The Brain Machine is a 1956 British thriller film directed and written by Ken Hughes and starring Maxwell Reed, Elizabeth Allan and Patrick Barr.
Contents
Plot
A husband and wife team of doctors attempt to stop a dangerously unbalanced man from committing a series of crimes.
Cast
Maxwell Reed as Frank Smith
Elizabeth Allan as Doctor Phillipa Roberts
Patrick Barr as Doctor Geoffrey Allen
Russell Napier as Inspector Durham
Gibb McLaughlin as Spencer Simon
Neil Hallett as Detective Superintendent John Harris
Mark Bellamy as Louie, the gangster
Bill Nagy as Charlie, gym owner
Edwin Richfield as Henry Arthur Ryan
Clifford Buckton as Edward Jarritt
John Horsley as Doctor Richards
Gwen Bacon as nurse-matron
Donald Bisset as Major Gifford
Thomas Gallagher as Bates, plant foreman
Vanda Godsell as Mabel Smith
Cyril Smith as prison warder
Anthony Valentine as Tony
Joan Tyrrell as woman in hallway
Henry Webb as apartment janitor
Dan Wilson as personnel manager
Hilda Barry as Mrs. Wright
Marianne Stone as hospital echnician
Production
The film was made at Merton Park Studios in South London by Anglo-Amalgamated. It was released as a co-feature, as part of a double bill. Berkshire Pictures Corp. later sued RKO claiming the latter did a poor job distributing.
Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The opening scenes lead one to anticipate a science fiction story, but the film soon develops into a conventional crime thriller. Within its terms of reference, though, it is a good one, lacking in neither pace nor incident. Although the plot is largely formula, Ken Hughes' script is lively and his direction often shows imagination, particularly in the use of sound. Of the cast, Maxwell Reed is competent as Smith and Elizabeth Allan convincing as the psychiatrist; the acting otherwise is variable."
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "This British B-movie begins, promisingly, in sci-fi mode but soon lapses into routine thrillerdom. ...Despite its cheap production values and leaden acting, the picture has a trashy energy that can be enjoyed if you disengage your own brain."
Filmink called it " a decent little thriller that feels like it wants to be sci-fi but isn't."