DONOVAN'S BRAIN

DONOVAN'S BRAIN (1953). Director: Felix Feist.

Irresponsible scientist Patrick Cory (Lew Ayres) removes the brain from a dead plane crash victim, and decides to keep it alive for study. It never occurs to him the living hell into which he has put his victim -- sort of alive and conscious, but unable to see, move, hear etc. (none of which is dealt with in this dumb movie) -- which is why it seems like ironic justice when the brain takes over Cory's mind. The dead man was a very wealthy and ruthless character, and he tries to get back his life and fortune by possessing the hapless Cory. Meanwhile, the brain starts inexplicably growing in size inside its tank...  Ayres gives a good performance in this clap trap, along with Nancy Davis (later Nancy Reagan) as his wife, while Gene Evans [The Giant Behemoth] is a cut below as an alcoholic associate of Cory's. The performers should be credited with playing their roles in this absurd film with straight-faced conviction. Steve Brodie is also fine as a blackmailing reporter who comes afoul of "the Brain." The music  by Eddie Dunstedter does a lot of the work. One good thing about the movie is that Cory doesn't just walk away from things without being held accountable for his actions. Feist also directed The Man Who Cheated Himself.

Verdict: As far as disembodied brain movies go, this isn't nearly as much fun as The Brain from Planet Arous. ** out of 4.

SHADOW ON THE WALL

SHADOW ON THE WALL (1950). Director: Patrick Jackson.

Early in Shadow On the Wall we learn that Celia (Kristine Miller), the wife of David Starrling (Zachary Scott), is having an affair with her own sister's fiance, Crane Weymouth (Tom Helmore). When sister Dell (Ann Sothern) learns of this ultimate betrayal, all of her pent-up sibling rage spills out and she shoots her sister dead; she then lets David take the rap. When she learns that David's young daughter Susan (Gigi Perreau) might have seen her commit the murder, she comes to the conclusion that the child must follow her stepmother into the grave. In the hands of a Hitchcock or any superior director, Shadow on the Wall might have been a nail-biting suspense item, but not only is it flaccid but it never quite recovers from its many improbabilities. For instance, little Susan is not an idiot and she's not that young, so she probably would have known her aunt Dell was responsible for the murder all along. And it's hard to believe that David would get the death penalty for a crime of passion that most likely would have been pled out as voluntary manslaughter. But at least the story holds your attention and the performances are good, including Nancy Davis-Reagan [East Side, West Side] as a child psychologist whose methods are bizarre to say the least, and John McIntire as her associate. Little Jimmy Hunt [Pitfall] has an amusing scene with Perreau [Journey to the Center of Time] where he covets a glass of chocolate milk she refuses to drink.A bathtub resuscitation sequence that is shot strictly from the victim's point of view in two shots and closeups is one of the more effective moments in the picture.

Verdict: Psychologically dubious. **.