The film "Doctor Edward" was shot in 1945, and although the film was shot for a long time, it still has merit to this day. It is the originator of psychoanalytic films in the history of cinema, and it is also the pioneer of spiritual films.
Producer David Selznick had a more positive experience with psychoanalytic therapy, and he wanted Hitchcock to make a film that led to an adaptation of John Palmer and Hilary Sanders' psychological thriller The House of Dr. Edward.
The film was not easy to shoot, and during the specific shooting, Hitchcock and Selzinick hired psychoanalytic advisers who clashed a lot. Hitchcock did not dogmatically adhere to the principles of psychoanalysis, but instead reproduced it in a cinematic manner in a distorted and exaggerated manner. At the same time, Hitchcock hired the surrealist master Salvador Dalí to design the key dream scenes in the film, and Dalí was regarded as the most outstanding artist of dreams and hallucinations at the time.
However, because the scenes are too long and complex, the precious scenes designed by Dali only have two minutes left in the finished film, which is also a pity in some ways.
The protagonist of the film Dr. Edward is Constance Peterson, a female doctor at Greenmanas Psychiatric Hospital. In the hospital, she has to psychoanalyze both tricky patients and deal with male doctors who pursue her, and she behaves quite indifferently on a daily basis. Murcheson, the former dean with whom she had a good relationship, is about to leave, and is succeeded by Dr. Edward, a famous doctor in the field of psychoanalysis.
Edward was much younger than everyone thought, and Constance fell in love with the handsome Edward at first sight in the hospital restaurant. However, it was also during the first meeting that Edward showed great uneasiness about the curved marks drawn on the tablecloth by Constance's fork, which raised Constance's questions.
Although the two soon fell in love, Edward was frightened and even shocked by the stripes on Constance's nightgown and the dark closure of the operating room, which made Constance's suspicions intensified: What happened to Edward? A big question mark appeared in her mind.
Later, through handwriting comparison, Constance Peterson discovered that "Edward" was not the real Dr. Edward. Confronted by Constance' questioning, Edward discovers that he does not know his true identity and suspects that he may have killed Dr. Edward and impersonated him. However, Constance does not believe that her lover can commit murder, and she is determined to help "Edvar" overcome the fear in her heart and restore the truth through psychoanalysis.
What is the truth behind a journey of memory?
"Edward" left overnight for the Imperial Hotel in New York in order not to bother Constance. Constance, who woke up in the morning to see the letter, rushed to the Imperial Hotel and found "Edward" under the pseudonym Aboutu Brown. Greatly moved, "Edward" decides to accept Constance's love and treatment, searching for memories and truth.
As the newspapers reported and the police followed, the two men's journey became more and more difficult, and they had no choice but to go to the home of Konstanz's teacher, Dr. Brunov. Through the analysis of "Edward's" dreams, Constance found that "Edward's" striped fear actually corresponded to the traces of skiing.
In order to find out, the two decided to go to the ski resort to restore the situation at that time. However, just as Edward recovers his memory and discovers that the reason for the amnesia is because the childhood shadow caused by an accident has blocked the memory of the recent ski accident, the police find new evidence of murder.
Constance, who still believes in the innocence of "Edward", needs to find the most secret clues...
"Doctor Edward" is a film that keeps the suspense to the last minute, which is one of the reasons why this film can make a deep impression.
There is no doubt that what has this film been trying to hide from the audience?
The audience first wonders why Edward is dizzy from the stripes, then wonders who he really is, and then wonders if he has killed anyone. Since the film mainly puts us in the position of the heroine, the audience has to switch between the two identities of doctor and lover, sometimes sharing her passion to save her lover, and sometimes falling into horror and doubt.
Of course, what really makes "Dr. Edward" so special and different from previous detective films and reasoning films is that the main characters of the film are psychoanalysts, the escape of the hero and heroine is a psychoanalytic journey, and the key clues to solve the case also come largely from the doctor's analysis of dreams. This is completely different from the previous suspense films, and it is also one of the main reasons why this film has attracted attention.
In 1945, when the public was still unfamiliar with psychoanalysis, Hitchcock created an organic visual connection between dream and reality with Salvador Dalí's surrealist images—walls with countless eyes, casino managers with blurred faces, and deformed wheels. The psychoanalytic analysis of dreams, the use of free association ideas, and the tracing of childhood shadows are presented in a rather popular way through this film, which is one of the reasons why the film is so successful.
At the same time, "Dr. Edward's" focus on psychology and spirit is not only reflected in the choice of characters and themes, the film is also successful in other aspects. In fact, through the amplification of scene details, the selective processing of sound, and the rendering of music throughout the film, Hitchcock successfully subjectivized a large number of objective scenes and became the external appearance of the character's heart.
This is also the amazing reason why the moment at the end of the film pointing the gun at the screen, pointing at the audience, inserting blood red into the black and white picture. This subjectivity makes us feel as if we are immersed in a nightmare that we cannot wake up.