![]() ![]() ![]() But as ever, it could have turned out very differently: Selznick originally wanted Joseph Cotten, Dorothy McGuire (“ Gentlemen’s Agreement“) and Paul Lukas (“ Watch On The Rhine,” “ 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea“) for the lead roles, while at one point he thought about luring Greta Garbo out of retirement to play Dr. “Spellbound” has one of Hitchcock’s finest casts, with Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman in the lead roles, and legendary Russian actor Michael Chekhov and Hitchcock favorite Leo G. Joseph Cotten and Greta Garbo were considered for the lead roles at one point. Ultimately, fourteen minutes of the film in total were removed by the producer (which seems to have been lost), while censors demanded that provocative references to “sex menace,” “frustrations,” “libido” and “tomcat” were taken out.ģ. Once it was completed, it seemingly ran as much as twenty minutes (according to Ingrid Bergman in Donald Spoto’s book “ The Dark Side of Genius“), but Selznick cut much of what remained (including shots of Bergman as the god Diana). However, things quickly went downhill: Hitchcock gave Dali pretty much free rein, and had little to do with the sequence, and as a result, Selznick tried to bring it under control by hiring legendary production designer William Cameron Menzies (“ Gone With The Wind“) to helm the sequence - although Menzies was unhappy with the end result, and had his credit taken off. Selznick was initially unsure, but when he realized the publicity boon it would cause, he agreed. ![]() Hitchcock had the brilliant idea of using surrealist legend Salvador Dali to design the sequences of delusion. While Salvador Dali was hired to create the delusion sequences, much of what he planned was either not shot or cut by Selznick. Hitchcock would mostly ignore her, however, telling her after she tried to correct him on one scene, “My dear, it’s only a movie.”Ģ. The producer also provided the use of his own analyst, May Romm M.D, as a technical adviser for the shoot. Saunders), Selznick agreed, acquiring the book for a whopping $40,000. Edwardes” by Francis Beeding (the pseudonym of John Palmer and Hilary A. As such, when Alfred Hitchcock, who Selznick had brought to Hollywood for the Oscar-winning “ Rebecca,” wanted to buy the rights to thriller novel “ The House of Dr. Selznick had become an advocate of the benefits of psychoanalysis (he was also an advocate of amphetamines, but that’s neither here nor there), and wanted to release a major movie to sing its praises. Like many in Hollywood at the time, legendary producer David O. Selznick’s desire to spread the word about psychoanalysis. To mark the release of the film all those years ago, we’ve dug up five facts about the movie that even the most ardent Hitchcock-ophile might not be aware of. Edwardes ( Gregory Peck), might not be who he appears to be.ĭakota Johnson: HBO Should’ve ‘Warned Us’ About ‘Heartbreaking’ Portrayal of Tippi Hedren in ‘The Girl’ĭespite Hitchcock labelling it as “just another manhunt,” the film holds up as one of the director’s most interesting and rich films of the period, thanks in part to surreal imagery contributed by artist Salvador Dali, and yet it proved to be a huge hit and picked up six Oscar nominations. And Octosaw the release of Hitchcock’s “ Spellbound.”Īlfred Hitchcock came to Hollywood after a string of hits in Great Britain in 1940, and swiftly became one of the most in-demand directors around thanks to films like “ Rebecca,” “ Foreign Correspondent,” “ Shadow of a Doubt,” and “ Lifeboat.” But one of his most forward looking pictures of the 1940s was his thriller about a psychoanalyst at a mental asylum ( Ingrid Bergman) who begins to realize that the new director, Dr. These days, Halloween means “ Paranormal Activity” sequels in theaters (and before that, “ Saw” movies), but in the past, when the holiday wasn’t such a corporate behemoth, more interesting fare made it to theaters for that time of year. We’re of the general opinion that you can never get enough Alfred Hitchcock, and while we’ve just wrapped up our massive retrospective of the director’s films to celebrate the release of a new Blu-ray boxset of his work, today has another Hitch connection. ![]()
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