"Donovan's Brain " is an episode of the CBS television anthology series Studio One consisting of an hour-long adaptation of Curt Siodmak's 1942 science fiction novel of the same name.
Produced by Felix Jackson and directed by William H. Brown Jr.,[1][2] the episode starred Wendell Corey, E. G. Marshall, and June Dayton.
[3] A doctor living with his wife in the Arizona desert experiments with keeping newly expired monkeys' brains alive.
When a nearby plane crash results in the doctor performing this procedure on a mortally injured millionaire, unforeseen and sinister complications ensue.
[7][8] The Toronto Star's Gordon Sinclair praised the episode for commanding viewer interest despite its patently outlandish premise, an achievement he credits primarily to the performances of Wendell Corey, E. G. Marshall, and—as "an oily type of blackmailer in Peter Lorre makeup"—Don Hanmer, and to producer Felix Jackson for giving the show "a tense action, a meatily packed production from the camera angle, and a constancy of movement that kept us wondering.