BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

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Dewey1960
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by Dewey1960 »

Wendy, your initial reactions couldn't be more appropriately and exactly correct! I believe
this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship betwixt you and Mr. Conrad. Not exactly
a prolific director, but one with an unerring eye and the desire to provoke emotionally through
a succession of exotic images. Good luck with the rest of it; BRAINSTORM promises to be a
wild ride for you!
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JackFavell
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by JackFavell »

"provoke emotionally" - that's it exactly! I can't wait to watch it now.
RedRiver
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by RedRiver »

Am I going to be in trouble if I fall for this very large, very bad man, but very good director?

I understand he's a Cannon in the sack!
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JackFavell
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by JackFavell »

Hahahahaha! You are so naughty! :D :D :D :D
RedRiver
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by RedRiver »

Cannon Conrad was in the very first movie I watched on TCM. DIAL 1119! I had just gotten cable. Had been watching THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES on another channel. Waiting for an excuse to try TCM. This was a good way to break it in. 1119 is a simple, intimate story that draws you in and holds you there. The Cannon is always good!
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JackFavell
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by JackFavell »

Well, I finally saw Brainstorm. And I haven't yet read all your comments on the movie, I didn't want to spoil it for myself. I'll be doing that after I get done writing my first impressions here.

What a tight sexy little thriller this was, walking the edge so well. There are a lot of times (Red River) that I fall asleep during a movie I desperately want to see, but this was not the case here, despite a case of insomnia last night.

Conrad kept me guessing right through to the end, with some extremely sharp editing, and a bag full of camera tricks that really made the payoff work. Certain camera angles added to the very well written script and made the more ridiculous plot contrivances work better than they might have with a less killed director. The surprising close up on Hunter's mouth at one point, the single edits when Hunter is asking Francis to "leave him", the way the camera just takes off into the air at the end of the film... these classy ways of stretching reality made the movie so much more enjoyable to me and kept my attention thoroughly riveted to the screen. Some of them made me laugh, they were so audacious. The at times uncanny use of music to propel our emotions along made me want very much to enter into a long lasting relationship with William Conrad. :D

As for the story, I really enjoyed the ideas bandied around here - the main one that I noted was that modern psychiatry and/or the workplace could actually drive one round the bend, rather than helping one to stay sane. :D

I get the distinct impression that Conrad put himself into Hunter's shoes, and that sets him apart from more run of the mill directors. What an intellect and artistic vision he had, at least in this one movie! All in all, it was a VERY enjoyable showcase for Mr. Hunter. and a fantastic first date with Mr. Conrad.

Now, does anyone know where I should go next in WIlliam Conrad's "canon"?

sorry. :D
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CineMaven
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by CineMaven »

I'm so happy you finally got to see "BRAINSTORM" AND that you liked it. (Hey can I help it if I want folks to like what I like? So shoot me. No wait, sue me). You squeeze the juice out of a plot and make us drink a nice refreshing glass of lemonade with your review. What I'm saying is...I like what you wrote.

Tell us JackaaaAaay, do you have a hypothesis on Viveca Lindfors' character? Do you think the good doctor KNOWS Jeff is not crazy, but wants to keep him in the asylum...for herself? And why do you think Anne Francis dumps Jeff. Was she using him along for killing Dana Andrews? Did he just get too involved in his "I'm going to pretend I'm coo-coo for coco puffs and beat 'em all at this game..." or she was a dimwitted socialite with a limited attention span for hunks?

And riddle me this: why in the name of the wide wide world of sports, did Strother Martin want his hand shaken so much? This inquiring mind wants to know. I know you've got theories.
"You build my gallows high, baby."

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JackFavell
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by JackFavell »

Tell us JackaaaAaay, do you have a hypothesis on Viveca Lindfors' character? Do you think the good doctor KNOWS Jeff is not crazy, but wants to keep him in the asylum...for herself?
I like the way this part of the plot played out, though I knew how it was going to go for a long time before Jeffrey Hunter found it out - maybe because I knew the genre conceits, or maybe because of the discussion here. Just because it's telegraphed that his trust in her is going to come back to bite him, it doesn't make that part of the film any less enjoyable. I like that we are left guessing whether it was all an intricate plot, with Miss Lindfors as the driving force in our hero's terminal incarceration, or that his will to appear crazy has actually driven him round the bend and split his personality. Even better is that he is perfectly sane, but dreadfully, woefully innocent of human nature, which has left him open, belly up, just ripe for using and casting aside. Lindfors could be the mad one, keeping men in that jolly little home for the criminally insane because it is her whim and power trip to "help" them. A sexual perversion, if you will.

I tend to go for the "does it really matter?" viewpoint - it won't matter whether he really has been delusional all this time, or if he wasn't, because soon, he'll be a stark raving lunatic. :D
And why do you think Anne Francis dumps Jeff. Was she using him along for killing Dana Andrews? Did he just get too involved in his "I'm going to pretend I'm coo-coo for coco puffs and beat 'em all at this game..." or she was a dimwitted socialite with a limited attention span for hunks?
I like to think that it's the latter two options. I don't think she was using him to kill her husband. I think he saw her as a damsel in distress.. and he invested in her more than she in him. She was very much in love, but once he was not around, she lost the feeling in a heartbeat. When she saw him again, he seemed different - loonier. She simply had a limited atten.....tion.... say did anyone see Kiss the Blood off My Hands, yet? Burt is to die for.

Or of course, it could have all been a master plot by the wimmin. Yeah! I like that! Viveca and Anne together..... hmmmm.
And riddle me this: why in the name of the wide wide world of sports, did Strother Martin want his hand shaken so much? This inquiring mind wants to know. I know you've got theories.


Maybe he was Francis' last victim. :shock:
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CineMaven
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by CineMaven »

JackFavell wrote: Just because it's telegraphed that his trust in her is going to come back to bite him, it doesn't make that part of the film any less enjoyable. I like that we are left guessing whether it was all an intricate plot, with Miss Lindfors as the driving force in our hero's terminal incarceration, or that his will to appear crazy has actually driven him round the bend and split his personality. Even better is that he is perfectly sane, but dreadfully, woefully innocent of human nature, which has left him open, belly up, just ripe for using and casting aside. Lindfors could be the mad one, keeping men in that jolly little home for the criminally insane because it is her whim and power trip to "help" them. A sexual perversion, if you will.
Oh puhleeeze Jackaaaaaaay, your hypothesis of Lindfors is sick and twisted. She's touted in the script as a respected physician and...wait up, I like it! I like it!!! ;-) She took Ann Harding's role in "The Flame Within" just a step further. (Harding falls in love with her crazy alcoholic patient Louis Hayward...)
JackFavell wrote: I tend to go for the "does it really matter?" viewpoint - it won't matter whether he really has been delusional all this time, or if he wasn't, because soon, he'll be a stark raving lunatic. :D
That is a very chilling thought. If he wasn't crazy before...he's sure to be crazy now and that's worse than the gas chamber. (He might think of making the most of his time with Viveca. I'm just sayin').
JackFavell wrote:I like to think that it's the latter two options. I don't think she was using him to kill her husband. I think he saw her as a damsel in distress.. and he invested in her more than she in him. She was very much in love, but once he was not around, she lost the feeling in a heartbeat. When she saw him again, he seemed different - loonier. She simply had a limited atten.....tion.... say did anyone see Kiss the Blood off My Hands, yet? Burt is to die for.
Focus. Focus, will ya. Stick with us here. So you're saying that with Anne Francis it was out of sight..out of mind. I hear ya. But what I'm also wondering is hey...I hear my baby Samuel S. Hinds is in "Night Key" and I'll have to check that one out. It's on YouTube...Huh? What?
JackFavell wrote:Or of course, it could have all been a master plot by the wimmin. Yeah! I like that! Viveca and Anne together..... hmmmm.
"Diabolique" all over again.

And riddle me this: why in the name of the wide wide world of sports, did Strother Martin want his hand shaken so much? This inquiring mind wants to know. I know you've got theories.
JackFavell wrote:Maybe he was Francis' last victim. :shock:
LOL!!!

P.S. If you're around these parts late this evening...or early tomorrow morning, you can read my thoughts on "I WALK ALONE." (Shameless plug, I know...but I told you you can sue me). Also, I think that "KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY HANDS" is one of the greatest titles in all movies. I'll see about checking it out...and re-visiting "CRISS CROSS." Did you notice Tony Curtis dancing with Yvonne DeCarlo??? Now where did I put that night key?!
"You build my gallows high, baby."

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JackFavell
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by JackFavell »

Of course! How could you NOT notice Tony!
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CineMaven
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by CineMaven »

(Old Eagle Eyes...good). Listen, can I ask you one more thing about "Brainstorm" Jackie... and it was such a small moment, but did you see how Anne Francis was checking out Jeffrey Hunter when they were at her scavenger hunt party. Did you notice how she looked away when he caught her looking at him. Did you notice that moment...or am I just making a fig newton out of a...a...newton.

(What is a Newton, anyway?)
"You build my gallows high, baby."

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JackFavell
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by JackFavell »

I did not notice it in particular. I'm sorry to say I was noting the comparison to My Man Godfrey about that time. Now I'll go back and check when I get a chance.
RedRiver
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by RedRiver »

Anthony Curtis, if you please. I'd like to see KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY...okay, hands! What is that about? CRISS-CROSS is a favorite. It has a scintillating first half. The story kind of runs out of steam. But all in all, it's one of the better ones.
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JackFavell
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by JackFavell »

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands is not as lurid as it sounds, but it's a pretty great romantic noir. It's now my favorite early Burt Lancaster role. Here's the link to the film on youtube, Red:



and here's the thread where I found it, thanks to Moira:

http://silverscreenoasis.com/oasis3/vie ... 5&start=30
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: BRAINSTORM on TCM 8/29

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I wrote this on the Noir film thread not realising that Brainstorm had it's own thread

Now this really might be on the wrong thread but it felt lower budget and dark, Brainstorm dug out by me to be watched because it featured Dana Andrews in a supporting role and I find him an interesting actor. The main stars were Jeffery Hunter and Anne Francis with support from Viveca Lindfors who along with Andrews was the most interesting person in the movie. The film starts quite shockingly with a woman asleep in a car which is stretched across railway tracks, as the train approaches Jeffrey Hunter rescues her and takes her home to her hubby Dana Andrews the head of a research and development factory with links to the space programme, a big influential player and Hunter is his rather clever employee. The rescuers ands up falling for the rescued, the husband impossible, Hunter decides to play mad and kill him, he does this but gets drawn into a world of madness, the asylum he is placed in is enough to make one mad. The big question here, years before One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest is when did he become mad? For me it's when he conceived such a scheme, he might not get the death penalty but he's not going to get released into the community to live with his lady love. He gets caught up with cheating the husband of his life and the system of it's justice, he starts acting mad, it isn't hard to convince others. One of his psychiatrists has a seductive way about her, he gets comfused, she'll help him but of course she will she's a doctor but he thinks she knows he's well and is just playing along with him.

Jeffrey Hunter, reminds me of three actors, Jack Lord of Hawaii 5-0, it's the eyes, Henry Fonda, the whole look and William Shatner, the voice I think, not often does that happen that an actor reminds me so much of others, as such he didn't really stand out for me. Dana Andrews and Viveca Lindfors (great to see her in another film) are superb, Anne Francis, difficult to judge, the character is so wishy washy and confused and is at the sideline of the action.


Having had chance to digest the film, what did I think.

There was more to Anne Francis than met the eye. At best she was a flighty character who needs a man to validate who she is. She married Cort, he must have shown her a nice side at some point, he was forceful, successful, attractive with a hint of unpredictability. She knew what Cort was capable of, she knew that he could do major damage to her lover's life. Did she see something in him that refused to bend, that could be pushed to madness? Perhaps not at first, perhaps she was only a hedonist wanting her fun whilst being trapped in a marriage with a bully.

I wish Cort's character had been fleshed our more, that we knew more about him. I didn't particularly find Hunter's scientist likeable. I think both men showed signs of madness, one was controlling, the other was arrogant.

Viveca's psychiatrist does trick him, she does press his buttons, she knows how to play him and exploit his weaknesses but isn't that what a good psychiatrist will do? Does she think he's sane, it's open to interpretation but for me, she sees he's a man who thinks he's utterly sane but has gone over the abyss. What I'm not clear on is at what point he went insane. His plan was insane but does that make him insame at that point, I tend to think not, he's too arrogant at that point but when he tries the drugs for the first time, that's when the warning flashes up.

I thought the way he went was similar to One Flew OVer the Cuckoos Nest and as such there was no big surprise but to see this in 1965 it must have been strong stuff.

Is it at all like The Twilight Zone in terms of subject matter? I have Seconds still to watch.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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