''The Brain Machine'' is a 1956

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Ken Hughes Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...

and starring

Maxwell Reed Maxwell Reed (2 April 1919 – 31 October 1974) was a Northern Irish actor who became a matinee idol in several British films during the 1940s and 1950s. Biography Early Years Reed was born in Larne. He left school aged fifteen to work on ...

, Elizabeth Allan and

Patrick Barr Patrick David Barr (13 February 1908 – 29 August 1985) was an English actor. In his career spanning over half a century, he appeared in about 144 films and television series. Biography Born in Akola, British India in 1908, Barr was educate ...

Premise

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

Production

The film was made at Merton Park Studios in South London by

Anglo-Amalgamated Anglo-Amalgamated Productions was a British film production company, run by Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy, which operated from 1945 until roughly 1971 (after which it was absorbed into EMI Films). Low-budget and second features, often produced at M ...

. It was released as a co-feature, as part of a

double bill The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

Cast

as Frank Smith * Elizabeth Allan as Doctor Phillipa Roberts *

as Doctor Geoffrey Allen *

Russell Napier Russell Gordon Napier (28 November 1910 – 19 August 1974) was an Australian actor. Biography Russell Napier was born in Perth, Western Australia. Originally a lawyer, Napier was active as an actor on the stage as early as 1936; on the scree ...

as Inspector Durham *

Gibb McLaughlin George McLoughlin (19 July 1879 – 30 June 1961), known professionally as Gibb McLaughlin, was an English film and stage actor. Early days McLaughlin was born in Sunderland, County Durham, England in 1879. For about 10 years he was a sales ...

as Spencer Simon *

Neil Hallett Neil Hallett (born John W. Neil; 30 June 1924 – 5 December 2004) was a Belgian-born English actor. His stage name was taken from a combination of his proper surname, Neil, and his grandmother's maiden name, Hallet. He appeared in many Briti ...

as Detective Superintendent John Harris * Mark Bellamy as Louie, the gangster * Bill Nagy as Charlie, gym owner *

Edwin Richfield Edwin Richfield (11 September 1921 – 2 August 1990) was an English actor. Career Richfield starred in the television series '' Interpol Calling'' (1959). He was '' The Odd Man'' in Granada Television's series of the same name in the early 1 ...

as Henry Arthur Ryan * Clifford Buckton as Edward Jarritt * John Horsley as Doctor Richards * Gwen Bacon as Nurse-Matron *

Donald Bisset Donald Bisset (30 August 1910 – 10 August 1995), was an English actor. He also wrote stories for children which he mostly illustrated himself. They have been translated into 16 languages. Selected filmography * ''Murder in the Cathedral'' ...

as Major Gifford * Thomas Gallagher as Bates, plant foreman * Vanda Godsell as Mabel Smith *

Cyril Smith Sir Cyril Richard Smith (28 June 1928 – 3 September 2010) was a prominent British politician who after his death was revealed to have been a prolific serial sex offender against children. A member of the Liberal Party, he was Member of ...

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 Marianne Stone (23 August 1922 – 21 December 2009) was an English character actress. She performed in films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s, typically playing working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies. Stone appe ...

as Hospital Technician

Reception

''Filmink'' called it " a decent little thriller that feels like it wants to be sci-fi but isn’t." Berkshire later sued RKO claiming the latter did a poor job distributing.

References

Bibliography

* Chibnall, Steve & McFarlane, Brian. ''The British 'B' Film''. Palgrave MacMillan, 2009.

External links

* *
The Brain Machine
at BFI
The Brain Machine
at Letterbox DVD
The Brain Machine
at Real Streets British crime thriller films 1950s crime thriller films 1950s English-language films Films directed by Ken Hughes 1956 films 1950s British films British black-and-white films {{1950s-thriller-film-stub