The Mind Benders

1963

Action / Drama / Thriller

7
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 25% · 3 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 25% · 50 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.4/10 10 1060 1.1K

experiment spy cold war psychology brainwashing black and white

Plot summary

A British scientist is discovered to have been passing information to the Communists, then kills himself. Another scientist decides that they might have brainwashed him by a sensory deprivation technique, but he doesn’t know if someone really can be convinced to act against their strongest feelings. So he agrees to be the subject in an experiment in which others will try to make him stop loving his wife.

Director

Basil Dearden Photo
Basil Dearden

Top cast

Geoffrey Keen Photo
Geoffrey Keen as Calder
Roger Delgado Photo
Roger Delgado as Dr. Jean Bonvoulois
Michael Bryant Photo
Michael Bryant as Dr. Danny Tate
Wendy Craig Photo
Wendy Craig as Annabella
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
1008.59 MB
1192*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 49 min
Seeds ...
1.83 GB
1776*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 49 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by christopher-underwood 7 / 10

Beginning brilliantly with London streets and brilliant shots of Paddington station and of trains

I enjoyed this but it could have been much better and I wouldn't rush to see it again. Beginning brilliantly with London streets and brilliant shots of Paddington station and of trains this commences with real drama, moves to rather drawn out theoretical discussions surrounding sensual deprivation experimentation and possible abuse. There is then some more talking and domestic goings on before more talking, far fetched theorising, some decent Oxford river and streets scenes before a not so climatic ending. Mary Are is fine, Dirk Bogarde gives his usual solid performance but neither are good enough to make up for the script's considerable shortcomings.
Reviewed by Bunuel1976 7 / 10

THE MIND BENDERS (Basil Dearden, 1963) ***

Intelligent - and, at the time, X-Rated - sci-fi (written by James Kennaway) which I had always been interested in watching, given its theme and credentials.Featuring excellent performances by all the main actors (Dirk Bogarde, Mary Ure, John Clements, Michael Bryant and Wendy Craig), fine black-and-white cinematography by Denys Coop and a good score by Georges Auric, the film deals with sensory-deprivation experiments which if over-exposed can render the subject susceptible to brainwashing. The idea is persuasively handled by the script and director Dearden, and actually predates Ken Russell's ALTERED STATES (1980) by almost 20 years! Still, after an intriguing first hour - with its introduction of suspense elements (where a scientist who has committed suicide is thought to have betrayed secrets to the enemy whilst 'under the influence') and the realistic depiction of the harrowing experiments (hinting at the supernatural), the plot is side-tracked into dealing with the domestic problems of Bogarde and Ure (which are mostly talked about rather than seen!) brought on by his change in personality during his stint in the water-tank - conditioned by Clements' Secret Service man and Bryant's fellow colleague, secretly enamored of his wife.As such, the treatment is somewhat too highbrow (for the most part, it's made by people not usually associated with this type of film) but it's fascinating - and generally satisfying - all the same.
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