The Search for Bridey Murphy


1h 24m 1956

Brief Synopsis

After being shown what hypnotism can do, a Doctor sets out to study it in depth. When experimenting on his friend's wife, she regresses back to an earlier life- that of Bridey Murphy. Several hypnotic sessions explore the life and death of Murphy, a 19th Century Irish lady who lived in Cork and Belfast from 1798 to 1864. The Doctor then attempts to verify if Bridey Murphy really existed.

Film Details

Genre
Drama
Fantasy
Release Date
Oct 1956
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Paramount Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Paramount Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the book The Search for Bridey Murphy by Morey Bernstein (Garden City, NY, 1956).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 24m
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.85 : 1
Film Length
7,624ft

Synopsis

In Pueblo, Colorado in 1952, businessman Morey Bernstein and his wife Hazel are preparing to go to a party held by their friends, Rex and Ruth Simmons, when Morey receives a telephone call from Jerry Thomas, the cousin of one of his biggest clients, whose plane has been grounded in Pueblo. The Bernsteins bring Jerry to the dinner party, where he practices his amateur hypnosis on numerous guests. Though Morey is skeptical, Dr. Deering, a physician, confirms that the subjects, including his fiancée, Lois Morgan, are indeed in hypnotic trances. Morey soon becomes obsessed with hypnotism, reading every book on the subject he can find. Hazel becomes his first subject, and Morey cures his wife of her migraine headaches. Enthralled with his new powers, Morey then volunteers at the local hospital, where he has great success relieving patients of psychosomatic symptoms. Later, at another dinner party, Morey is told about Edgar Cayce, a noted hypnotist who claims to have uncovered the past lives of his patients. Morey then travels to Virginia Beach to meet Hugh Lynn Cayce, Edgar's surviving son, who has collected an archive of his father's work. Returning to Pueblo, Morey is so enthusiastic about hypnosis that Ruth agrees to be put under, despite Rex's objections. Ruth proves remarkably susceptible to hypnosis, and at the next session Morey regresses Ruth further and further into her subconscious, until the American housewife begins telling of her past life as Bridget Kathleen "Bridey" Murphy of Cork, Ireland in the 1800s. Over numerous sessions tape-recorded by Morey, Ruth recounts her life as Bridey, living in the country with her father Duncan, whom she describes as a barrister, her mother Kathleen and her older brother, Duncan, Jr. She talks about the guilt she felt as a young girl of four, when her infant brother died. Later, she recounts meeting her future husband, Brian MacCarthy, at age seventeen, and how, like her father, Brian became a barrister. Upon further questioning, she tells of moving to Belfast with her husband. Acting on a post-hypnotic suggestion, Ruth awakes from her trance and dances an Irish gig, though after hearing a playback of her previous session, she becomes upset and Rex insists that the hypnosis stop. Morey's father also becomes infuriated after the local papers print stories about Morey and Ruth, but when a college philosophy professor, a Catholic priest, a reverend, and Cranmer, a newspaper publisher, show an interest in the project, the Simmonses reconsider. At the next session, Ruth describes how Bridey died at age 66, after suffering a debilitating fall, and how she was buried outside the Catholic cemetery, because as a Protestant, she could not be interned in hallowed ground. She then describes her existence in the "after-world," where she watched over her husband Brain, and visited her brother Duncan in Cork. Although she was able to speak briefly to her dead father and infant brother, she found it impossible to speak to people still on Earth. She was unable to contact anyone else she knew in the after-world and does not remember how she came to be reincarnated as Ruth. Hoping to write a book about Ruth and Bridey, Morey has little luck in finding documentation to prove Bridey's existence. Cranmer suggests that Bridey may have exaggerated her social level, so Morey hypnotizes Ruth once again. After Bridey describes information about family records, Morey tries to regress Ruth further back, beyond her life as Bridey, but when they discover that she was an infant who died in childbirth, Deering insists that Morey end the session. The amateur hypnotist is unable to bring Ruth back, however, as Bridey seems to have overtaken her subconscious. A frightened Morey is finally able to break the trance, and Deering insists that the sessions be halted, especially now that Ruth is pregnant. They all agree, and Ruth proposes a final toast to Bridey, wherever she may be.

Film Details

Genre
Drama
Fantasy
Release Date
Oct 1956
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Paramount Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Paramount Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the book The Search for Bridey Murphy by Morey Bernstein (Garden City, NY, 1956).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 24m
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.85 : 1
Film Length
7,624ft

Articles

Teresa Wright (1918-2005)


Teresa Wright, a talented, Oscar&-winning leading lady of the '40s, and in later life, a versatile character player, died on March 6 at a New Haven, Connecticut hospital of a heart attack. She was 86.

She was born Muriel Teresa Wright in New York City on October 27, 1918. She showed a keen interest in acting in grade school, and by the time she was 19, she made her Broadway debut in Thorton Wilder's Our Town (1938); the following year she scored a hit as Mary, the weeping ingénue in Life with Father (1939). The word was out that New York had a superb young acting talent on hand, and Samuel Goldwyn soon brought her to Hollywood for William Wyler's adaptation of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes (1941). She scored an Oscar® nomination for her film debut as Regina Giddens' (Bette Davis), honorable daughter, Alexandria.

She maintained her amazing momentum by scoring two Oscar® nominations the following year for her next two films: as Carol Miniver in Wyler's Mrs. Miniver (Best Supporting Actress Category), and as Lou Gehrig's (Gary Cooper) faithful wife Ellie in Pride of the Yankees (Best Actress Category), and won the Oscar for Miniver. Yet for most fans of Wright's work, her finest hour remains her perfectly modulated performance as young Charlie in Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece, Shadow of a Doubt (1943). Wright's performance as the self-effacing, impressionable young niece who gradually realizes that her beloved uncle (Joseph Cotton) may have murdered several widows is effective since Wright's air of observation, subtly turns from idol gazing, to a watchful air of caution as the facts slowly being to unravel. 60 years on, fans of Hitchcock still acclaim Wright's performance as an integral part of the film's classic status.

She proved her talents in comedy with the delightful Casanova Brown (1944), but then saw her schedule slow down due to domesticity. After she married screenwriter Niven Busch in 1942, she gave birth to son, Niven Jr., in 1944, and took two years off to look after her family. She soon returned to film with another Wyler project, the Oscar®-winning, post war drama, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), playing Fredric March's level-headed daughter, Peggy, she again took some time off after giving birth to her daughter, Mary in 1947. On her second attempt to return to the big screen, Wright found her popularity on the wane. Her wholesome image was in sharp contrast of the tougher, more modern women in post-war Hollywood, and her stubborn refusal to pose for any swimsuit or cheesecake photos to alter her image led to her release from Sam Goldwyn's contract.

As a freelance actress, Wright still found some good roles, notably as a young widow in the thriller scripted by her husband, in The Capture; and as a faithful fiancée trying to help Marlin Brandon deal with his amputation in Stanley Kramer's The Men (both 1950). Yet within a few years, she was playing middle-aged mothers in film like The Actress (1953), and The Track of the Cat (1954), even though she was still in her early '30s. By the mid-50s she found work in live television, where she could apply her stage training, in a number of acclaimed shows: Playhouse 90, General Electric Theater, Four Star Playhouse, and The United States Steel Hour.

She took a break from acting when she married her second husband, the playwright Robert Anderson in 1959, (she had divorced her first husband, Busch, in 1952) and was out of the public eye for several decades, save for an isolated theater appearance. When she did return, it was intermittent, but she was always worth watching. In James Ivory's Roseland (1977), a portrait of the New York dancehall; she was poignant as a talkative widow obsessed with her late husband; and as an enigmatic old actress in Somewhere in Time, she nearly stole the picture from leads, Christopher Reeve and Jayne Seymour. She was still active in the '90s, appearing a few hit shows: Murder, She Wrote, Picket Fences; and a final film role in John Grisham's The Rainmaker (1997). She is survived by her son, Niven; daughter, Mary; and two grandchildren.

by Michael T. Toole
Teresa Wright (1918-2005)

Teresa Wright (1918-2005)

Teresa Wright, a talented, Oscar&-winning leading lady of the '40s, and in later life, a versatile character player, died on March 6 at a New Haven, Connecticut hospital of a heart attack. She was 86. She was born Muriel Teresa Wright in New York City on October 27, 1918. She showed a keen interest in acting in grade school, and by the time she was 19, she made her Broadway debut in Thorton Wilder's Our Town (1938); the following year she scored a hit as Mary, the weeping ingénue in Life with Father (1939). The word was out that New York had a superb young acting talent on hand, and Samuel Goldwyn soon brought her to Hollywood for William Wyler's adaptation of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes (1941). She scored an Oscar® nomination for her film debut as Regina Giddens' (Bette Davis), honorable daughter, Alexandria. She maintained her amazing momentum by scoring two Oscar® nominations the following year for her next two films: as Carol Miniver in Wyler's Mrs. Miniver (Best Supporting Actress Category), and as Lou Gehrig's (Gary Cooper) faithful wife Ellie in Pride of the Yankees (Best Actress Category), and won the Oscar for Miniver. Yet for most fans of Wright's work, her finest hour remains her perfectly modulated performance as young Charlie in Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece, Shadow of a Doubt (1943). Wright's performance as the self-effacing, impressionable young niece who gradually realizes that her beloved uncle (Joseph Cotton) may have murdered several widows is effective since Wright's air of observation, subtly turns from idol gazing, to a watchful air of caution as the facts slowly being to unravel. 60 years on, fans of Hitchcock still acclaim Wright's performance as an integral part of the film's classic status. She proved her talents in comedy with the delightful Casanova Brown (1944), but then saw her schedule slow down due to domesticity. After she married screenwriter Niven Busch in 1942, she gave birth to son, Niven Jr., in 1944, and took two years off to look after her family. She soon returned to film with another Wyler project, the Oscar®-winning, post war drama, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), playing Fredric March's level-headed daughter, Peggy, she again took some time off after giving birth to her daughter, Mary in 1947. On her second attempt to return to the big screen, Wright found her popularity on the wane. Her wholesome image was in sharp contrast of the tougher, more modern women in post-war Hollywood, and her stubborn refusal to pose for any swimsuit or cheesecake photos to alter her image led to her release from Sam Goldwyn's contract. As a freelance actress, Wright still found some good roles, notably as a young widow in the thriller scripted by her husband, in The Capture; and as a faithful fiancée trying to help Marlin Brandon deal with his amputation in Stanley Kramer's The Men (both 1950). Yet within a few years, she was playing middle-aged mothers in film like The Actress (1953), and The Track of the Cat (1954), even though she was still in her early '30s. By the mid-50s she found work in live television, where she could apply her stage training, in a number of acclaimed shows: Playhouse 90, General Electric Theater, Four Star Playhouse, and The United States Steel Hour. She took a break from acting when she married her second husband, the playwright Robert Anderson in 1959, (she had divorced her first husband, Busch, in 1952) and was out of the public eye for several decades, save for an isolated theater appearance. When she did return, it was intermittent, but she was always worth watching. In James Ivory's Roseland (1977), a portrait of the New York dancehall; she was poignant as a talkative widow obsessed with her late husband; and as an enigmatic old actress in Somewhere in Time, she nearly stole the picture from leads, Christopher Reeve and Jayne Seymour. She was still active in the '90s, appearing a few hit shows: Murder, She Wrote, Picket Fences; and a final film role in John Grisham's The Rainmaker (1997). She is survived by her son, Niven; daughter, Mary; and two grandchildren. by Michael T. Toole

Kenneth Tobey (1917-2003)


Kenneth Tobey, the sandy-haired, tough-looking American character actor who appeared in over 100 films, but is best remembered as Captain Patrick Hendry in the Sci-Fi classic, The Thing From Another World (1951), died on December 22nd of natural causes at a hospital in Rancho Mirage, California. He was 86.

Born in Oakland, California on March 23, 1917, Tobey originally intended to be a lawyer before a stint with the University of California Little Theater changed his mind. From there, he went straight to New York and spent nearly two years studying acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse, where his classmates included Gregory Peck, Eli Wallach and Tony Randall. Throughout the '40s, Tobey acted on Broadway and in stock before relocating to Hollywood. Once there, Tobey soon found himself playing a tough soldier in films like I Was a Male War Bride and Twelve O' Clock High (both 1949); or a tough police officer in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye and Three Secrets (both 1950). Such roles were hardly surprising, given Tobey's craggy features, unsmiling countenance and rough voice.

Needless to say, no-nonsense, authority figures would be Tobey's calling for the remainder of his career; yet given the right role, he had the talent to make it memorable: the smart, likeable Captain Hendrey in The Thing From Another World (1951); the gallant Colonel Jack Evans in the "prehistoric dinosaur attacks an urban center" genre chiller The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953, a must-see film for fans of special effects wizard, Ray Harryhausen; and as Bat Masterson, holding his own against Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957).

Television would also offer Tobey much work: he had his own action series as chopper pilot Chuck Martin in Whirlybirds (1957-59); and had a recurring role as Assistant District Attorney Alvin in Perry Mason (1957-66). He would also be kept busy with guest appearances in countless westerns (Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Virginian) and cop shows (The Rockford Files, Barnaby Jones, Ironside) for the next two decades. Most amusingly, the tail end of Tobey's career saw some self-deprecating cameo spots in such contemporary shockers as The Howling (1981); Strange Invaders (1983) and his role reprisal of Captain Hendry in The Attack of the B-Movie Monsters (2002). Tobey is survived by a daughter, two stepchildren, and two grandchildren.

by Michael T. Toole

Kenneth Tobey (1917-2003)

Kenneth Tobey, the sandy-haired, tough-looking American character actor who appeared in over 100 films, but is best remembered as Captain Patrick Hendry in the Sci-Fi classic, The Thing From Another World (1951), died on December 22nd of natural causes at a hospital in Rancho Mirage, California. He was 86. Born in Oakland, California on March 23, 1917, Tobey originally intended to be a lawyer before a stint with the University of California Little Theater changed his mind. From there, he went straight to New York and spent nearly two years studying acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse, where his classmates included Gregory Peck, Eli Wallach and Tony Randall. Throughout the '40s, Tobey acted on Broadway and in stock before relocating to Hollywood. Once there, Tobey soon found himself playing a tough soldier in films like I Was a Male War Bride and Twelve O' Clock High (both 1949); or a tough police officer in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye and Three Secrets (both 1950). Such roles were hardly surprising, given Tobey's craggy features, unsmiling countenance and rough voice. Needless to say, no-nonsense, authority figures would be Tobey's calling for the remainder of his career; yet given the right role, he had the talent to make it memorable: the smart, likeable Captain Hendrey in The Thing From Another World (1951); the gallant Colonel Jack Evans in the "prehistoric dinosaur attacks an urban center" genre chiller The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953, a must-see film for fans of special effects wizard, Ray Harryhausen; and as Bat Masterson, holding his own against Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957). Television would also offer Tobey much work: he had his own action series as chopper pilot Chuck Martin in Whirlybirds (1957-59); and had a recurring role as Assistant District Attorney Alvin in Perry Mason (1957-66). He would also be kept busy with guest appearances in countless westerns (Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Virginian) and cop shows (The Rockford Files, Barnaby Jones, Ironside) for the next two decades. Most amusingly, the tail end of Tobey's career saw some self-deprecating cameo spots in such contemporary shockers as The Howling (1981); Strange Invaders (1983) and his role reprisal of Captain Hendry in The Attack of the B-Movie Monsters (2002). Tobey is survived by a daughter, two stepchildren, and two grandchildren. by Michael T. Toole

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

The opening credits end with the following written statement: "Ruth Simmons' answers to Morey Bernstein's questions in the hypnotic scenes are authentic excerpts from the tape recordings of the actual sessions." Following this title card, actor Louis Hayward appears on a film sound stage and addresses the camera, explaining that the film is about "actual events about real people." Hayward then extinguishes a cigarette and moves to stand in front of a sign of the film's title and, speaking as "Morey Bernstein" describes himself as "a businessman, not a doctor or an expert" who became involved with "Ruth Simmons" in a casual way. After a telephone rings, Hayward turns and steps into the film's set to answer it and the film narrative begins. At the conclusion of the film, Hayward again addresses the camera to state that although the case of "Bridey Murphy" is inconclusive, it might hopefully assist in expanding scientific and medical knowledge.
       The Search for Bridey Murphy was based on incidents in the life of Virginia Tighe Morrow, a Pueblo, Colorado homemaker who, under hypnosis by then-businessman Morey Bernstein, described in six hypnosis sessions, from November 29, 1952 to August 29, 1953, a nineteenth century Irishwoman named Bridey Murphy. Speaking in a thick Irish brogue, Mrs. Morrow recounted in detail events from Bridey's life, from her birth near Cork, Ireland on December 20, 1798 to Duncan and Kathleen Murphy, to her subsequent marriage to Sean Brian MacCarthy in 1818, and even her own death and burial in Belfast in 1864. Mrs. Morrow died of cancer in Denver on 12 July 1995.
       Upon its publication, Bernstein's book was condemned by Christian clergy because of its stated belief in reincarnation. In one instance, on April 22, 1956, the Rev. James A. Pike condemned the book during his Sunday service at New York Cathedral (St. Joan the Divine). According to the file on the film in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library, the film was given a "B" rating on October 4, 1956 by the Legion of Decency because "the undue emphasis on the power and effect of hypnotism, as presented in this picture, without clearly establishing the necessary moral precautions can lead to serious misinterpretations.
       According to an undated Los Angeles Mirror news item found in the file on the film at the AMPAS Library, Libby Block, the wife of Paramount producer Pat Duggan, purchased the film rights to Bernstein's book in January 1955. In January 1956, Daily Variety reported that Paramount had begun negotiations to purchase said rights from Block. As part of the studio's agreement in purchasing the film rights, both Block and Bernstein were given film points. Daily Variety also reported that when filming began, it was still undecided which of three actresses-Beverly Garland, Lola Albright or Janet Riley-would play the role of "Bridey." None won the part, but Riley did appear in the film as "Lois Morgan." Ann Blyth was also considered for the role, but was forced to drop out of the running due to scheduling conflicts with another Paramount production, The Buster Keaton Story (see entry above). Hollywood Reporter production charts include Richard Deacon in the cast, but he could not be identified in the print viewed.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States Fall October 1956

Released in United States on Video September 12, 1991

VistaVison

Released in United States on Video September 12, 1991

Released in United States Fall October 1956