Freud **** (1962, Montgomery Clift, Susannah York, Larry Parks) – Classic Movie Review 7186

A bearded, haunted looking Montgomery Clift’s intelligent performance as the famous Viennese psychiatrist Dr Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the clear and riveting direction by John Huston, and Charles Kaufman and Wolfgang Reinhardt’s revealing screenplay all combine to add up to the engrossing, literate 1962 biopic Freud (aka Freud… The Secret Passion). Douglas Slocombe’s stark black and white cinematography and Jerry Goldsmith’s unusual Oscar-nominated score are other notable assets.

The film’s biographical story concentrates on five years (1890-95) in the life of Austrian psychiatrist Dr Sigmund Freud (Clift) who is helping a young woman, Cecily Koertner (Susannah York), suffering from a breakdown after her father’s death, and realises that her problems are similar to his own. Eureka, the Oedipus complex! Freud uses hypnosis to tackle the psychosis of Cecily, who will not drink water and is tormented by a repeated nightmare.

If the film recalls Hollywood’s golden-age historical biopics of the Thirties, the fascinating dream sequences take us back even further to Twenties German Expressionism. However Freud… The Secret Passion is also fascinating as a whole, though it proved too long, too arty and too sombre for popular taste back in 1962. Huston employs blacklisted Larry Parks as Freud’s friend Dr Joseph Breuer.

Also in the cast are Eileen Herlie, Susan Kohner, David McCallum, Eric Portman, Fernand Ledoux, Rosalie Crutchley, David Kossoff, Joseph Furst, Allan Cuthbertson, Moira Redmond, Maria Perschy, George Woodvine, Alexander Mango, Leonard Sachs and Stefan Schnabel.

Freud… The Secret Passion was nominated for two Oscars: Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen (Charles Kaufman and Wolfgang Reinhardt) and Best Music, Score – Substantially Original (Jerry Goldsmith). It runs 140 minutes but the cut version runs only 120 minutes. Charles Kaufman and Wolfgang Reinhardt’s screenplay is based on Charles Kaufman’s story. It is produced by Universal International Pictures and Bavaria Film.

It was filmed at Bavaria Studios, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany; Nymphenburg Palace, Munich; and Vienna.

The ever complex Huston openly disliked the homosexual Clift and later battled not to re-cast him in his 1966 Reflections in a Golden Eye, as requested by its star Elizabeth Taylor, but Clift died shortly before filming began and he was replaced by Marlon Brando.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7186

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