Der Mann, der sein Gehirn austauschte

Star Boris Karloff's second British horror film, following THE GHOUL (1933), proves a more satisfying vehicle and quite an underrated (if minor) classic; apart from director Stevenson (later to helm some of the Walt Disney studio's most popular live-action films), its imposing credentials include producer Michael Balcon (one of the most influential in British cinema) and co-screenwriters John L. Balderston (a genre fixture who had worked on some of Hollywood's finest entries) and Sidney Gilliat (later a Hitchcock collaborator and an important film-maker in his own right, often teamed with Frank Launder)!

Production-wise, it's a modest effort – mostly confined to studio interiors – but one which, in its brief running-time, exhibits both style and substance in a gripping (if familiar) plot line that manages to encompass drama, comedy, romance, chills and suspense! Incidentally, the transference of souls from one body to another was also the theme of THE BROTHERHOOD OF Satan (1971) – which I just happened to watch the previous day – where it's given an occult slant, as opposed to the sci-fi approach of the Karloff film!!

In fact, the star's 'mad scientist' character here (named Laurience but pronounced Lorenz!) was the second in a string of similar roles he played from 1936-1942; I've only watched the first two and the last one but I have two more coming up tomorrow and the day after, while the rest will be released as part of Columbia's Karloff set next month! Anyway, he's excellent as always – driven, menacing or poignant as the situation demands – but he's ably supported by a wonderful British cast: Anna Lee (the director's own wife and with whom Karloff would reteam, memorably, in Hollywood in the Val Lewton-produced BEDLAM [1946]), John Loder, Frank Cellier, Cecil Parker and especially Donald Calthrop; the latter almost manages to steal the show with his crippled and cynical doctor's assistant, whose brain is then put into Cellier's body: the scenes where he tries to act up his new persona provide some delightful – and unexpected – moments of black comedy!

As usual, Karloff's love for the leading lady is unrequited (though she sure admires his genius!) and he concocts an elaborate plan to win her affections which, needless to say, is thwarted in the final reel. In fact, the film's climax (in which Karloff and Loder, having switched brains, attempt an impersonation of one another and then the process has to be reversed in order to save the hero's life, Karloff having thrown himself – in Loder's body – from a window to escape police capture!) is somewhat far-fetched but nonetheless exciting. The DVD transfer is acceptable for such a rare item, with the only negative note being some persistent hiss on the soundtrack.

"There's always something queer about a genius," argues brainy and beautiful young doctor Anna Lee; she is leaving the medical establishment—and ditching her handsome boyfriend—to join exiled former colleague Boris Karloff, whose brilliant past work has been recently overshadowed by his pursuit of ideas and research just a little too weird.

Brilliant and eccentric, yes; but is he mad? "I shall show you strange things about the mind of man," Karloff says. In his complex and visually impressive laboratory, he claims to have developed a process to take the "thought content" out of one brain and put it into another—basically, to switch brains. He tries it on two chimps…but would it work on humans?

Lee and Karloff are both very good, especially in the wonderfully intense scenes in which they spar over the limits, the purpose, the morality of science. Each character derives strength, meets powerful resistance from the other; each actor seems to draw energy from the other's presence as well.

The supporting cast includes John Loder as the boyfriend who would prefer that Lee stay in the city and marry him; he follows her out to the sticks and eventually manages to get mixed up in the plot. Not exactly the standard dashing rescuer—in fact, quite the opposite.

A very exciting climax tops off this suspenseful and well-written thriller. A gorgeous and fully furnished mad scientist's laboratory, too!

It's difficult to say that a movie from the 30s is filled with clichés, because at the time they weren't so. The mad scientist, the arrogant businessman, the cocky boyfriend and the kind and clever woman, they are all here and doing the same things they do in today's movies. Perhaps at time time they were book stereotypes...

How we can't improve on the story of films after 80 years is a testament of our complacency as humans. Perhaps this is why mad scientists appear, they are only men of science at the beginning, but the world drives them mad. There is such a scene in the movie and one of the few in the genre that try to explain the desperation that takes one to do insane things. In this time, the madness of the scientist is a given and nobody cares why he does it, only that he die in an explosion wild eyed and screaming "Noo!".

All in all, a classic of horror.

What a delightful surprise this little movie turned out to be! I had read in Michael Weldon's "Psychotronic Encyclopedia" that "The Man Who Changed His Mind" was a seldom-seen Karloff film that was considered to be quite excellent, but until last night had never seen it before. The film turns out to be a beautifully done piece on the by-now-overdone theme of mind/body transfer. It is impeccably acted by the entire cast, features gorgeous black-and-white photography and great use of shadow, stylish direction, more-than-adequate effects and a witty script. The picture really does MOVE; there are no wasted scenes or sluggish passages to speak of whatsoever. Anna Lee, who would costar with Karloff again 10 years later in the 1946 picture "Bedlam," is excellent (and beautiful) here as Karloff's assistant, and the actor Frank Cellier almost steals the film as the lord and publisher who receives the mind of Karloff's wheelchair-bound helper. But the film belongs to Karloff, and he runs with it. This may very well be his best film of the 1930s, with the exception of the Franky films and "The Black Cat," of course, and that's really saying something. Fans of classic horror should all rejoice that this terrific and relatively unknown example of British '30s horror is now widely available in a pristine-looking DVD. To be succinct...loved it.

This is one of the earliest examples of the "mad scientist" characterization that would become so much a part of Boris' stock in trade over the following decade. What's most interesting about THE MAN WHO CHANGED HIS MIND is that it is not as much science fiction as it is an observation of what we might today call the "PR machine," and it takes some lacerating swipes at journalism, publicity and self-promotion.

Karloff is Dr. Laurience, a reclusive scientist who believes he can transfer the consciousness (or soul?) from one brain to another. Ably assisted by Dr. Clare Wyatt, Laurience draws the interest of newspaper publisher Lord Haslewood (whose son, Dick, is Clare's fiancé). Eager to promote his foundation, Haslewood offers to sponsor Laurience's work - without knowing exactly what it is. Before the dust settles, Haslewood feels swindled, Clare feels suspicious and Laurience feels used, vowing to employ his work to his own ends rather than for the benefit of mankind.

Boris' performance is exuberant, and supporting players Anna Lee, John Loder and Donald Calthrop are effective, but Frank Cellier, as Lord Haslewood, walks away with the picture whenever he is on screen. Without giving too much away, let's just say that Cellier is called upon to portray more than one personality, and provides the film with its most enjoyable scenes.

THE MAN WHO CHANGED HIS MIND definitely has its moments, along with a little something to say. With its takes on the press and the pitfalls of corporate control, it not only conveys messages to which we can relate today, but illustrates how little some things have changed in 70 years.