The Great Brain

The Great Brain

Half hero, half con-artist, all heart!

1978 · 98 min · ★ 7.0 · Comedy, Family

Based on the book by John D. Fitzgerald, this movie stars Jimmy Osmond as a mischievous boy out to swindle his whole town for everything they're worth...and who occasionally puts his smarts to use for a good cause.

Directed by Sidney Levin · Written by Alan Cassidy

Your Rating

Cast

Make it a double feature

3h 28m together

The Great Brain

Norma Rae

Both from Sidney Levin.

More from Sidney LevinSee all →

SounderSounder · 1972
Sounder
7.51972
MovieDrama
The oldest son of a loving and strong family of black sharecroppers comes of age in the Depression-era South after his father is imprisoned for stealing food.
HangmanHangman · 1964
Hangman
7.31964
MovieAnimationHorror
The people of a town are condemned to die one by one by a mysterious stranger who erects a gallows in the town square.
NashvilleNashville · 1975
Nashville
7.31975
MovieDramaComedy
The intersecting stories of twenty-four characters—from country star to wannabe to reporter to waitress—connect to the music business in Nashville, Tennessee.
Norma RaeNorma Rae · 1979
Norma Rae
7.21979
MovieDrama
Norma Rae is a southern textile worker employed in a factory with intolerable working conditions. This concern about the situation gives her the gumption to be the key associate to a visiting labor union organizer. Together, they undertake the difficult, and possibly dangerous, struggle to unionize her factory.
Mean StreetsMean Streets · 1973
Mean Streets
7.01973
MovieDramaCrime
A small-time hood must choose from among love, friendship and the chance to rise within the mob.
The FrontThe Front · 1976
The Front
7.01976
MovieComedyDrama
A cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.
Cross CreekCross Creek · 1983
Cross Creek
6.61983
MovieDramaRomance
In the 1930s, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings moves to Florida's backwaters to write in peace. She feels bothered by affectionate men, editors and confused neighbors, but soon she connects and writes The Yearling, a classic of American literature.
Stanley & IrisStanley & Iris · 1990
Stanley & Iris
6.51990
MovieDramaRomance
An illiterate cook at a company cafeteria tries for the attention of a newly widowed woman. As they get to know one another, she discovers his inability to read. When he is fired, she takes on trying to teach him to read in her kitchen each night.
NutsNuts · 1987
Nuts
6.41987
MovieDrama
A high-class call girl accused of murder fights for the right to stand trial rather than be declared mentally incompetent.
The RiverThe River · 1984
The River
6.41984
MovieDrama
Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
The Cheap DetectiveThe Cheap Detective · 1978
The Cheap Detective
6.31978
MovieComedyCrime
A spoof of the entire 1940s detective genre. San Francisco private detective, Lou Pekinpaugh is accused of murdering his partner at the instigation of his mistress—his partner's wife.
Murphy's RomanceMurphy's Romance · 1985
Murphy's Romance
6.21985
MovieComedyDrama
Emma, a divorced single mother seeking to start her life over, moves to a small town in Arizona. She befriends Murphy, the older local pharmacist, but things turn complicated when her ex-husband shows up.
Guarding TessGuarding Tess · 1994
Guarding Tess
6.01994
MovieComedyDrama
Doug is a Secret Service Agent who has just completed his stint in charge protecting Tess Carlisle—the widow of a former U.S. President, and a close personal friend of the current President. He finds that she has requested that he not be rotated but instead return to be her permanent detail. Doug is crushed, and—after returning—wants off her detail as she is very difficult to guard and makes her detail crazy with her whims and demands.
The Grass HarpThe Grass Harp · 1996
The Grass Harp
5.91996
MovieComedyDrama
Based on the novel by Truman Capote, this often-witty coming-of-age drama looks at a young man growing up with an unusual family in the Deep South in the 1940s. Becoming an orphan in 1935, Collin moves to his dad's cousins Verena and Dolly. Verena is a rich, bossy businesswoman. Dolly, Collin and the maid revolt, moving to a tree house.
He Said, She SaidHe Said, She Said · 1991
He Said, She Said
5.91991
MovieComedyDrama
Womanising, right-wing Dan Hanson and quiet, liberal Lorie Bryer work for the Baltimore Sun. Rivals for the job of new writer of a vacant column, the paper ends up instead printing their very different opinions alongside each other, which leads to a similarly combative local TV show. At the same time their initial indifference to each other looks like it may evolve into something more romantic.
Larger Than LifeLarger Than Life · 1996
Larger Than Life
5.51996
MovieComedyFamily
Motivational Speaker Jack Corcoran is determined to get his career off the ground, but the biggest gigs he can get are the ones nobody wants. One day, he receives a telegram that his circus clown father has passed away and left a "huge" inheritance: an elephant that was his father's pride and joy. His main intention to sell the pachyderm off, Jack must choose between loud and rude zookeeper Mo or attractive animal show owner Terry. As the two trek through the country Jack and the elephant develop a bond, and it changes his approach to life for the better.

More Like This

Laal Singh ChaddhaLaal Singh Chaddha · 2022
Laal Singh Chaddha
6.32022
MovieDramaRomance
Events in India's history — from the Emergency and the famous Cricket World Cup win to the Punjab riots , unfold from the perspective of an innocent Sikh man Laal Singh Chaddha, a person with a low IQ but high optimism. Laal is able to achieve everything under the sun but his childhood love continues to elude him.
How the Grinch Stole ChristmasHow the Grinch Stole Christmas · 2000
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
6.82000
MovieFamilyComedy
The Grinch decides to rob Whoville of Christmas - but a dash of kindness from little Cindy Lou Who and her family may be enough to melt his heart...
JumanjiJumanji · 1995
Jumanji
7.21995
MovieAdventureFantasy
When siblings Judy and Peter discover an enchanted board game that opens the door to a magical world, they unwittingly invite Alan -- an adult who's been trapped inside the game for 26 years -- into their living room. Alan's only hope for freedom is to finish the game, which proves risky as all three find themselves running from giant rhinoceroses, evil monkeys and other terrifying creatures.
UnpregnantUnpregnant · 2020
Unpregnant
6.82020
MovieDramaComedy
After discovering she can’t legally get an abortion in Missouri without her parents’ permission, teenager Veronica convinces her former best friend Bailey to take a road trip to Albuquerque to seek the procedure.
Captain Underpants: The First Epic MovieCaptain Underpants: The First Epic Movie · 2017
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
6.32017
MovieFamilyComedy
Based on the bestselling book series, this outrageous comedy tells the story of George and Harold, two overly imaginative pranksters who hypnotize their principal into thinking he’s an enthusiastic, yet dimwitted, superhero named Captain Underpants.
The Sword in the StoneThe Sword in the Stone · 1963
The Sword in the Stone
7.21963
MovieAnimationFamily
Wart is a young boy who aspires to be a knight's squire. On a hunting trip he falls in on Merlin, a powerful but amnesiac wizard who has plans for him beyond mere squiredom. He starts by trying to give him an education, believing that once one has an education, one can go anywhere. Needless to say, it doesn't quite work out that way.
The Heartbreak KidThe Heartbreak Kid · 2007
The Heartbreak Kid
5.82007
MovieComedyRomance
Eddie, the 40-year-old confirmed bachelor finally says "I do" to the beautiful and sexy Lila. But during their honeymoon in Mexico, the woman of his dreams turns out to be a total nightmare, and the guy who could never pull the trigger realizes he’s jumped the gun.
SpiritedSpirited · 2022
Spirited
6.82022
MovieComedy
Each Christmas Eve, the Ghost of Christmas Present selects one dark soul to be reformed by a visit from three spirits. But this season, he picked the wrong Scrooge. Clint Briggs turns the tables on his ghostly host until Present finds himself reexamining his own past, present and future.
Buffalo SoldiersBuffalo Soldiers · 2002
Buffalo Soldiers
6.32002
MovieDramaComedy
A criminal subculture operates among U.S. soldiers stationed in West Germany just before the fall of the Berlin wall.
Just Like HeavenJust Like Heaven · 2005
Just Like Heaven
7.02005
MovieComedyRomance
Shortly after David Abbott moves into his new San Francisco digs, he has an unwelcome visitor on his hands: winsome Elizabeth Masterson, who asserts that the apartment is hers -- and promptly vanishes. When she starts appearing and disappearing at will, David thinks she's a ghost, while Elizabeth is convinced she's alive.
Treasure PlanetTreasure Planet · 2002
Treasure Planet
7.62002
MovieScience FictionAdventure
When space galleon cabin boy Jim Hawkins discovers a map to an intergalactic "loot of a thousand worlds," a cyborg cook named John Silver teaches him to battle supernovas and space storms on their journey to find treasure.
The Cabbage SoupThe Cabbage Soup · 1981
The Cabbage Soup
6.41981
MovieComedyScience Fiction
Two buddy farmers are visited by aliens who like their domestic cabbage soup.
The Jungle BookThe Jungle Book · 1967
The Jungle Book
7.31967
MovieFamilyAnimation
The boy Mowgli makes his way to the man-village with Bagheera, the wise panther. Along the way he meets jazzy King Louie, the hypnotic snake Kaa and the lovable, happy-go-lucky bear Baloo, who teaches Mowgli "The Bare Necessities" of life and the true meaning of friendship.
Snow DogsSnow Dogs · 2002
Snow Dogs
5.62002
MovieComedyFamily
When a Miami dentist inherits a team of sled dogs, he's got to learn the trade or lose his pack to a crusty mountain man.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter