Discussion: Spellbound (1945)

Discussion: Spellbound pairs a film screening with guided learning and conversation. Participants meet with experienced instructors and other audience members in the Education and Community Engagement Center before and after the screening to examine the film and its historical and artistic context.

The program is part of a film noir series focused on how wartime anxiety, refugee filmmakers, American pulp fiction, and German expressionism shaped the genre in the 1940s. It considers noir’s portrayals of economic hardship, independent women, troubled individuals, and conflict both psychological and societal, while also examining the period’s studio-produced war propaganda and the film criticism and popular psychoanalysis surrounding these works. Admission includes an introduction, the screening, and a post-film discussion.

Kay Lynch leads the program. She founded Salem Horror Fest and serves as film program director at The Bower by Montserrat College of Art. Her programming and presentation work has included American Cinematheque, the Peabody Essex Museum, Coolidge Corner Theatre, and CinemaSalem, and she previously taught Coolidge’s sold-out five-week course *Arthouse of Horror*.

When: Wednesday, November 25

Showtime: 6:15pm

Run time: Approximately 3 hours

Venue: Coolidge Corner Theatre, Education and Community Engagement Center

Tickets: Price not available

Admission: Includes the film introduction, screening, and post-film discussion

Availability: Online purchase is offered; the event may also be purchased through a discussion package

Instructor: Kay Lynch

Ages: Not specified

Accessibility: Not specified