Spellbound

It would have been Alfred Hitchcock's birthday this past week, who as we all know, was the director in 1940 of the first radio show of a proposed new series entitled 'Suspense' which went on to be pretty successful over the next twenty years.

Alfred Hitchcock said, "Suspense, as opposed to mystery, is giving information to an audience in order to make them worry, whereas mystery is merely withholding information," and under his direction the very first Suspense episode - The Lodger - certainly did that.

After listening, Joy and I decided that we'd watch a Hitchcock classic movie, choosing Spellbound, a 1945 psychological thriller. 

It tells the story of the new head of a mental asylum who turns out not to be what he claims. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov and Leo G. Carroll, and is an adaptation of the 1927 novel The House of Dr. Edwardes by Hilary Saint George Saunders and John Palmer.

It's an amazing film that does a great job of mixing mental and psychological disorders with suspense and Hitchcock's classic macabre sense of humor. The atmosphere is wonderfully done and there is mystery built into almost every scene, making it a film that is hard to forget. It's definitely a classic and one of Alfred Hitchcock's best!

Despite their many contractual disagreements, both the film's producer, David O. Selznick, and Alfred Hitchcock wanted Joseph Cotten to play a role in the movie, but the part ultimately went to Gregory Peck. 

However, Spellbound was later performed as a one-hour radio adaptation on Lux Radio Theatre, and Screen Directors Playhouse also did a one-hour adaptation (which I just added to RUSC today). Both versions starred Joseph Cotten, and are available to listen to on RUSC.

By clicking on the following link you can also listen to many other great Alfred Hitchcock film dramas that were recreated for radio.

Happy listening my friends,