The Brain Machine (film)

A husband and wife team of doctors attempt to stop a dangerously unbalanced man from committing a series of crimes.

• 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

The film was made at Merton Park Studios in South London by Anglo-Amalgamated.{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|date=12 January 2025|access-date=12 January 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-moguls-nat-cohen-part-one-1905-56/|title=Forgotten British Moguls: Nat Cohen – Part One (1905-56)}} It was released as a co-feature, as part of a double bill.{{Cite book |last=Chibnall |first=Steve |title=The British 'B' Film |last2=McFarlane |first2=Brian |publisher=BFI/Bloomsbury |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-8445-7319-6 |location=London |pages=147}} Berkshire Pictures Corp. later sued RKO claiming the latter did a poor job distributing.{{cite magazine |date=10 April 1957 |title=Efforts Not Best |url=https://archive.org/details/variety206-1957-04/page/n109/mode/1up?q=%22ken+hughes%22 |magazine=Variety |page=10}}

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Ihe 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."{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1955 |title=The Brain Machine |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305825356/FAD9E745A80463DPQ/1 |journal=The Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=22 |issue=252 |pages=23 |via=ProQuest}}

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."{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=Immediate Media Company |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |location=London |pages=125}}

Filmink called it " a decent little thriller that feels like it wants to be sci-fi but isn’t."{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/ken-hughes-forgotten-auteur/|title=Ken Hughes Forgotten Auteur|date=14 November 2020}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0049028|The Brain Machine}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20210723195851/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a64ddb3 The Brain Machine] at BFI
• [https://letterboxd.com/film/the-brain-machine/ The Brain Machine] at Letterbox DVD

{{Ken Hughes}}

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Category:British crime thriller films

Category:1950s crime thriller films

Category:1950s English-language films

Category:Films directed by Ken Hughes

Category:1956 films

Category:1950s British films

Category:British black-and-white films

Category:English-language crime thriller films