"Donovan's Brain " is an episode of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

television anthology series '' Studio One'' consisting of an hour-long adaptation of

Curt Siodmak Curt Siodmak (August 10, 1902 – September 2, 2000) was a German-American novelist, screenwriter and director. He is known for his work in the horror and science fiction film genres, with such films as '' The Wolf Man'' and '' Donovan's Brain'' ...

's 1942 science fiction novel of the same name. The episode was first broadcast February 28, 1955. Produced by

Felix Jackson Felix Jackson (born Felix Raphael Joachimson; June 5, 1902 – December 4, 1992) was a German-born American screenwriter and film and television producer. Biography Jackson was born in Hamburg. He was a city editor in Germany at 21, then a dra ...

and directed by William H. Brown Jr.,"CHSJ Television and Radio: Just Mary on TV; Lawrence Tributes
Thrilling Suspense"
''

Telegraph-Journal The ''Telegraph-Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, owned by Postmedia Network. It serves as both a provincial daily and as a local newspaper for Saint John. The ''Telegraph-Journal'' is the only New ...

''. March 12, 1955. p. 6.King, Joe D. (March 14, 1955). "He's High Up on TV ... Portlander Director of Studio One Dramas; Bill Brown Started as Playwright While Student at Bowdoin; Portland Man Directs Star
Directed 'Long Goodbye'"
'' Evening Express''. p. 23. the episode starred

Wendell Corey Wendell Reid Corey (March 20, 1914 – November 8, 1968) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a board member of the Screen Actors Guild, and also served on the ...

E. G. Marshall E. G. Marshall (born Everett Eugene Grunz;Everett Eugene Grunz in Minnesota, U.S., Birth Index, 1900-1934, Ancestry.comEverett Eugene Grunz in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, accessed via Ancestry.com June 18, ...

, and

June Dayton June Dayton (born Mary June Wetzel; August 24, 1923 – June 13, 1994) was an American television actress who appeared in a variety of shows from the 1950s into the 1980s. Early life Dayton was born in Dayton, Ohio. She used her hometown of Da ...

Cast

Credits derived from February 26, 1955 issue of ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

's'' Chicago Edition. *Dr. Cory –

*Dr. Shratt -

*Janice -

*Yocum –

Don Hanmer Donald L. Hanmer (October 17, 1919 – May 24, 2003) was an American film actor. Early years Hanmer was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 17, 1919. He attended the Goodman School of Acting in Chicago on a scholarship for three years an ...

*Fuller – Lawrence Fletcher *Hinds – John Reese *Sara – Patsy Bruder *Bank Manager – Charles Penman *Nurse – Stanja Lowe

Premise

A doctor living with his wife in the Arizona desert experiments with keeping newly expired monkeys' brains alive. When a nearby plane crash results in the doctor performing this procedure on a mortally injured millionaire, unforeseen and sinister complications ensue.

Production

Unbeknownst to the then 69-year-old American composer

Wallingford Riegger Wallingford Constantine Riegger ( ; April 29, 1885 – April 2, 1961) was an American modernist composer and pianist, best known for his orchestral and modern dance music. He was born in Albany, Georgia, but spent most of his career in New York Ci ...

, passages from his Symphony No. 3—as recorded the previous year for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

Howard Hanson Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981)''The New York Times'' – Obituaries. Harold C. Schonberg. February 28, 1981 p. 1011/ref> was an American composer, conductor, educator and music theorist. As director for forty year ...

, conducting the

Eastman-Rochester Orchestra The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is an American orchestra based in the city of Rochester, New York. Its primary concert venue is the Eastman Theatre at the Eastman School of Music. History George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak Compan ...

—comprised the episode's uncredited score.

Critical reception

The Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands division. The newspaper was establis ...

's''

Gordon Sinclair Allan Gordon Sinclair, OC, FRGS (June 3, 1900 – May 17, 1984) was a Canadian journalist, writer, and commentator. Early life Sinclair was born in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, the son of George Alexander and Bessie Go ...

praised the episode for commanding viewer interest despite its patently outlandish premise, an achievement he credits primarily to the performances of

, and—as "an oily type of blackmailer in

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, active first in Europe and later in the United States. Known for his timidly devious characters, his appearance, and accented vo ...

makeup"—

, and to producer

for giving the show "a tense action, a meatily packed production from the camera angle, and a constancy of movement that kept us wondering." 16 days after the broadcast, '' Evening Express'' TV editor Joe D. King, in his extended profile of the episode's director, William H. Brown Jr., dubbed the ''Studio One'' presentation "one of the best suspense plays we have yet seen on TV." Reporting for the

International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.

Jack O'Brian John Dennis Patrick O'Brian (August 16, 1914 – November 5, 2000) was an American entertainment journalist best known for his longtime role as a television critic for '' New York Journal American''. Career A supporter of Senator Joseph McCa ...

called the episode "an expert chiller," but one whose "TV impact" would likely be lessened by the fact that the old Von Stroheim-Vera Hruba version had been "dunking in the channels for TV generations," a point echoed by ''

Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...

'' TV editor R. J. Hoyland. ''

Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, altho ...

'' TV editor James Devane cited the episode as a prime example of the growing tendency of TV anthology dramas to minimize or dispense altogether with opening intros in the interests of grabbing the attention of viewers who might otherwise be tempted to change stations in search of more familiar fare.Devane, James (March 2, 1955)
"Look and Listen: TV Men Worry Over Openings; Viewers Attracted by Clever Starts"
''The Cincinnati Enquirer''. p. 16.

References

External links

*
Wallingford Riegger: Symphony No.3 Op.42 (1948)
at

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