The Brain That Wouldn't Die (film)

For the episode, see MST3K 513 - The Brain That Wouldn't Die.

“	There's more to surgery than just being a carpenter to patch up walls, or a plumber to drain pipes.	”
	- Dr. Bill Cortner

The Brain That Wouldn't Die is a 1962 science-fiction film directed by Joseph Green and written by Green and producer Rex Carlton.

Plot[]

Ambitious physician Dr. Bill Cortner has been laboring in secret to perfect the transplantation of limbs using parts taken from the morgue at the hospital where he works. His father, also a surgeon, disapproves of his experiments. Nurse Jan is his lovely assistant and bride-to-be.

Bill's father owns a country home which Bill uses as his private lab. One Friday, he receives an urgent summons at work from his lab assistant and experimental subject, Kurt. Bill and Jan speed to the lab in his convertible, but are involved in a terrible crash. Bill is thrown from the car unhurt, but Jan is grievously injured.

Bill rescues Jan's head from the burning car and races to his lab where he installs it in a device that utilizes his brand-new transplant solution. He estimates that Jan will survive for fifty hours, giving him time to secure a new body for her and advance medical science by years.

Bill returns to the city and searches for a host body. He visits a strip club, cruises the boulevards, and attends a beauty contest.

Back at the lab, Jan plans Bill's comeuppance. She's angry at not being allowed to die with dignity and directs her ire at Kurt. Bill's life-sustaining solution has granted her superhuman mental abilities, allowing her to communicate telepathically with another of Bill's creations - a mutated mass of grafted tissues that resides in a locked closet.

Meanwhile, Bill discovers a suitable host - Doris, a misanthropic, facially-disfigured photographer's model from his past. He lures her to his lab by promising to remove her scars. At the lab, he drugs her and prepares to operate despite Jan's objections.

Jan disrupts the operation, freeing the monster and setting the lab on fire. Jan, Bill, and Kurt all perish while the monster takes Doris to safety.

Cast[]

Jason Evers - Dr. Bill Cortner
Virginia Leith - Jan
Anthony La Penna - Kurt
Adele Lamont - Doris Powell
Marilyn Hanold - Peggy Howard
Lola Mason - Donna Williams
Bruce Brighton - Dr. Cortner

Notes[]

Eddie Carmel, who played the giant pinhead mutant, was billed at 8’ 9" tall, though he was likely at least one foot shorter. He toured with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, billed as "The Jewish Giant" and "The World’s Greatest Giant."
Actor Sammy Petrillo appears uncredited in the role of Art. Petrillo had achieved some fame as an imitator of Jerry Lewis, and he had co-starred in the notorious film Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla. Petrillo's career is a favorite topic of discussion for both Frank Conniff and Dana Gould.
Was nominated in The Golden Turkey Awards series for Most Brainless Brain Movie of All Time. It lost to They Saved Hitler's Brain.
A light-hearted ironic remake was released in June of 2020.
Contains a notorious shot of a painting of a cat (accompanied by a fake "meow") at the end of a scene where two dancers are starting to fight. Mike and the bots avoided commenting on this by leaving the theater as the fight was starting.
Two versions of the scene where Doris poses for photographers were shot, one with and one without nudity. The nude footage exists, but without audio.

Riffed Versions[]

Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Episode #513
The Mads Are Back, 2022
RiffTrax Present Bridget & Mary Jo, 2022

MST3K Connections[]

Anthony La Penna also voiced the English dubs of the narrator in Gamera vs Barugon and Lunari in Hercules Against the Moon Men.
Special effects technician Byron Baer was also special effects technician for Design for Dreaming.