Freud had only recently passed from the scene when this film was made, and the plot is evidence of the rather simplistic popular understanding of the early psychoanalysis. It now seems hopelessly naive to assume that merely uncovering the demons of one's past will effectively erase the emotional pain they have produced and thereby "cure" the patient. Yet this is the premiss of the film.
The plot looks both backward and forward in Hitchcock's development as a director. Backward: to his favourite 1930s plotline, as found in "The 39 Steps" and "Young and Innocent", of a man fleeing the law and attempting to clear his name of a crime he did not commit. Forward: to the likes of "Psycho" and "Marnie" in the 1960s, where the mystery revolves around uncovering the psychological motivations of a person's actions. Was this the first of Hitch's psychological thrillers? It may well have been.
In this case Peck plays the recently arrived director of a hospital for the mentally ill, who doesn't quite know what he's supposed to know to perform his new role. It soon becomes clear he is not the man he claims to be. In the meantime, of course, the previously dedicated and workaholic Bergman is uncharacteristically smitten with him and, like Nova Pilbeam in "Young and Innocent", runs off with him to help him clear both his name and his head. If there is any suspense in this film, it is found in Bergman risking her career to help a man who she thinks is probably not a criminal but cannot be absolutely certain of it. The plotline is, of course, utterly ridiculous, without the slightest hint of credibility. But Bergman and Peck are sufficiently good actors to make it work.
They are aided by the efforts of Salvador Dali, who put together the famous dream sequence, and of Miklós Rózsa, who composed a great score that is simultaneously romantic and eerie. Without these men's contribution, this film would likely be judged one of Hitch's lesser efforts.
The plot looks both backward and forward in Hitchcock's development as a director. Backward: to his favourite 1930s plotline, as found in "The 39 Steps" and "Young and Innocent", of a man fleeing the law and attempting to clear his name of a crime he did not commit. Forward: to the likes of "Psycho" and "Marnie" in the 1960s, where the mystery revolves around uncovering the psychological motivations of a person's actions. Was this the first of Hitch's psychological thrillers? It may well have been.
In this case Peck plays the recently arrived director of a hospital for the mentally ill, who doesn't quite know what he's supposed to know to perform his new role. It soon becomes clear he is not the man he claims to be. In the meantime, of course, the previously dedicated and workaholic Bergman is uncharacteristically smitten with him and, like Nova Pilbeam in "Young and Innocent", runs off with him to help him clear both his name and his head. If there is any suspense in this film, it is found in Bergman risking her career to help a man who she thinks is probably not a criminal but cannot be absolutely certain of it. The plotline is, of course, utterly ridiculous, without the slightest hint of credibility. But Bergman and Peck are sufficiently good actors to make it work.
They are aided by the efforts of Salvador Dali, who put together the famous dream sequence, and of Miklós Rózsa, who composed a great score that is simultaneously romantic and eerie. Without these men's contribution, this film would likely be judged one of Hitch's lesser efforts.