Ingrid Bergman’s skill as an actor and preternatural good looks were immediately apparent to everyone she met. She first came to the United States to star in David O. Selznick’s remake of her 1936 film Intermezzo and Bergman ingratiated herself to the cast and crew. She was shy, but her personality was enough to let even the notoriously controlling Selznick give Bergman the space to be herself.
The persona Bergman cultivated remains one of the most memorable in Hollywood history and she is at the center of several iconic films. Her performances and personal life are still worthy of study and discussion. Here are Ingrid Bergman’s 10 best films, according to IMDb.
The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945) – 7.3
Director Leo McCarey’s 1945 film The Bells of St. Mary’s functions as a sort of sequel to his earlier film Going My Way. Bells features Bing Crosby’s Father Chuck O’Malley after he is assigned to a parish with a school on the brink of closure. Bergman plays the school’s principal, Sister Mary Benedict. They both wish to save the school but disagree on how it should be saved.
Bergman received her third consecutive Best Actress nomination for her role. The film won Best Sound and was nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Film Editing, Original Score, and Original Song.
Murder on the Orient Express (1974) – 7.3
Bergman had a small role in this adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel. She played Greta Ohlsson, one of the many suspects Albert Finney’s Hercule Poirot encounters in his attempt to solve a murder case aboard the titular train. Ohlsson initially displays little knowledge of the English language, but she eventually reveals herself to be far more entwined with the case than she first let on.
Bergman won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance. The film was also nominated for Best Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Score, Cinematography, and Costume Design by the Academy.
Journey to Italy (1954) – 7.4
Journey to Italy was one of Bergman’s several collaborations with Italian neo-realist director (and then-husband) Roberto Rossellini. Bergman stars alongside George Sanders as a couple who travel to Naples to sell a recently inherited villa. Journey is notable for how little actually happens in the film and Rossellini’s directorial style; he often gave his actors little to no chance to rehearse their lines.
Several cuts were made after the 105-minute version received poor reviews in Italy. An 88-minute cut, 80-minute cut, and 70-minute cut were released in France, the U.S., and the U.K. respectively. The film was a major influence on the French New Wave and is now considered to be among Rossellini’s finest.
The Visit (1964) – 7.5
The Visit is based on Swiss playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s 1956 play The Visit of the Old Lady. Bergman stars as Karla Zachanassian, a wealthy woman who returns to her former village that she was forced to leave years earlier after she had a child with Serge (Anthony Quinn).
Karla comes to the town’s residents with a deal; if Serge is killed, she will give the town’s residents a vast sum of money. They agree. As Serge is about to be killed, she calls off the execution and admonishes the residents for their decision.
Europe ’51 (1952) – 7.5
Europe ’51 is one of Roberto Rosselini’s works of true social realism. Rosselini was fascinated by Saint Francis of Assisi. He created a vehicle for his then-wife Bergman to act as a Francis stand-in and interrogate how a person of Francis’ character would be treated in post-war Italy. In telling the tale of a woman who is declared insane when she endeavors to help the poor, the Rosselini and Bergman conclude the consequences would be dire.
The film was censored by the Italian government, which removed wide swaths of the film’s social commentary. A fully restored version wasn’t widely available until 2013.
Spellbound (1945) – 7.6
Bergman starred as a psychoanalyst at a Vermont mental hospital in this early Hitchcock thriller. Bergman’s Constance Petersen investigates the new head of her hospital, Gregory Peck’s Dr. Anthony Edwardes. After realizing he is an imposter with amnesia, the pair set out to discover the truth about what happened to the real Edwardes and who Peck’s character really is.
The film won the Best Original Score Oscar. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, and Visual Effects by the Academy.
Gaslight (1944) – 7.8
Gaslight is perhaps most famous for popularizing the psychological term “gaslighting,” in which misinformation is used to make someone question their own judgment. The film, based on the 1938 play of the same name, stars Bergman as Paula, a woman whose husband convinces her she is going insane in order to steal jewels she has inherited.
Bergman won the Best Actress Oscar. The film also won Best Production Design and was nominated for Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography.
Notorious (1946) – 7.9
Bergman reunited with Alfred Hitchcock to star in this 1946 film. Bergman portrays Alicia Huberman, an American at the center of a love triangle between Cary Grant’s T.R. Devlin and Claude Rains’ Alexander Sebastian. Devlin is Huberman’s government handler, who recruited Alicia to spy on Nazis in post-World War II Brazil. Sebastian is one of those Nazis and Huberman’s former beau.
The love triangle complicates the mission, especially when Devlin uses it to get information from Huberman and Sebastian.
Autumn Sonata (1978) – 8.3
Autumn Sonata was the only time Ingrid Bergman collaborated with director Ingmar Bergman. Sonata was also the final feature film for both Ingrid and Ingmar. The film stars Ingrid as Charlotte, a woman who is reuniting with her daughter Eva (Liv Ullman). The two attempt to reconcile after being apart for years, but old wounds and one-upmanship prevent them from doing so.
The end of the film leaves the door open for a possible reconciliation between mother and daughter. Both Bergmans were nominated for Oscars: Ingrid for Best Actress and Ingmar for Best Original Screenplay.
Casablanca (1942) – 8.5
Casablanca was not Ingrid Bergman’s favorite performance. However, Casablanca still stands, as the film’s influence on cinema is incalculable.
The performances by both Bergman and Humphrey Bogart are considered to be among the best of their respective careers and of all time. The film has its naysayers, but they’re drowned out by its sheer influence and stature. Casablanca is, was and could forever be the high watermark in Hollywood filmmaking.
