Hitchcock followed many Hollywood directors who were also influenced by Freud's work. Several of Hitchcock's films including Marnie, Spellbound and Psycho are psychological thrillers. Spellbound was written by his producer David O. Selznick, who himself was in psychoanalysis due to depression. After experiencing psychoanalysis himself, he was eager to share with others the phenomenon of mental analysis. Spellbound, not regarded as one of Hitchcock's best movies, portrayed psychoanalytic approaches using surreal dream sequences, to help move along the narrative, although many would argue the incorrect use of the methodologies.

Freud’s disinterest did not dissuade Goldwyn from pushing forward in his resolve to find a scriptwriter for an analytically based screenplay. One of Freud’s disciples, Karl Abraham, was willing to work with Goldwyn’s studio, resulting in a silent film called The Secret History of a Soul. This was one of the first Hollywood movies made with a narrative based on the theory of psychoanalysis. Hitchcock followed in the tradition of many Hollywood directors who were also influenced by Freud’s work. Several of Hitchcock’s films including Marnie, Spellbound and Psycho reflect a well developed understand of psychologically sophisticated material.  His 1945 film Spellbound was written by his producer David O. Selznick, who was himself in psychoanalysis. Spellbound, not regarded as one of Hitchcock’s best movies, stayed true to the psychoanalytic methodology using surreal dream sequences, to help move along the narrative. The director’s interest in the subject manner of Marnie seems to be a natural progression of his continuing interest in the psychoanalytically based storyline.