for a common viewer movies along with another underrated masterpiece 'To Catch a Thief'. Both young Bergman and Peck are so stunningly talented and beautiful that one wouldn't be sorry to die for them. Numerous beautiful yet simple scenes (the suicide scene, for instance) and an amazing surreal scene of a dream just makes this film a must-see.

Years before "Marnie" focused on someone who reacts to a certain color, Alfred Hitchcock focused on the topic in "Spellbound". Ingrid Bergman plays a psychoanalyst in a mental hospital whose new director (Gregory Peck) has a strange aversion to lines in white, and he starts having doubts about his identity.Much of the plot struck me as routine, but there's one thing in the movie that really makes it worth seeing: the dream sequence. Designed by Salvador Dalí, it rivals Darren Aronofsky's movies in surrealism. When you think about it, it's too bad that Hitch and Dalí didn't collaborate more. They could've come up with some impressive things.I should say that it's not Hitch's best movie. There were a few scenes that made me think "that's not what would happen", and the ending came across as sort of a cop-out. But overall, the Sultan of Suspense shows the same flair for filmmaking that he usually does. I guess that the focus on psychoanalysis predicts AH's most famous movie.PS: Michael Chekhov (Dr. Brulov) was the nephew of playwright Anton Chekhov.

not the story, not the incredible situations, maybe, not the tension are the good points of this admirable film. but the high, rare, delicate and seductive romanticism. gestures, dialogues, looks. and the slices of silence. each, all, are pillars/ingredients of a splendid story and example of magnificent acting. the use of vulnerability of the two lead characters for an emotional story about self definition as basis of profound, gorgeous love story is the true motif for to admire and see, again and again, this fascinating drama . sure, it is not surprising. great actors, great director, impeccable script. but the spell of a story about confuse identities, a crime and a dark game has, in the case of Spellbound, special chemistry. and that defines it in the most seductive manner.

If you thought that it was impossible for movie-maker Alfred Hitchcock to direct a dud, well, think again. 'Cause here you have it.On a psychoanalytical level, "Spellbound" was an absolute joke. I mean, I'm certainly no psychiatrist, or anything like that, but even from a layman's perspective, this "terrible-excuse-for-a-romance" was actually quite insulting to any thinking person.In particular, it was the repeated, bug-eyed fainting spells of Gregory Peck's character, coupled with some very silly, "eerie"-sounding background music, that almost reduced "Spellbound" to the dimwitted level of being a typical, Hollywood "Screwball" comedy, 1940's style.Yes. I could certainly go on and on here, finding more and more fault with this movie. But, on a positive note - One thing I can say for "Spellbound" was that it sure did look good. Without a doubt, the camera-work was easily the strongest point of this $1.5 million production.