Review by claudio_carvalho

In Green Manors mental institution, Dr. Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) is initiating her career of psychoanalyst and is considered a cold woman that has no time for love by her colleagues. When the head of the hospital, Dr. Murchison (Leo G. Carroll), is forced to retire by the board after a breakdown, his replacement is the successful Dr. Anthony Edwardes (Gregory Peck) that is so young that surprises the other doctors in his arrival. Constance and Edwardes immediately fall in love for each other, but in a couple of days later it is disclosed that the man that supposes to be Dr. Edwardes in indeed an impostor that seems to be a paranoid amnesiac with guilty complex that might have killed the famous psychoanalyst. He goes away from Green Manors to the Empire State Hotel in New York and leaves a message to Dr. Constance that decides to find him. She sneaks and travels to New York, where she meets him lodged with the identity of John Brown. Dr. Constance decides to heal him recovering his memory and discover the fate of the true Dr. Anthony Edwardes.

"Spellbound" is far from being among my favorite Hitchcock's movies, but there is at least one unforgettable moment in this suspenseful but dull romance: the sequence of John Ballantine's dream based on designs of Salvador Dali. Ingrid Bergman performs a psychoanalyst vulnerable in many moments and with unacceptable attitudes, like for example, prioritizing to open her correspondence that giving attention to her mentally ill patient Mr. Garmes or her juvenile rapture with Gregory Peck's character. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Spellbound - Quando Fala o Coração" ("Spellbound - When the Heart Speaks")

Note: On 23 October 2024, I saw this film again.