Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

MartinHafer With a title like "The Atomic Man" and it being in the public domain, I sure had my doubts about this one. You'd think, being made in the 1950s that it was some sort of space monster film or perhaps a film about communism--but it isn't. It's actually a very well written and taut sc-fi mystery--with a strong emphasis on mystery. And, it's very much worth your time.The film begins with a guy being left for dead--and thrown in the river. He's rescued and on the brink of death--and the doctors expect to lose him...which they do TEMPORARILY. While they are operating on him, his heart stops and they give up the surgery--and suddenly, he spontaneously begins breathing and begins a slow recovery! When he awakens, he's an oddity. He looks like a famous scientist--but the scientist is accounted for and is certainly NOT near death. And, he talks strangely...very strangely. How does all this fit into the total picture--that's the mystery. To try to sort all this out is a pushy reporter--the sort of guy who was almost a cliché in the 1930s in films. Yet, somehow Gene Nelson manages to make it work--along with his girlfriend (Faith Domergue).Now that I mentioned Nelson and Domergue, that brings up the production itself. Despite these two American actors in the major roles, the rest of the film is very British--made by Brits, filmed in Britain and with British extras. The reason was that in the 1950s and 60, many European film companies brought in Americans to star in their films--figuring it would help box office appeal (especially in the States). Well, in this case it sure worked well because the plot was intelligent, well written and a nice production all around--so nice, I was very tempted to give this little film a 9! My advice is to download (for free and perfectly legal) the film from archive.org--a site often linked to film listings on IMDb or from Amazon (which IS linked to IMDb). Well worth your time and full of wonderful suspense--especially at the end.

lemon_magic This 2nd string low budget British work is interesting in the way it tries to work in a science fiction plot element while having no special effects whatsoever.The idea of a man who has "slipped" in time is an interesting one, but it's wasted on an underwhelming mystery/espionage plot (It seems that certain economic interests are attempting to control the world's tungsten supply - my heart is in my throat!) What saves this one are the performances. It's a British production, and the Brits treat it as if it were Shakespeare - the actors take the wonky and turgid lines they are given and go after them with energy and enthusiasm and class.There are some problems with the casting - I didn't believe the actor who played Delaney was a reporter for a second, and I didn't believe there could be any chemistry between his character and a babe who looks like Faith Domergue either. And the main "heavy" is little more than a Rent-A-Center Sidney Greenstreet (he has the worst delivery of a line in the movie: "Call me a Dago again and I'll...") But it pushes right buttons and a bunch of people run around like maniacs for the last few minutes and the girl gets rescued from the bad guys...so I call it a decent effort.But it is for rabid 50's Sci Fi fans (and fans of Faith Domergue) and people interested in the history of science fiction who want to see every last damn film ever made.

krell-10 This film was shown in the USA as "The Atomic Man." A man is chased, shot and falls into a river. When the police pull him out, a news photographer takes a picture of him that shows a glowing halo around him. Mike Delaney, a reporter, recognizes the injured man as a renowned scientist from the United States. During an operation to remove the bullet the man dies for 7.5 seconds. He is revived, and seems to have lost his mind.When his doctor and Delaney try to question him, his answers make no sense. Finally it is realized he is answering the questions 7.5 seconds prior to their being asked. He's slipped in time. He doesn't remember much. He thinks a man named Vasco was responsible for his being shot.Delaney puts the police on the problem of the identity of the injured man. They find a man of that name alive and mostly well working in an atomic laboratory on a secret experiment. He's not completely well since he claims he was rear ended in an automobile accident which explains the bandages on his face . This statement makes Delaney suspicious so his continues investigation doggedly to the point of being fired for his efforts.In hospital an attempt to x-ray the scientist completely exposes the x-ray film. The radiologists discover he is radioactive. During his investigations Delaney is convinced that the injured man is "The Isotope Man" but is fired by his boss. His girlfriend, Rabowski, continues to help him. They find that Vasco represents a South American Tungsten company. This gives Rabowski an idea and she breaks into their offices, finds out they are to blame and is captured.In the climax of the film, Delaney rescues Rabowski, has a shootout with the villains, gains the upper hand in furious fight. He drags the villain Vasco to the research center as the experiment to create tungsten is about to be conducted. Vasco become frantic and screams to the scientists to stop the experiment. Vasco's man had placed enough plutonium in the reactor to have destroyed half of London in an atomic blast. Fortunately this was detected and London was spared.This film is more an industrial espionage adventure than a pure science fiction film. The issue of the scientist having slipped in time due to his death is certainly an exciting plot device.This is an enjoyable film even now if you can make allowances for the period of time during which it was made. I saw it first in 1956 and was impressed enough to look this film up recently. It was a lot more frightening when I was 7 years old watching it in an all night drive-in.

jim riecken (youroldpaljim) The science fiction gimmick in this "B" British mystery is a man who after his highly radioactive body is fished out of the Thames, comes to life. After he awakes it is discovered that his brief death and exposure to radiation causes his consciousness to be 7 seconds into the future. This film soon drifts into a typical "wise cracking reporter" mystery after a reel or two and the "timeslip" gimmick is forgotten. Most of the film deals with a male and female reporter trying to prove the mysterious man is actually a famous scientist who is now being impersonated by an enemy agent. The script written by Charles Eric Maine, based on his novel, is typical of most of Maines screen/published science fiction; he comes up with an interesting science fiction gimmick and works it into a mundane plot. In this case a typical "wise cracking reporter" mystery. Another of example of this is the film THE ELECTRONIC MONSTER aka ESCAPEMENT from a script by Maine based on his published novel. An historical note; American actor Gene Nelson was dancer and singer who starred in many musicals. He was in an accident about a year before this film was made and it prevented him from dancing.