THE ATOMIC MAN (1955)

THE ATOMIC MAN (1955)

Tagline: The Man With The Radio-Active Brain!

(Sci-Fi, Crime, I Am Radioactive) [PG]

Oooh, Old Waffle-Face is really mad at you, Delaney. I wouldn't like to be in your shoes, I really wouldn't.

In this one, a scientist studying the effects of atomic elements is found nearly dead in the river with a bullet to the back. It turns out the scientist is loaded with atomic energy when he was found and actually died for 7.5 seconds. The atomic energy brought him back from the dead and puts him 7.5 seconds ahead of everyone else in time. Because of this, he is almost impossible to understand because he knows in advance what you were going to say. As it turns out an evil double has taken his place and is trying to destroy his experiments. Now it’s up to a reporter named Mike Delaney and his girlfriend Jill Robowski to try and discover what is really going on and who is behind it. 

First off the acting in this and the script itself comes across as very choppy and near-emotionless for almost every scene. Having said that, it doesn’t mean the script isn’t well written. It’s actually pretty solid for what’s going on. It’s just presented in a very “matter of fact”,” bam, bam, bam, there you go” sort of way. The ideas introduced are pretty nutty, but this thing moves along at a decent enough pace and the intrigue behind what is going on keeps this thing pretty interesting throughout. It definitely isn’t your typical 50s sci-fi movie. 

Acting wise they brought in sci-fi actress Faith Domergue to play Jill Robowski. She kills this role and is pretty much the main reason this movie even works. She brings depth the rest of the cast just doesn’t deliver. Domerque was famous for the films THIS ISLAND EARTH and IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA. We also get Gene Nelson who plays Mike Delaney and also does a great job. Nelson wasn’t a sci-fi actor, but he was very famous at the time and was involved in over 67 movies and TV shows. 

One thing that is glaringly bad about this movie is the lighting. Some reviewers are referring to it as “atmosphere” or creepiness, but I didn’t get the idea that they were going for that here. We do several scenes that just look poorly lit making it hard to tell what is going on. Even some of the daylight indoor scenes are poorly shot. The other issue I have with this movie is that the plot seems more like a crime thriller than a sci-fi flick and it feels like the actual “atomic” side of things might have been an afterthought? I am not saying it was an afterthought, it just “feels” like it was. 

On the good side of things the score is well done and you can tell in spite of some of the stiff acting, everyone is putting in a genuine effort. The movie does have a weird plot hole they really didn’t need to sneak in the storyline. There was definitely a way to write around the issue. 

Overall this is actually a pretty decent movie in spite of being what I would say is not “fully” in the sci-fi genre. Then again there are well-respected sci-fi movies with even less sci-fi in them. I have to give this one a 4 out of 7. It’s definitely worth at least one watch for fans of the 1950s era in film. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF MERTON PARK STUDIOS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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