Il cervello di Donovan

When the noir cycle was running down (and out) in the early 1950s, the new spate of "sci-fi" movies could lay claim to being among its bastard offspring. These programmers about atomic mutants, mad scientists and monsters from the night sky took over the quick-and-dirty, bottom-of-the-bill status the noirs once occupied. Rarely, however, did they boast their known and seasoned casts or their distinctive visual style (how could they? They were all set out in the damn desert).

But they also inherited some noir veterans. Donovan's Brain was directed by Felix Feist (The Devil Thumbs A Ride, Tomorrow Is Another Day) and originally written by Curt Siodmak (Berlin Express).

Scientist Lew Ayres works on keeping monkey brains alive outside their bodies. When a powerful millionaire dies in a car crash conveniently nearby, Ayres volunteers to resuscitate the brain and succeeds beyond his hopes. In its electromagnetic bath, the organ pulsates and glows, developing telepathic powers. Soon it's taking over Ayres' personality; he starts living Donovan's life and continuing his dirty work, all the way to Washington.

Ayres' wife (Nancy Davis at her most charmless and plain-jane) grows alarmed, and plans to unplug the brain. Trouble is, it can sense hostility and defend itself....

Feist applies some practised suspense techniques to the story, and with Joseph Biroc's photography the movie doesn't look bad, either. But it's high point is Ayres as he shifts from mild researcher to the insolent, despotic Donovan. He makes the hour and a half something more than just passable.

There's always someone out there who feels he can do whatever he wants. A scientist finds a man, hanging on to life by a thread, from plane crash. He is unable to save his body, but decides he has the ability to keep the brain alive. It turns out that the brain is that of a man name Donovan who was a ruthless, cutthroat businessman, with no moral or ethical sense. Somehow, the brain begins to inflict its will on the scientist. It isn't long before the brain is ordering the man around and he isn't having him do acts of kindness. This movie is pretty bad, but it has a history, and people seem to enjoy it. My father, who probably saw about three movies in his life, knew this one. If you just want to have some fun and don't want to ask too many questions, this may be your cup of tea. Perhaps they should have sent the thing into politics. They could use some brains in congress.

This film is one of my favorite 1950's horror/science fiction movies. I first saw this film on T.V. when I was about four and five years old, and it thrilled me then and I still enjoy it today. The story based on Curt Siodmak's novel was previously filmed in 1942 as LADY AND THE MONSTER. While that version has some virtues, the overall result was mediocre. It was filmed again 1962 as THE BRAIN with several character name changes and different plot elements. I last saw that version in 1970's. While I recall it being not bad, I don't remember it being as good as this version.

DONOVAN'S BRAIN is the best version primarily due the good performance of Lew Ayers as the possessed Dr. Cory with good support from Gene Evans. When I first saw this film again after many years I was impressed by Lew Ayers. When the evil brain of Donovan possesses Dr. Cory and he becomes Donovan, I had to remind myself that it was Ayers playing both "minds". This was done entirely by Ayers; the film employs no make-up or lighting tricks (as the 1942 version does) to create the different minds in the same body. Gene Evans lends good support as Cory's alcoholic but sympathetic doctor assistant. Steve Brodie is also good as the blackmailing reporter, but his role is somewhat shoehorned into the plot. He appears merely as someone for Cory as Donovan to knock off, and once he is gone, his blackmail threats are forgotten. However the scene's with Brodie are good. Note that when he confronts Cory/Donovan for a blackmail payment, he is wearing a worn out suit. When he returns for another payment, he shows up in a very expensive looking suit! The film is loaded with subtle touches like that.

A doctor tries to keep a brain alive after the body dies, but the brain is too powerful and soon commands the doctor around. With the deceased man's mob connections, life is soon troublesome for the brilliant doc.

Starring Nancy Davis (the future Nancy Reagan) and written by Curt Siodmak, who had written many sci-fi and horror films (most notably "The Wolf Man")... this came from his original novel of the same name.

Although not the original film version of this story (that would be "The Lady and the Monster" in 1944) it went on to influence a great many other films and television shows, from "Star Trek" to Stephen King's "It". (The "Star Trek" influence is on the episode "Spock's Brain", though it should be noted that a character in this film does say, "I'm a doctor, not an electrician." Bones?)

Dr. Patrick "Pat" J. Cory (Lew Ayres) is researching brains with his assistant and friend Dr. Frank Schratt (Gene Evans) and his wife Janice Cory (Nancy Davis, a.k.a. Nancy Reagan) through experiments with monkeys in a laboratory in his house. When an airplane crashes nearby his house, there is only one near-death survivor, the millionaire Warren H. Donovan that is brought still alive to his care. However Donovan dies and Dr. Cory decides to use his brain in his experiment keeping it alive in a tank. Pat, Schratt and Janice research about the life of Donovan and they discover that he was a ruthless and evil man. Soon Donovan's brain imposes his personality to Dr. Cory and possesses him to get rid of his enemies and to live again in his body. Schratt and Janice sees the transformation of Dr. Cory and plan to destroy the brain. Will they succeed in their intent?

"Donovan's Brain" is an entertaining B-movie with a combination of sci-fi and horror and a story in the style of Frankenstein, with a mad doctor and the result of his experiment. The conclusion is corny and commercial and would be better and better if the brain survives in the end. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Cérebro Maligno" ("The Evil Brain")