Felix E. Feist's Donovan's Brain was a braver film than I think most people would give it credit for. The reason? Its entire success centers almost solely on the ability of one actor to portray multiple characters with nothing but varying usages of body language and vocal intonation. Here that burden is carried by Lew Ayres, a scientist who gets possessed by a megalomaniac brain in his laboratory taken from a recently deceased business tycoon. And despite the fact that Ayres keeps tricking me into thinking that he's actually Jack Lemmon, he does a fantastic job. It helps that Donovan's Brain boasts a legitimately engrossing screenplay and fantastically moody cinematography courtesy of Joseph F. Biroc. This is one of those rare 1950s sci-fi flicks that didn't succumb to the ludicrousness of its central plot or to hammy special effects. Donovan's Brain legitimately works both as sci-fi and as horror.
7/10
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