FAQ

On the eve of her execution, Doctor Bergson (Edmund Gwenn) relates the story of young Joan Alris Ellis (Phyllis Thaxter) who, not being able to stand the other voice in her mind, left fiancé Bob Arnold (Henry H. Daniels Jr.) and ran away to New York City to begin a new life as a cigarette and cigar girl in the lobby of the Stafford Hotel. Joan quickly attracted young attorney Eric Russell (Stephen McNally), and things started looking up for her. Unfortunately, the other voice, who calls herself Karen (voice of Audrey Totter), is becoming stronger, more conniving, and murderous.

Bewitched began life as a radio drama, 'Alter Ego,' by American playwright and radio broadcaster Arch Oboler [1909-1987]. Oboler was inspired by the true story of Christine 'Sally' Beauchamp, pseudonym of a woman actually named Clara Norton Fowler, who was one of the first persons diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), now termed Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Her case was studied by American neurologist Morton Prince between 1898 and 1904. Prince reported her case in his 1906 book The Dissociation of a Personality: A Biographical Study In Abnormal Psychology.

Dr Bergson hypnotizes Joan, forcing her to split into her two personalities. He convinces Karen that she is the evil personality and that Joan is the good and stronger personality. He compels Karen to go into a deep and endless sleep, and she fades away. Joan then returns to her body. While Eric attends to Joan, Dr Bergson assures the governor (Minor Watson) that Karen is really dead. The governor maintains that the due process of the law must still be upheld, but he promises to appoint a commission to study the facts. This is followed by a commentary stating, 'In a war-torn world, her happiness may seem of small importance. And yet it IS of importance...for each person in the world is one of us.'

Although Bewitched is often depicted as the first movie to deal with the subject of MPD/DID, in which Dr Bergson describes 'a person born with two completely different personalities (one good and one evil) living in the same brain,' the story is strongly related to Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, presented many times in the cinema, e.g., Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) (1931) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) (1941). Following Bewitched, MPD gained further attention in several seminal movies, e.g., Lizzie (1957) (1957), The Three Faces of Eve (1957) (1957), Psycho (1960) (1960), David and Lisa (1962) (1962), and the TV miniseries 'Sybil (1976)' (1976). More recently, MPD/DID has popped up as a factor in a number of movies, including Voices Within: The Lives of Truddi Chase (1990) (1990), Shattered Mind (1996) (1996), Fight Club (1999) (1999), Frankie & Alice (2010) (2010), Waking Madison (2010) (2010), and Split (2016) [2016].