Search - Spellbound on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1945 DVD Release: 09/07/1999 Format: DVD - Black and White Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 58 mins Studio: Anchor Bay Members Wishing: 23 Genres: Mystery, Medical Drama, Romantic Mystery, Psychological Thriller See Also: Spellbound [Criterion Collection], Spellbound

As Alfred Hitchcock's classic psychothriller opens, the staff of a posh mental asylum eagerly awaits the arrival of the new director. When the man in question shows up, it turns out to be handsome psychiatrist John Ballantine (Gregory Peck). But something's wrong, here: Ballantine seems much too young for so important a position; his answers to the staff's questions are vague and detached; and he seems unusually distressed by the parallel marks, left by a fork, on a white tablecloth. Dr. Constance Peterson (Ingrid Bergman) comes to the conclusion that Ballantine is not the new director, but a profoundly disturbed amnesiac--and, possibly, the murderer of the real director. But is she correct in her inferences? Scriptwriters Angus MacPhail and Ben Hecht soon add to this the complication that Constance begins to fall in love with John. Director Hitchcock tapped surrealist artist Salvador Dali to design the visually arresting dream sequences in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ingrid Bergman - Dr. Constance Peterson
Gregory Peck - Dr. Anthony Edwardes
Jean Acker - Matron
Rhonda Fleming - Mary Carmichael
Leo G. Carroll - Dr. Murchison
Donald Curtis - Harry
Norman Lloyd - Garmes
Regis Toomey - Sgt. Gillespie

Alfred Hitchcock's superb Spellbound comes to DVD with a standard full-frame transfer (as should any film produced before 1955). The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Stereo. There are neither subtitles nor closed-captions on this release. The lack of extras may turn off some viewers, but the low list price and the high quality of the film itself make this disc worth a look. Anyone with an interest in the work of the Master will certainly want to check out this DVD. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide