Under Capricorn, and Spellbound

So I went by, and was somewhat dismayed to learn that it's right in the middle of a somewhat gross part of Mountain View where there are nothing but big apartment buildings. And it's right on a main street near another main street. So I was pretty unhappy with the locale right off; too busy, too artificial.

Plus, the maintenance guy wasn't around, so I couldn't get into the place to really see it. I did look through all the windows I could and it seemed like a pretty nice place, possibly a bit on the small side but it was hard to tell. It had laundry in the building, which is pretty reasonable for a duplex. But overall I decided I wasn't comfortable enough with the location to grab it, especially since I am more-or-less just starting out seeing places. I decided I'd keep looking and see what else I could find.

Speaking of apartments, John told me that he and his SO moved last weekend. He sounded somewhat frustrated with the new apartment, which apparently has some flaws they didn't notice during their walk-through. I was surprised they moved so quickly, and without telling anyone - well, no one I know, anyway! But I imagine he'll get used to the new place.

And yes, tonight it was time to go see more Hitchcock movies!

First up was Under Capricorn (1949), and who'd have figured Hitchcock had it in him to do a Gone with the Wind-style epic romance? It's the early 19th century, and Irishman Charles Adare (Michael Wilding, looking faintly ridiculous in his deep green coat) travels to Australia with his cousin, the new Governor, hoping to seek his fortune. He meets Sam Flusky (Joseph Cotten), a former convict who is now a wealthy man, and who befriends Adare (to the consternation of the Governor), who moves into the Flusky mansion.

The plot really starts moving when Adare meets Henrietta Flusky (Ingrid Bergman), Sam's wife, who is in a state of constant depression, nursed by the housekeeper, Milly (Margaret Leighton). Milly is in love with Sam, and Adare soon falls in love with Hetti, who is a friend of his sister's who disappeared some years ago. As Adare helps Hetti pull out of her funk, he learns that she followed Sam to Australia after he was convicted of killing her brother, but of course things turn out not to be as simple as that, and the romantic entanglements of this set of rather damaged human beings leads everything to a possibly messy end.

It's not entirely clear if Under Capricorn is about doing the right thing in the face of adversity, or sticking by the person you love, or what. It feels more like it's just a chronicle of a set of events and is just meant to be entertaining. Adare and Bergman are both fine in their roles, and Leighton is even better as the somewhat psychotic Milly. Cotten, however, is quite stiff and never feels entirely believable. And it's not a typical Hitchcock suspense flick, as it's never entirely clear what ends the suspense is supposed to serve, and the payoffs are different from what we're used to.

It's an interesting film, worth seeing, but not one of his best.

In a similar boat is Spellbound (1945), in which Ingrid Bergman plays Dr. Constance Peterson, a young and aloof psychiatrist at the Green Manors institution. Despite efforts by her colleagues, she doesn't become emotionally attached to someone until the arrival of Dr. Anthony Edwardes (Gregory Peck), who is replacing the outgoing Dr. Murcheson (Leo G. Carroll) as head of the facility. However, it turns out that Edwardes is not who he claims to be, but is in fact an amnesiac who remembers being present for Edwardes' death. Becoming a fugitive, Peterson follows Edwardes to try to learn what happened and to clear him.

The film lays it on a bit thick where the breaking of Peterson's icy exterior is concerned, and Bergman and Peck take their interactions somewhat over the top. But it's enjoyable to follow along, and the mystery itself is actually pretty clever (despite a rather corny Salvador Dali-inspired dream sequence). I figured it out only slightly before the characters.

The highlight of the film, however, involves the principals' visit to Peterson's mentor, Dr. Alex Brulov (Michael Chekhov), who plays the role of "absent-minded professor" quite well, and is even better when it turns out that he's not quite the doddering old fool it at first seems. He gets many of the best lines and executes them wonderfully ("Any husband of yours is a husband of mine, so to speak"!). Scenes with him are worth the price of admission alone.

Spellbound overall feels a little like an early version of North by Northwest with its scenes in a train station and on the train, and the whole "innocent man on the run from the law" premise, although the love story makes it a rather different film overall. It's not quite as successful, but it's fun.