Jeffrey Hunter

Anne Francis

Dana Andrews

Viveca Lindfors

Stacy Harris

Kathie Browne

Phillip Pine

Michael Pate

Robert McQueeney

Strother Martin

Joan Swift

George Pelling

Victoria Paige Meyerink

Stephen Roberts

Pat Cardi

Leon Alton

Tom Anfinsen

David Armstrong

Frank Baker

Harry Bartell

Suzanne Benoit

Gary Bohn

Steve Carruthers

James J. Casino

Donald Chaffin

William Conrad

Roberto Contreras

Isabel Cooley

George DeNormand

Barbara Dodd

William Duffy

Biff Elliot

Joe Evans

Pamelyn Ferdin

Fred Fisher

Duke Fishman

Jimmie Horan

Steve Ihnat

Byron Keith

Kenner G. Kemp

Johnny Kern

Richard Kiel

Lloyd Kino

Robert Locke Lorraine

Elaine Martone

Charles Maxwell

William Meader

Joseph Mell

John Mitchum

Ray Montgomery

George N. Neise

Monty O'Grady

James O'Hara

Bill Quinn

Paul Ravel

Anthony Redondo

Victor Rodman

John Roy

Wendy Russell

Jeffrey Sayre

James Seay

Alfred Shelly

Hal Taggart

Julie Van Zandt

Maurice Wells

William H. Ziegler

Sam Leavitt

Lawrence B. Marcus

Gordon Bau

George Duning

Robert Emmet Smith

James T. Vaughn

Mann Rubin

Hoyle Barrett

Jean Burt Reilly

Thriller

Brainstorm

William Conrad Productions

Warner Bros. Pictures

United States of America

CinemaSerf

This is probably the most complex role I ever saw Jeff (no - rey) Hunter ever undertake, and he's actually not at all bad. He is "Grayam", a man who comes to the aid of the slightly inebriated wife of his boss. "Lorrie" (Anne Francis) is considerably more grateful than her husband "Benson" (Dana Andrews) and it soon becomes clear that she has the hots for him and he, however reluctantly at first, is beginning to reciprocate. Pretty swiftly they are having an affair and rather curiously her husband seems to know all about it and care not a jot. He knows his wife will never leave her wealthy and confortable life - he plays a manipulative game and he plays it well. To thwart this, the two come up with a plan to eliminate "Benson" in plain sight and to cleverly orchestrate the scenario so as to allow his use of a plea of insanity. He sows the seeds well, gradually convincing all around him that he's not the full shilling before... What he didn't really reckon on though was the fickleness of "Lorrie" and the adeptness of the court-appointed psychiatrist "Larstadt" (Viveca Lindfors) who plays well here as the doctor who clearly knows how to play this game of intellectual cat and mouse every bit as well as her quarry. It's perhaps a little too long - too much time is spent on the establishment scenes, but Hunter, Francis and Lindfors are effective here as William Conrad gradually builds this into a sophisticated psychological drama that twists and turns nicely before a denouement that I found to be suitably pathetic. It's rarely seen these days, and may be a bit tame by 21st century standards, but it is a strong and characterful story that is well delivered and well worth a watch.

English

Jeffrey Hunter and Viveca Lindfors in "Brainstorm" (1965)