The Atomic Man

Director: Ken Hughes Ken Hughes

Overview

Based on a story by prolific if uninspired sci-fi writer Charles Eric Maine, The Atomic Man stars Peter Arne in the title role. Fished out of the Thames with a bullet in his back, Arne is discovered to be highly radioactive. He turns out to be a missing atomic scientist, whose exposure to radioactive substances, coupled with his brush with death, has endowed him with remarkable prognostic powers (the script explains that he's living 7 1/2 seconds into the future!) With the help of snoopy reporter Gene Nelson, Arne exposes a plot hatched by evil tungsten magnate Vic Perry. Atomic Man was released in Great Britain as Timeslip.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/09/2015
UPC:	0644827456321
Original Release:	1956
Source:	Reel Vault
Language:	English
Sales rank:	25,481

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Gene Nelson	Mike Delaney
Faith Domergue	Jill Rabowski
Joseph Tomelty	Detective Inspector Cleary
Donald Gray	Robert Maitland
Vic Perry	Vasquo
Peter Arne	Stephen Maitland
Launce Maraschal	Editor
Charles Hawtrey	Scruffy
Martin Wyldeck	Dr. Preston
Carl Jaffe	Dr. Marks
Barry Mackay	Inspector Hammond
Paul Hardtmuth	Actor

Technical Credits

Ken Hughes

Charles Eric Maine

Ken Hughes	Director,Screenwriter
Alec C. Snowden	Producer
Charles Eric Maine	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

An absolutely fascinating premise is put to a very unimaginative use in The Atomic Man. The premise is that, for reasons that defy logic, a scientist is now living seven and one-half seconds in the future. In other words, the things he says and does right now are in response to things that are being said or done to him seven and a half seconds in the future. This opens up a wide range of possibilities for a story, but sadly very few of these are explored in Atomic. Instead, it devolves into a rather routine spy story, complete with such clichés as one character having his face altered via plastic surgery to resemble another. The science in Atomic is strictly for the birds, but that's of less concern than the lack of imagination in the script. Fortunately, director Ken Hughes at least tries to keep the proceedings moving. He's a bit hampered by the screenplay, but he keeps the energy up and builds suspense reasonably well. The cast is fine, with science fiction favorite Faith Domergue especially welcome. The budget is clearly low, but Hughes does well with what he has.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler