La guerre des cerveaux

This interesting sci fi film stars George Hamilton and Suzanne Pleshette, and features some former stars/near stars who had seen better days: Yvonne DeCarlo, Richard Carlson, Aldo Ray, and Gary Merrill (in a real stepdown from All About Eve). Among the older stars, Michael Rennie has a larger supporting role. The cast, a good budget, and an intriguing script make for an entertaining film about the attempt of one megamind to ferret out who's a threat to him among a group of scientists. One of them has telekinesis, and after the murder of the whistle-blower, played by Arthur O'Connell, Hamilton tries to find O'Connell's old friend, whose name was written on a piece of paper, suspecting him of somehow being involved.

This is a neat drama, all the more interesting in seeing the young stars, Hamilton and Pleshette, play against the older Hollywood types.

George Pal proved his feeling for good stories one more time after having produced "the time machine" and "Dr. Lao". An intelligent story about the fight between two para-psychological persons, one you don't know and the other not knowing being one. Superb cast, some not important "mistakies", but brilliant tricks and a high quality of suspense make this film a must for every science fiction fan and also for those being interested in "guess who it is" - criminal stories. I can imagine well that some people cannot agree with this comment because the story implicates a lot of knowing about para-psychological phenomenas to construct the logic of the plot, but surely it is well worth it.

I haven't seen this film since it came out in 1968! I remember liking it, and I remembered very distinctly, for some reason, the scene where the team attempts to move a piece of paper with just their minds. Curious how I would remember that.

Watching it again in 2023 I was prepared to be hugely disappointed, but in fact, I really liked it.

The premise is a group of scientists are involved in research on human's capacity to withstand pain and discomfort, in order to better understand what traits in what kind of people to look for when considering people for dangerous jobs such as space travel. In essence, what makes some people able to endure, and some not able to at all?

This is intriguing, but events take a wild turn when it is discovered that one of the scientists--and no one knows who it is, nor do we-- has an incredible "power" to be able to control others and their actions, and even kill them telepathically. The plot shifts to a whodunit, and whoisdoingit.

The film moves right along, with a splendid cast including George Hamilton, Suzanne Pleshette, Michael Rennie, plus Richard Carlson, Earl Holliman, Arthur O'Connell, even Gary Merrill!

There is plenty of suspense, and although directed by Byron Haskin, this is a George Pal production. There is a bit of his animation and effects in the film, some charming, some a bit off the mark, but all fun.

One other point. The folks behind the art direction and set design appear to be folks that were told to "pull all the stops out", and they did. I LOVE the look of this film. The big globe outside the science building. The mid century modern motifs running throughout. The snazzy Chrysler cars. And the use of color, with some scenes having saturation beyond belief. The canary yellow of Hamilton's car, the blood red emergency lights of the centrifuge, desert blue skies, and the party scene with yellow, bright green, purple elements. The totally 60s pastels of Yvonne De Carlos' mobile home. Even the office interiors had bright colored binders, furniture, and interesting architectural tidbits.

Don't take it too seriously and have some real 1960s fun.

This story was first televised live during the summer of 1956 on one of the high quality drama series that flourished during the 1950's. Perhaps it was The United States Steel Hour. I was an eleven year old kid at the time and was fascinated with the basic plot. I have searched for information about the original teleplay, but have been unsuccessful. Does anyone out there have any info on the TV broadcast of this story?

Several years later, I read Frank M. Robinson's novel, from which the two movies were made and enjoyed the 1968 film version. It had a terrific musical score, featuring a zither-like instrument played with felt hammers. George Hamilton did a fine job in the lead role.

Hamilton leads a better than average cast in this very average sci-fi outing produced by veteran George Pal. Signs of the times abound in this 60s feature that, at times, seems like a Bond flick(especially the party scene). Pal's career was in a slump in the mid to late 60s and this was to be his big screen return. The good cast and fine production values cannot save this tired and often confusing tale of telepathy.