"...One of the delights of this dense and emotionally complicated film is the rugged ping-pong match Conrad plays with our perceived notions about who these people are. And the curious psychiatrist Ms. Lindfors plays is certainly no exception. Please do continue, Maven!" - DEWEY 1960
Thank you Mr. Dadier.
You're right when you say that. (who ARE these people)? I recall Anne being so distraught over being saved...
then when she's with her husband she spews her hatred for him...and
then when she calls Hunter on the phone, she acts like ohhhhh, she was just drunk and maybe he'd like to come over to a little soiree she's throwing. Huh? In any event, Anne Francis (and again, for
my money and IMHO) is always good and credible. Here she is as a loving mother...a rich playgirl...a potential suicide and a sexy damsel in distress. Hunter saves Anne from getting creamed to smithereens when she’s parked her car on the railroad tracks; she feels this is the
only way out of a marriage to a tyrannical businessman. As typical of damsels in distress...she hates her husband (played real meanie-like by Dana Andrews in his best soft and rough suede baritoned voice), but cannot leave custody of their daughter with him. Hunter’s plan is greeted with skepticism by Francis. (
RED FLAG #1) Me? I liked his half-baked scheme of feigning insanity:
FRANCIS: “Are you sure about this? The whole thing’s getting so involved.”
HUNTER: “That’s what makes it all so fascinating. It’s like walking on a tightrope. You make one mis-step and you’ve had it. But if you succeed, it’s as though you’ve defied the very laws of gravity...and I’m going to succeed. I’m going to beat it! It’s just like a military campaign. That’s why I’m taking my time. Every step has got to be planned.”
Is it just me or did you catch the hint of egomaniacal glint in Hunter’s eyes? How much of this plan is him wanting to be with Anne Francis (said damsel) and how much is it Hunter wanting to be the smartest test tube in the lab?? (I figured Anne Francis would be enough, but what do I know...).
I found it fascinating to watch the steps Hunter goes through to seed this plan. But look at Anne’s reaction as he plays tapes of crazed rants. (
RED FLAG #2). How ‘bout that sodium pentathol trip he takes. That was chilling. As for their relationship...by this time it looks like “the thrill is gone.” She initially does the push-pull thing...but Hunter's too caught up in the plan to turn back now. They're on different pages...but she doesn't definitively close the book on him. (I guess no femme fatale worth her fatale would).
Viveca Lindfors plays the Psychiatrist who Hunter must face and challenge and convince. Lindfors has the quiet sensuous sophistication of an Ingrid Bergman, whom she puts me to mind of, with the soft lilt of her Scandinavian accent. ( I can see Lena Olin doing this role in a re-make ). Lindfors asks for Hunter’s trust and trust is such an intimate thing, isn’t it? Now I don’t know if it’s the drugs that Hunter takes that (mistakenly) makes him think Lindfors is in league with him. I heard sexy saxophone music. Isn’t that our cinematic cue that “something” is happening between them? Is it wrong for me to wish and hope and think and pray that Lindfors purposely would
want to keep Hunter all for herself...behind the walls of a mental institution? Would I be re-writing the movie in my head that is
not up there on the screen?
I don’t want to unfairly give full disclosure to all the events in
“BRAINSTORM” for those who still want to check it out; I’ll let William Conrad’s film unfold for you itself. I lerve 60’s fare like this. I liked the rendezvous montage sequence (“Leave him.”) I liked the good friend and colleague played by Stacey Harris. (Hey, there’s blonde Kathie Browne playing a kook...hired by Dana Andrews, no doubt). The movie was
almost procedural in its take on depicting and checking for mental illness. And, again, I think Jeffrey Hunter gives a convincing performance. But I’m an Anne Francis fan. She’s always been more than just a “pretty face” in any of her parts. There’s an edge and depth to her that warrants your attention. During "Brainstorm's"
'My Man Godfrey' scavenger hunt party scene (love that mad mod music) there is a moment of a look between Anne Francis and Jeffrey Hunter that I had to play back a couple of times. As they watch the line of people dancing, Francis glances over at Hunter...you know, in that way that folks do when they don’t want the person that they’re looking at to catch them looking...
but they get caught anyway?? Now I know it’s a small point, and nothing very paranoidish or noir about it...but it’s just a moment Anne Francis brings to the part. I just love the way she looks away when she gets caught looking. It’s very real.
These two actors are not strangers to each other. They appeared in
“DREAMBOAT” fifteen years before. Their chemistry here is believable and I love that they were two kids starting out in this crazy showbiz and now are mature stars in a really good drama. I've only scratched the surface of my thoughts on this movie...and will wait to dialogue with anyone that's willing.
"One of the things that interests me is that the film starts out being a melodrama but ends up being a horror movie." - MICHIGAN J
Right you are Michigan. What can be worse than being where you're not supposed to be?