Review #1094: Donovan's Brain.
Cast:
Lew Ayres (Dr. Patrick Cory), Nancy Davis (Janice Cory), Gene Evans (Dr. Frank Schratt), Steve Brodie (Yocum), Tom Powers (Donovan's Washington Advisor), Lisa Howard (Chloe Donovan), James Anderson (Chief Tuttle), Victor Sutherland (Nathaniel Fuller), Michael Colgan (Tom Donovan), and Peter Adams (Mr. Webster) Directed by Felix E. Feist (#723 - The Threat)
Review:
Independently made by Dowling Productions (with distribution from United Artists, Donovan's Brain is based off the novel of the same name by Curt Siodmak, who you may recognize as the writer behind films such as The Wolf Man (1941) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943). The novel had already been adapted into a film before by Republic Pictures as The Lady and the Monster (1944), with a radio drama adaptation on the CBS Radio program Suspense featuring Orson Welles being transmitted that same year. Another adaptation occurred in 1962 named The Brain.
In any case, this is a movie that banks on you being invested into its concept of a megalomaniac brain for its 83 minute run-time. Unfortunately, I don't think the film is entirely successful in its goal, falling just short at both science fiction and horror, although it is certainly average enough to be harmless. The best thing that I can say is that this is a pretty competent movie, not one to insult the intelligence of the viewer with any sort of overwhelming junk - for the most part. The exposition parts are fairly familiar, but the movie doesn't bungle that up too much. Ayres plays the scientist role fairly okay, but it is his scenes under the control of the brain where the film is a bit more interesting, in part because of his mannerisms when acting as the title character. It isn't so much overacting as just a bit of scenery chewing that is certainly energetically amusing. Davis is okay for the material that she is given, but it proves to make a character that isn't too interesting to really follow with, at least for me anyway. Evans fares a bit better, albeit with a marginal amount of meaningful time on screen to make this role slightly interesting to watch and how it stands out a bit from the other two. The rest of the cast is okay, with Brodie's sneaky reporter role being a fair standout. I can't fault the movie for trying to have some faithfulness with the novel it is made from, but I really do wonder if the book was more interesting with its premise than the film presented here, particularly since that one apparently ended with some sort of mental battle. Maybe if we actually saw more of Donovan than just being told of his miserly ways (not counting the brain sequences) or even saw his offspring more often, then there would be something a bit more interesting. The shots involving the lab room and the brain are fairly nice, and the movie as a whole is decent to look at, with credit going to cinematographer Joseph Biroc. It's a film that doesn't fall too much into being corny nor too much into being creepy, falling in the middle. All in all, this is a fairly average movie that won't be a tremendous waste of your time. It won't be anybody's favorite film even for 1953 (with its quality being more akin to stuff like Cat-Women of the Moon (#668) or Spaceways (#833), basically), being hit or miss with getting enough satisfaction with its premise and execution, but if you are curious about it, I can't really blame you for doing so.
Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.
