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Freud

Play trailer Poster for Freud Released Dec 12, 1962 2h 20m Biography Play Trailer Watchlist
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78% Tomatometer 9 Reviews 70% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
John Huston's biopic of Sigmund Freud (Montgomery Clift) follows the progress of the father of psychoanalytical psychiatry as he develops the notion that neurosis stems from sexual repression. By treating patients with various issues, including a woman haunted by recurring dreams (Susannah York) and a man with an Oedipus complex (David McCallum), Freud experiences epiphanies that lead to the birth of modern analysis, despite the scorn his theories initially receive from his colleagues.

Critics Reviews

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Elizabeth Sussex Sight & Sound Huston seems inhibited rather than inspired by [the material]: his energy bottled up and his camera forced to a standstill by careful compositions. Feb 11, 2020 Full Review Richard Brody The New Yorker While in different hands (Orson Welles's, for instance) these radical themes could have inspired more hallucinatory, probing, and inward images, Huston nonetheless evokes an apt sense of wonder, admiration, and awe. Dec 15, 2014 Full Review Kathy Fennessy Video Librarian Magazine ...a film of considerable artistic and intellectual merit, and deserves recognition as something other than a production nightmare. Rated: 3.5/4 Feb 25, 2022 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Here's a movie where the dream sequences appropriately enhance rather than injure the story. Rated: 3/4 Dec 4, 2021 Full Review Frank J. Avella Edge Media Network Clift's performance is eerily effective and pensively restraint. Rated: B Nov 2, 2021 Full Review Clyde Gilmour Maclean's Magazine I cannot imagine why director John Huston decided that the painful mumble and glassy stare of Hollywood's Montgomery Clift made him suitable to portray the Viennese father of psychiatry. Oct 7, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alec B Often feels like a failed art project by Huston (I wonder what the original cut was like?) with all the obvious dream imagery and discussions of the subconscious. I do think Clift and York are quite good and Goldsmith's score is just incredible. Wish they were in a better movie. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/27/25 Full Review Graeme D Montgomery clift gives a haunted, powerful performance with great restraint. The film is nearly spoiled by Hustons boring and irrelevant voice over. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/04/24 Full Review steve d The performances helped the script a lot. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Despite a tortured performance by Clift and a characteristically atmospheric score by Jerry Goldsmith, this very talky biopic remains uninvolving and prosaic. The occasional Bergmanesque dream sequences only highlight the weaknesses of Huston's direction. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Although it gives a rather simple and compressed insight to the early days of Freuds life, it still comes out as a well crafted and interesting drama with more than enough plot development to keep your eyes on the screen. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review panayiota k Montgomery Clift was really cool in the role of Freud and it was interesting to see his theories. However i was expecting more coherence and better quality from a 1962 movie. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Freud

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Cast & Crew

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John Huston

Director

Montgomery Clift

Sigmund Freud

Susannah York

Cecily Koertner

Larry Parks

Dr. Joseph Breuer

Susan Kohner

Martha Freud

Eileen Herlie

Frau Ida Koertner

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Freud

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Movie Info

Synopsis John Huston's biopic of Sigmund Freud (Montgomery Clift) follows the progress of the father of psychoanalytical psychiatry as he develops the notion that neurosis stems from sexual repression. By treating patients with various issues, including a woman haunted by recurring dreams (Susannah York) and a man with an Oedipus complex (David McCallum), Freud experiences epiphanies that lead to the birth of modern analysis, despite the scorn his theories initially receive from his colleagues.
Director
John Huston
Producer
Wolfgang Reinhardt
Screenwriter
Charles Kaufman, Wolfgang Reinhardt
Distributor
Universal Pictures
Production Co
Bavaria Film
Genre
Biography
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 12, 1962, Original
Runtime
2h 20m