This is Part 4 of a multi part series on the Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine & Environmental Physiology (CHMEP) and the records held documenting the CHMEP at the Medical Center Archives. In this blog post, we spotlight the filming of Brainstorm, a science fiction film, at the CHMEP. This blog post concludes on our series on the Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology and it’s archival collection.
Part 1 “Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine & Environmental Physiology”, gives a brief history of the Duke CHMEP.
Part 2 “NASA, the Apollo Program, and the Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine & Environmental Physiology”, highlights the work the CHMEP did with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s.
Part 3: “How Low Can you Go? Atlantis Dive Series at the Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine & Environmental Physiology” delves into the Atlantis Dive Series (1978 to 1984) conducted Dr. Peter B. Bennett, director of the F. G. Hall Laboratory for Environmental Research, now part of the CHMEP at Duke. The Atlantis experiments were a series of 4 experimental dives with the purpose of gaining a better understanding High Pressure Nervous Syndrome (HPNS), which occurs when diving deeper than 500 feet (150 meters) when using helium-oxygen gas mixtures.
Brainstorm, released in 1983, is a science fiction film directed by Douglas Trumball and stars Natalie Wood, in her final film role; Christopher Walken; Louise Fletcher; and Cliff Robertson. The film follows a research team's development of a headset recorder that can replay a person’s experiences, including their emotional state. While in development, the device starts being used for morally questionable purposes, and it soon becomes clear to the researchers that the government is interested in exploiting the device for military gains. After a researcher records her own death from a heart attack, her colleagues join forces to retrieve the information, play it back, and, in essence, to confront death itself.
While Brainstorm was not a commercial success, it is notable because it was Wood’s last film. She died under mysterious circumstances while the film was still under production. Wood, her husband, Robert Wager, and her Brainstorm costar, Christopher Walken, were on the water in the Splendour, a 60 foot yacht, when she drowned off the coast of Catalina Island in California, on November 29, 1981 at the age of 43. The cause of death was listed as “accidental drowning”, but, in 2013, her cause of death was changed to “drowning and other undetermined factors”. Wood was last seen alive on November 28 dining with Wagner and Walken at Doug’s Harbor Reef restaurant where all 3 drank and an argument between Wagner and Walken ensued. Her death became, and still is, a Hollywood mystery that is the topic of tabloid speculation, TV specials, and books exploring whether she was the victim of a homicide.
Before Wood’s death, she had completed all of her major scenes in the film. MGM studios was financially strapped at the time and refused to continue funding the film after Wood’s death. Trumball was able to secure funding to complete the film, but had to rewrite the script and use Wood’s sister, Lana, for her few remaining scenes.
The Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology Records includes 35 mm color slides of Brainstorm being filmed, including images of Natalie Wood; Cliff Roberston; and Duke employee, Bob Schumacher, who worked in the CHMEP and was selected to be in the film. The slides contain various images captured of Brainstorm being filed in the CHMEP. To view materials from the Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology collection, contact the Medical Center Archives staff or visit the Finding Aid.
This blog post was contributed by Medical Center Archives Assistant Director Lucy Waldrop.
References
“Brainstorm”. IMDB. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085271/
“40 years later, the mystery over Natalie Wood’s death endures.” LA Times, November 30, 2021. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-11-30/40-years-later-the-….