{"id":1875,"date":"2006-12-03T15:43:06","date_gmt":"2006-12-03T22:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1875"},"modified":"2021-01-06T01:28:58","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T08:28:58","slug":"search-for-bridey-murphy-the-1956","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1875","title":{"rendered":"Search for Bridey Murphy, The (1956)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Hypnotism is a powerful force that can&#8217;t be kidded around with as though it was a harmless little parlor game.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Poster-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-23086\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Poster-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Poster-86x128.jpg 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Poster.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhile being hypnotized by Dr. Morey Bernstein (Louis Hayward), housewife Ruth Simmons (Teresa Wright) experiences a past life as Irishwoman Bridey Murphy.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Louis Hayward Films<\/li>\n<li>Mind Control and Hypnosis<\/li>\n<li>Past Lives<\/li>\n<li>Teresa Wright Films<\/li>\n<p><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review:<\/strong><br \/>\nIn 1956, Dr. Morey Bernstein published a best-selling book about his experiences with the medical use of hypnosis, as well as his unintentional past-life regression of housewife Ruth Simmons into a 19th century Irishwoman named &#8220;Bridey Murphy&#8221;. This film adaptation of Bernstein&#8217;s book comes across as overly talky and hopelessly dated (when Simmons asks her husband for &#8220;permission&#8221; to be regressed, for instance, nobody bats an eye), yet surprisingly entertaining in its own limited way. Regardless of your beliefs concerning the possibility of past lives, it&#8217;s fascinating to watch the supine Simmons &#8212; well-played by a short-haired Teresa Wright &#8212; conjuring up the mundane details of &#8220;her&#8221; existence 150 years earlier. Simmons&#8217; words are taken directly from the original transcripts of her sessions with Bernstein (published in the book), and are all the more convincing for their lack of overt drama &#8212; Simmons-as-Murphy &#8220;remembers&#8221; dancing a jig, being punished for peeling paint off her bed as a child, and wandering the heavens after her death.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, despite its title, very little time in the film is spent actually <em>searching<\/em> for &#8220;Bridey Murphy&#8221;; given the wealth of details Bernstein pries out of Simmons, I expected a lengthy detective hunt in Ireland, and <em>some <\/em>kind of a resolution (however dissatisfying) to the mystery of this young woman&#8217;s existence. Instead, the film&#8217;s denouement centers on the melodramatic issue of whether or not Simmons will be able to snap out of her final regression &#8212; thus emphasizing once again the film&#8217;s moral that hypnosis is a &#8220;powerful force&#8221;, and not to be taken lightly. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Teresa Wright&#8217;s compelling performance as Ruth Simmons and &#8220;Bridey Murphy&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Wright.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Wright-1024x637.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"398\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-46784\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Wright-1024x637.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Wright-300x187.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Wright-128x80.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Wright-768x478.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Wright-1536x956.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Wright.png 1563w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The surprisingly effective &#8220;flashback&#8221; scenes of Bridey&#8217;s life in Ireland<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Flashback.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Flashback-1024x640.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-46783\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Flashback-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Flashback-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Flashback-128x80.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Flashback-768x480.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Flashback-1536x960.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Search-for-Bridey-Murphy-Flashback.png 1563w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo. This curiosity is very much a product of its time, and will only be of interest either to fans of Teresa Wright or believers in past life regression. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0049729\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/fantasy\/search-for-bridey-murphy-1956.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/fantasticmoviemusings.com\/2015\/08\/23\/the-search-for-bridey-murphy-1956\/\">SciFilm Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Hypnotism is a powerful force that can&#8217;t be kidded around with as though it was a harmless little parlor game.&#8221; Synopsis: While being hypnotized by Dr. Morey Bernstein (Louis Hayward), housewife Ruth Simmons (Teresa Wright) experiences a past life as Irishwoman Bridey Murphy. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Louis Hayward Films Mind Control and Hypnosis Past Lives Teresa Wright Films Review: In 1956, Dr. Morey Bernstein published a best-selling book about his experiences with the medical use of hypnosis, as&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1875\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1875"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61916,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1875\/revisions\/61916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}