The Mind Benders (1963 film)

The Mind Benders
U.S. theatrical poster
Directed by	Basil Dearden
Produced by	Michael Relph
Written by	James Kennaway
Based on	The Mindbenders 1963 novel by James Kennaway
Starring	Dirk Bogarde Mary Ure John Clements Michael Bryant
Music by	Georges Auric
Cinematography	Denys N. Coop
Edited by	John D. Guthridge
Production company	Novus (Michael Relph Productions)
Distributed by	Anglo-Amalgamated (UK) AIP (USA)
Release date	February 1963 (London, UK) May 1963 (New York, USA)
Running time	109 min
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Mind Benders is a 1963 British thriller film produced by Michael Relph, directed by Basil Dearden and starring Dirk Bogarde, Mary Ure, John Clements, Michael Bryant and Wendy Craig.^[1] American International Pictures released the film in the US as a double feature with Operation Bikini.

Synopsis

Professor Sharpey (Harold Goldblatt) commits suicide after subjecting himself to sensory deprivation experiments in a secret research laboratory. His former colleague Doctor Longman (Dirk Bogarde) volunteers to undergo the same tests to try and establish what drove Sharpey to kill himself. He hopes to clear Sharpey's name with the police, who favour the theory that Sharpey was a double agent, perhaps allied with Communists, and that his death was the final result of his shame over betraying Great Britain. Longman begins subjecting himself to sessions in a sensory deprivation tank in order to prove that use of the technique can make one unusually susceptible to brainwashing or hypnotic suggestion.^[2]

Cast

• Dirk Bogarde as Doctor Henry Longman
• Mary Ure as Oonagh Longman
• John Clements as Major Hall
• Michael Bryant as Doctor Tate
• Wendy Craig as Annabella
• Harold Goldblatt as Professor Sharpey
• Geoffrey Keen as Calder
• Terry Palmer as Norman
• Norman Bird as Aubrey
• Terence Alexander as Rowing Coach (uncredited)
• Grace Arnold as Train Passenger (uncredited)
• Timothy Beaton as Paul Longman (uncredited)
• Elizabeth Counsell as Girl Student on Station (uncredited)
• Roger Delgado as Doctor Jean Bonvoulois (uncredited)
• Terence Edmond as 1st Student at Party (uncredited)
• Edward Fox as Stewart (uncredited)
• Robin Hawdon as Student in Oxford (uncredited)
• Georgina Moon as Persephone Longman (uncredited)
• Edward Palmer as Porter (uncredited)
• Philip Ray as Father (uncredited)
• Pauline Winter as Mother (uncredited)

Screenplay

• James Kennaway, published in 1963 as a novel with the title The Mindbenders (Reprinted, Valancourt Books, 2014)

Critical reception

• TV Guide called it "a strange movie that leaves a deeper impression than one might expect due to the originality of the plot and the tense direction. It is the direct predecessor of Altered States."^[3]
• Movie Magazine International wrote, "as directed by the great Basil Dearden, it plays in an eerily realistic way and what you see lingers in the mind long afterwards."^[4]
• Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings called it, "a compelling and memorable movie."^[5]

References

External links

• The Mind Benders on IMDb
• The Mind Benders at AllMovie
• The Mind Benders at the TCM Movie Database
• The Mind Benders at the American Film Institute Catalog