Daughter of the Mind

Plot

At the request of a colleague (George Macready), psychologist and ESP researcher Alex Lauder (Don Murray) investigates a leading cybernetic expert's (Dr. Samuel Constable, played by Ray Milland) report that he has seen and spoken with his young daughter, Mary (Pamelyn Ferdin) — who died 13 weeks before. Keeping an open mind, Lauder decides to take the case and see wherever it may lead.

As Lauder's investigation progresses, he learns that U.S. government counter-intelligence is watching his every move with great interest. As 'Mary' continues to appear to others besides her father, including to Lauder, her mother and other acquaintances, the possibility of her being a real spirit begins to erode in Dr. Lauder's mind. Then Lauder starts to pursue the path that everything connected to Mary's appearances may be generated by elaborate human-made illusions to guilt Dr. Constable into leaving his research, which is being used by the U.S. military. In the end, Lauder and the counter-intelligence agents monitoring Constable uncover a plot from behind the Iron Curtain to get the Nobel-winning scientist to defect from the United States.

Daughter of the Mind was one of the first high-quality offerings of ABC's Movie of the Week series. The film also represented the TV-movie debut of Gene Tierney, as Mary's mother and Sam Constable's wife.

Cast