Overlong, tedious, and far too complex, FREUD attempts to synthesize so much into 140 minutes that it misses on many levels. Clift was miscast as the eminent Jewish doctor from Vienna. Not in a trillion years could that Yankee face convincingly represent Sigmund. Instead of showing
several patients, the writers portray York as a composite, a woman of multiple neuroses. She's fixated on her father (an Electra complex), hysterical, and sexually repressed. The film begins as the 30-year-old Freud takes a leave of absence from his work at Vienna's General Hospital, where he has
been frequently arguing with his superior, Portman. Freud wants to delve more deeply into the reasons for hysteria; he travels to Paris, where he studies with Charcot (Ledoux) and learns that hypnosis can be used to induce the condition artificially. After he marries, he goes to work for Breuer
(Parks), who also believes in hypnotherapy. Together the doctors treat Cecily Koertner (York) who is suffering from insomnia and a temporary loss of full sight; and McCallum, a youth whose repressed incestuous love for his mother has prompted him to attack his father. Freud's published theories
about the sexual bases for these neuroses offend the medical establishment, but he is dogged in his belief that he is right. Soon he foregoes hypnosis in favor of analysis, exploring the impact of youthful traumas on his patients.
This was Larry Parks's first job since the McCarthy witchhunt of the 1950s. He was so associated with his role of Al Jolson that his presence on the screen engendered some laughter in the theaters (not unlike that which George Reeves stimulated when he attempted to play roles other than Superman).
Occasionally, a one-on-one scene between an analyst and a patient can be electrifying (as in THE FOUR HUNDRED BLOWS, 1959, when Leaud speaks to an unseen listener). In this film, however, the star is the psychiatrist--not the patient--and the resulting interaction between the two characters is
dull. Clift was suffering from a thyroid problem and cataracts while making the picture, and his inability to remember lines, especially medical terms, slowed the production down. McCallum came to the US shortly after completion of the movie and became well known as the Russian in the TV series
"The Man from UNCLE." A one-man play about Freud made several years later (written by Lynn Roth) covered the same ground more effectively than this movie because, without detracting from the characters in the play, the essence of Freud was allowed to emerge. This production was filmed entirely in
England, and all the sets are perfect. Too bad the rest of it wasn't. Nominated by the Academy for Best Screenplay and Best Music Score. leave a comment
