Classic Horrors Club

While Daughter of the Mind aired on television in 1969, there’s no doubt it should be included in discussions about TV-movies of the 70s. First, we’re nitpicking if we exclude anything due to a few months’ difference in release dates. More importantly, it follows a template that many more will use into the next decade… man see something possibly supernatural, but there could be a natural explanation.

I’d go further to add that the reason for a natural explanation would be that someone is trying to drive the man crazy. That part doesn’t happen in Daughter of the Mind, but I’ve been conditioned to believe that it might. It took me a few minutes into the film to realize there’s no real candidate or motive for driving Professor Samuel Hale Constable (Ray Milland) crazy.

Nevertheless, he hears his young daughter, Mary (Pamela Ferdin) calling to him from the grave and when he drives away from the cemetery, almost hits her with his car. She then comes to his side to say, “Oh, Daddy, I miss you. I’ve got to go back; they’re calling me. Oh, Daddy; I hate being dead.” Samuel gets a head start that characters in later movies don’t…

…he immediately visits a parapsychologist. He asks Dr. Alex Lauder (Don Murray), “In your professional experience, are there such things as ghosts?” While Alex begins his investigation, friends and family, such as Samuel’s wife, Lenore (Gene Tierney), tell Samuel to his face the he needs to move on from the tragedy of his daughter’s death, and to others behind his back that he needs psychiatric treatment. Alex’s response to all is, “I’m here to investigate, no speculate.”

He performs a thorough investigation, but here’s where the story begins to suffer. Alex is almost too thorough. Even when all roads lead to the fact that Mary’s spirit is really visiting Samuel, he continues to search for evidence to the contrary. He trying to prove that it’s impossible rather than discover that it could be possible. Because it goes on and on, we’re also lead to believe that it’s impossible…

…that there must be a natural explanation. This removes some of the mystery or uncertainty. In that sense, Daughter of the Mind becomes a procedural with a resolution that’s more unbelievable than admitting the fact that ghosts are real. When the natural explanation is presented as an option, it’s so far fetched that you think it must be a red herring. The plot point isn’t dropped, though, so you have to start accepting it’s probably the explanation.

What might have helped is a shorter running time. Daughter of the Mind is 90 minutes long, which would have filled a two-hour time slot. Most movies of the kind are only 75 minutes long, which would have filled a 90-minute time slot. 15 minutes makes a huge difference. In this case, we would have had less time to ponder the outcome. Or, put more simply, it would have had a quicker pace and ultimately been more entertaining.