Silver Screen Magic with Ingrid Bergman

Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman became a Hollywood icon, starring in many memorable movies. During her acting career, she won three Academy Awards. The actress excelled in a wide range of portrayals in drama, film noir, comedy, and period pieces.

Director Anatole Litvak directed the 1956 historical drama “Anastasia.” It is based on the screenplay written by Arthur Laurents and adapted from a 1952 play of the same name by French dramatist Marcelle Maurette. For her portrayal Ingrid Bergman won the Academy Award for Best Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress.

The storyline is the true story of a mysterious woman named Anna Koreff (Ingrid Bergman) who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, an heiress to the Romanov fortune.

“Autumn Sonata” was a 1978 tragedy film that was written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film starred Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann, and Lena Nyman. The film was the only collaboration between Ingrid Bergman and Ingmar Bergman (who were not related).

The storyline follows the celebrated classical pianist Charlotte Andergast (Ingrid Bergman) and her neglected daughter Eva (Liv Ullmann), who meet for the first time in years.

In 1945, Director Leo McCarey directed the film that became a Christmas holiday classic, “The Bells of St. Mary’s.” The film paired two of the greatest talents in Hollywood, Ingrid Bergman and Bing Crosby, in this comedy-drama. Bing Crosby has previously portrayed Father O’Malley in the 1944 film “Going My Way,” for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

The storyline is about Sister Mary Benedict (Ingrid Bergman) and Father Chuck O’Malley (Bing Crosby). Father O’Malley supervises St. Mary’s parish while the Mother Superior Sister Benedict and other nuns run an inner-city elementary school.

In my opinion, Director Michael Curtiz directed the tear-jerker of all movies when he filmed “Casablanca.” This American romantic drama starred Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid. The screenplay is based on “Everybody Comes to Rick’s,” an unproduced stage play by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. “Casablanca” won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The storyline takes place during WW II and focuses on an American expatriate, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), who must choose between his love for Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) and helping her husband Victor Lazslo (Paul Henreid), a Czechoslovak resistance leader, escape from the Vichy-controlled city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Nazis.

And who could forget Dooley Wilson as Sam Wilson playing and singing the song that means so much to Ilsa and Rick, “As Time Goes By” When I say “Play it again, Sam,” I mean it and hand over the Kleenex.

In 1944, Director George Cukor directed the suspense film “Gaslight.” It is based on the 1938 play of the same name. This psychological drama starred Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, and Angela Lansbury. It was adapted from the 1938 play of the same name by Patrick Hamilton.

The storyline follows a young woman, Paula Alquist Anton (Ingrid Bergman) whose husband Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer) is slowly manipulating her in believing that she is going insane. Bergman was brilliant in her role, making her performance believable, slipping into mental anguish and tortured realization of her husband’s manipulative behavior.

In 1948, Director Victor Fleming took on the retelling of the 15th-century story of the French heroine “Joan of Arc.” The film was based on the Broadway play “Joan of Lorraine” by Maxwell Anderson. It starred Ingrid Bergman.

The storyline follows the young revolutionary Jeanne d’Arc (Ingrid Bergman) from the time she was convinced God had chosen her to save France to the ultimate burning at the stake by the English.

Director Sidney Lumet directed the 1974 film “Murder on the Orient Express” based on the novel of the same name by British mystery author Agatha Christie. The movie starred many well-known Hollywood talents, among them Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Anthony Perkins, Sean Connery, and Ingrid Bergman. Bergman won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In the film, Bergman portrayed Greta Ohlsson, a Swedish missionary on her way to Europe from Africa, to help the poorest children in Africa. The murder on the train, when discovered, is examined by Detective Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney).

In 1946, Director Alfred Hitchcock directed the thrilling espionage film “Notorious.” The film starred Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains.

The storyline follows the US government agent T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant), who enlists the help of Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman), the daughter of a convicted German spy, to infiltrate a group of German emigres hiding out in Rio de Janeiro after WW II. Things get complicated when the two fall in love as Huberman is instructed to seduce IG Farben executive Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains), who had previously been infatuated with her.

Director Alfred Hitchcock directed the 1945 film “Spellbound.” This was a psychological thriller featuring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck at the height of their careers. The filming of the movie took place during the summer of 1944 in Vermont, Utah, and Los Angeles. It was theatrically released in NYC on Halloween 1945.

The storyline is about psychologist Dr. Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) at Green Manors, a mental hospital in Vermont. When the hospital director, Dr. Murchison Leo G. Carroll, is forced into retirement, his replacement is Dr. Anthony Edwards (Gregory Peck). A relationship begins between Dr. Petersen and Dr. Edwards. With the special talent of Hitchcock, it appears that Edwards Is an amnesia-ridden man who stole his doctor’s identity, and some think he might even have killed the doctor.

“Stromboli” is an Italian-American production that was directed by Roberto Rossellini. The film is considered to be a classic example of Italian neorealism. The film starred Ingrid Bergman, Mario Vitale, and Renzo Cesana.

The storyline is about a young Baltic woman, Karin (Ingrid Bergman), struggling to assimilate into small village life after escaping a prison camp and marrying an ex-POW fisherman, Antonio (Mario Vitale). The action takes place on the Italian volcanic island of Stromboli, located between the mainland of Italy and Sicily.