Good idea lost in the noise

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

I've always liked Jeffrey Hunter's work, especially in "No Down Payment" but also in a lot of other 1950s and 1960s films. His death at an early age in 1969 ensured that he never reached the older-age parts for actors in their 50s and 60s, but his body of work is very good nonetheless. "Brainstorm" is a very, very good drama from 1965 and Hunter is excellent.Young, brilliant, and rather nerdy systems analyst Jim Grayam (Hunter) leaves work one night to find a woman (Anne Francis) asleep in a car astride railroad tracks. After a frantic rescue, Grayam discovers that the woman is Lorrie Benson, wife of his company's CEO Cort Benson (Dana Andrews). Lorrie Benson and Grayam start an affair, much to the displeasure of Cort Benson, who tries everything to discredit and destroy Grayam. After murdering Cort Benson, Grayam ends up in a mental institution, which he planned so he can be released early to be with Lorrie. The only problem is that Lorrie leaves him, and after an escape from captivity, Grayam is recaptured, now really crazy due to his experience in the hospital.Efficiently directed by William Conrad, "Brainstorm" showcases Francis and Hunter quite well. Hunter's performance is top-notch, Francis is nearly as good, while Dana Andrews does his evil rich guy character a good turn. Viveca Lindfors is very convincing as a psychiatrist, as well. Maybe the best performance is provided by Stacy Harris, who does a wonderful job as Grayam's dedicated and honest boss. This B&W film isn't for everyone's tastes, but you must tune in for the railroad crossing scene at the film's beginning...it'll give you butterflies and white knuckles.

After being seduced by the unstable wife of his millionaire boss, a brilliant young engineer concocts a crackpot plan for the two to be together: murder her husband and then convince a panel of psychiatrists that he is clinically insane (the rationale being, I assume, that incarceration in a mental asylum is much preferable to prison!). Warner Bros. potboiler with a television budget--another in a string of pulpy, somewhat-sleazy yarns to be directed by William Conrad--is engrossing and enjoyable, even as it fails to come to much. Conrad works well with his actors while concentrating firmly on his narrative, however his scene transitions are amateurish and his work is not helped by the TV drama-styled editing (not to mention the melodramatic music cues). Jeffrey Hunter (curiously billed as Jeff Hunter) begins the film behaving like a staunch, overgrown Boy Scout, but by the second-half really goes out on a limb with the tics, cold sweats, and stammers of a man driven half-mad by desire. Screenwriter Mann Rubin preys upon the viewer's fear of insanity by setting our hero up as a dupe, a willing 'Gaslight' victim who may not be one-hundred-percent in the head anyway. There are no surprise twists to the plot, nor do Conrad or Rubin mean this to be a cautionary tale for would-be illicit lovers. It's rather a squarely straightforward tale with incidental characters (such as Viveca Lindfors' sweetly smiling doctor) who are never fully explained and a finale that is meant to be highly shocking. **1/2 from ****

By the time "Brainstorm" was made, both Jeffrey Hunter and Dana Andrews had descended into B films. "Brainstorm" was one of them, costarring '50s starlet Anne Francis. Directed by William Conrad, it's actually a good movie about an engineer who falls in love with the unhappy wife of a wealthy man (Andrews) and concocts a scheme to kill him and get away with it by faking insanity.Hunter is very good in this dramatic role - he was a far better actor than some of his contemporaries but due to his personal demons, he never fulfilled his early promise. It's a shame because he played this kind of angry, edgy role very well, belying his staggering good looks. He gets good support from Andrews, Francis, and Viveca Lindfors, who plays a psychiatrist.There is one scene that may be unintentionally funny - when Hunter is in the asylum, one of the inmates starts singing the beginning of a song over and over again. Hunter finally screams, "Either finish that song or SHUT UP!" Brainstorm is worth a watch, especially to see Hunter do a role deserving of his abilities, and one he no longer had an opportunity to play in A films.

What I found most interesting about this movie was the idea of Jeffrey Hunter's character feigning insanity. I wondered was he really faking or just deluded? Because, the idea of pretending to be insane to the nth degree sounds, well, insane. I thought the movie was well cast. However, Jeffrey Hunter steels every scene he is in as he seemed to revel in this role. It was good to see Jeffrey Hunter in a role he could sink his teeth into. He did a good job in communicating his desperation. It would have been nice to see him in more character roles. If you want to see Jeffrey Hunter in a role that is out of character then this is a movie worth checking out.