# Brain-transplant movies where no one's intentionally killed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 8, 2011, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990 "2011-10-08T11:24:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/1 "2011-10-08T11:24:40Z")
…I guess this might qualify for a **SPOILER** warning. Anyway, as per my usual weird habits, I was just racking my, er, brain to come up with a list of movies: specifically, movies that involve a human brain transplant, but not intentional killings. I came up with _two_. •“[Who is Julia?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092208/)” A surprisingly respectable 1986 TV-movie starring Mare Winningham. •_Young Frankenstein_. Even if I fudge the criteria to include “people are killed, but not actually including the brain donor or body donor,”\* I can only think of two more; the original _Bride of Frankenstein_, and 1985’s _The Bride_. (The Frankenstein movie with Sting and Clancy Brown.) Can anyone think of any others? There _has_ to be at least a couple more, I’m sure. \*Strictly speaking, that should be “body donor or body recipient.” But you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/2 "2011-10-08T12:22:34Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > …I guess this might qualify for a **SPOILER** warning. > > Anyway, as per my usual weird habits, I was just racking my, er, brain to come up with a list of movies: specifically, movies that involve a human brain transplant, but not intentional killings. > > I came up with _two_. > > •“[Who is Julia?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092208/)” A surprisingly respectable 1986 TV-movie starring Mare Winningham. > •_Young Frankenstein_. > > Even if I fudge the criteria to include “people are killed, but not actually including the brain donor or body donor,”\* I can only think of two more; the original _Bride of Frankenstein_, and 1985’s _The Bride_. (The Frankenstein movie with Sting and Clancy Brown.) > > Can anyone think of any others? There _has_ to be at least a couple more, I’m sure. > > \*Strictly speaking, that should be “body donor or body recipient.” But you know what I mean. In the Karloff Frankenstein, as with Young F, the brain is stolen from the medical school. Coincidentally, Abby was the source of both. In The Bride of F, the Bride’s brain was actually grown in the laboratory- a point I had either forgotten or missed until watching it a month ago. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/3 "2011-10-08T12:47:52Z")
[The Man with Two Brains](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_with_Two_Brains) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/4 "2011-10-08T13:14:08Z")
The OP mentioned “Who is Julia?” which is what I would have put down. As was said it surprised me for how good a TV movie it was, not going so much for sensationalism as for really focusing on the conflicting emotions of the people involved. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/5 "2011-10-11T16:10:24Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > [The Man with Two Brains](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_with_Two_Brains) No way, Merv was a total serial killer, and that’s where the brains mostly came from. Tho, the doctors themselves never killed a person intentionally. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/6 "2011-10-11T18:18:15Z")
In **Donovan’s Brain** , Donovan died in an accident, but it wasn’t put into another body. In **[The Thing With Two Heads](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_with_Two_Heads)**, Ray Milland is dying of natural causes when transplanted. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/7 "2011-10-11T20:01:56Z")
**All Of Me**? Yeah, not really a “brain transplant” per se, forget I said anything… ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/8 "2011-10-11T20:19:02Z")
Not a movie, but the Robert Heinlen book “I Will Fear No Evil” sounds like it fits the bill. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/9 "2011-10-12T01:31:15Z")
For TV, there is always “Spock’s Brain.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/10 "2011-10-12T01:44:49Z")
According to wikipedia, Lex Luthor once developed cancer due to radiation exposure form the kryptonite ring he was wearing to keep Superman away. Luthor had his brain removed from his dying body and placed in a jar while he had a non-cancerous clone body grown which he had his brain transplanted back into. He also used this as an opportunity to claim that Lex Luthor was dead (using the original body as proof) and set himself up in a new identity as his alleged son. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/11 "2011-10-12T03:40:01Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Not a movie, but the Robert Heinlen book “I Will Fear No Evil” sounds like it fits the bill. Except Eunice was killed by a mugger, so that doesn’t count. Yes, she wasn’t killed in order to intentionally facilitate a brain transplant, but she was still killed intentionally. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/12 "2011-10-12T04:44:44Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > For TV, there is always “Spock’s Brain.” And there was a **Two Guys and a Girl** Halloween special like this, “Halloween 2: Mind Over Body.” The body wasn’t killed on purpose, but in a tragic bookcase (?) accident. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/13 "2011-10-12T05:08:04Z")
Lemur866: > [@](#): > > Except Eunice was killed by a mugger, so that doesn’t count. Good point; for some reason I had misremembered it as her dying in a vehicle accident. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/14 "2011-10-13T20:05:49Z")
How about the TV show **Now and Again** , where John Goodman’s character Michael Wiseman fell in front of a subway train and his brain was rescued and transplanted into the artificially-built body of a government agency (played by Eric Close)? ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-transplant-movies-where-no-ones-intentionally-killed/598990/15 "2011-10-14T08:23:10Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > How about the TV show **Now and Again** , where John Goodman’s character Michael Wiseman fell in front of a subway train and his brain was rescued and transplanted into the artificially-built body of a government agency (played by Eric Close)? IIRC it is implied that his death was no accident. The series was cancelled before that was explored, though.