Timeslip (1955 film)

Last updated

Timeslip
Timeslip FilmPoster.jpeg
U.S. theatrical release poster
Directed by Ken Hughes
Written by Charles Eric Maine
Produced by Alec C. Snowden
executive
Nat Cohen
Stuart Levy
Starring Gene Nelson
CinematographyA. T. Dinsdale
Edited by Geoffrey Muller
Production
companies
Anglo Guild Productions
Todon Productions (uncredited)
Distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated
Release dates
November 1955 (UK)
4 March 1956
Running time
93 minutes (UK)
76 minutes (US)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Timeslip (known as The Atomic Man in the United States) is a 1955 British black-and-white science fiction film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Gene Nelson and Faith Domergue. Produced by Alec C. Snowden, it is based on a script by Charles Eric Maine, who also wrote Spaceways. [1]

Contents

In the UK, the film was distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated. In 1956 the film was shortened from 93 minutes to 76 minutes and distributed in the U.S. by Allied Artists Pictures in some areas as a double feature with Invasion of the Body Snatchers .

Plot

An injured man is pulled from the Thames. He has been shot in the back and is barely alive. The science correspondent of an illustrated magazine recognises him as a nuclear physicist. But the physicist is found alive and well and working at his laboratory. When the injured man is photographed, his pictures show a strange glow surrounding him, and when he recovers enough to be questioned, his answers make no sense. It transpires that his perception of time is 7.5 seconds ahead of that of his interrogator, to the extent that he answers questions just before they are asked.

The correspondent and his photographer girlfriend try to solve the puzzle, and in doing so uncover international industrial espionage and a terrible threat to the atomic research institute.

Cast

Production

The script for the film was a substantial reworking by Charles Eric Maine of his BBC TV play Time Slip, which was transmitted live on 25 November 1953, and not recorded. In the original play, Jack Mallory (Jack Rodney) dies and is brought back to life with an adrenaline injection, but this results in his perception of time being 4.7 seconds ahead of everybody else's, so he is able to answer their questions before they are even asked. His psychiatrist "cures" him by smothering him to death and then reviving him with a second - but more carefully measured - dose of adrenalin. [2]

The film was partially funded by its UK distributor, Anglo-Amalgamated. [3] It was a production of Todon Productions, the American company, although they are not credited. [4] Star Gene Nelson had been in two musicals, So This Is Paris and Oklahoma!, and this was his first serious dramatic lead. [5] He was reportedly cast after Tony Owen of Todon saw Nelson on an episode of Studio One. [6]

Filming started in England on 4 February 1955. It was shot at Merton Park Studios. [7]

The Isotope Man

Maine turned the script into a novel, The Isotope Man, published in 1957. It would be the first of three novels about reporter Mike Delaney. The New York Times called the novel "fairly crude and preposterous but lively enough". [8] The Los Angeles Times called it "near perfect entertainment for the radioactive age." [9]

Critical reception

TV Guide called it a "dumb movie with an interesting premise"; [10] and AllMovie similarly thought its "absolutely fascinating premise" unfortunately translated into "lack of imagination in the script"; but from an able cast, Faith Domergue was "especially welcome", and the reviewer concluded "The budget is clearly low, but (Ken) Hughes does well with what he has." [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>It Came from Beneath the Sea</i> 1955 science fiction film directed by Robert Gordon

It Came from Beneath the Sea is a 1955 American science fiction monster film from Columbia Pictures, produced by Sam Katzman and Charles Schneer, directed by Robert Gordon, that stars Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, and Donald Curtis. The screenplay by George Worthing Yates was designed to showcase the stop motion animation special effects of Ray Harryhausen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Yordan</span> American screenwriter

Philip Yordan was an American screenwriter of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who produced several films. He acted as a front for blacklisted writers although his use of surrogate screenwriters predates the McCarthy era. His actual contributions to the scripts he is credited with writing is controversial and he was known to some as a credit-grabber. Born to Polish immigrants, he earned degrees from both University of Illinois and Chicago-Kent College of Law.

<i>Vendetta</i> (1950 film) 1950 American drama produced by Howard Hughes

Vendetta is a 1950 American crime film based on the 1840 novella Colomba by Prosper Mérimée, about a young Corsican girl who pushes her brother to kill to avenge their father's murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faith Domergue</span> American actress

Faith Marie Domergue was an American film and television actress. Discovered at age sixteen by media and aircraft mogul Howard Hughes, she was signed to a contract with Hughes' RKO Radio Pictures and cast as the lead in the studio's thriller Vendetta, which had a troubled four-year production before finally being released in 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Nelson</span> American actor, dancer, screenwriter, director

Gene Nelson was an American actor, dancer, screenwriter, and director.

Kenneth Graham Hughes was an English film director, writer and producer. He was the co-writer and director of the children's film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). He has been called "a filmmaker whose output was consistently interesting and entertaining, and deserved more critical attention than it has received."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Amalgamated</span>

Anglo-Amalgamated Productions was a British film production company, run by Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy, which operated from 1945 until roughly 1971. Low-budget and second features, often produced at Merton Park Studios, formed much of its output. It was the UK distributor of many films produced by American International Pictures (AIP), who distributed AA's films in the United States.

<i>Santa Fe Passage</i> 1955 film by William Witney

Santa Fe Passage is a 1955 American Western film directed by William Witney and starring John Payne, Faith Domergue and Rod Cameron.

Timeslip may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Kane</span> American film director (1894–1975)

Jasper Joseph Inman Kane was an American film director, film producer, film editor and screenwriter. He is best known for his extensive directorship and focus on Western films.

<i>Something of Value</i> 1957 film by Richard Brooks

Something of Value is a 1957 American drama film directed by Richard Brooks and starring Rock Hudson, Dana Wynter, and Sidney Poitier. The film was reissued under the title Africa Ablaze.

<i>Of Human Bondage</i> (1964 film) 1964 film by Ken Hughes

Of Human Bondage is a 1964 British drama film directed by Ken Hughes. The MGM release, the third screen adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's 1915 novel, was written by Bryan Forbes.

<i>Cult of the Cobra</i> 1955 film by Francis D. Lyon

Cult of the Cobra is a 1955 American black-and-white horror film from Universal-International Pictures, produced by Howard Pine, directed by Francis D. Lyon, that stars Faith Domergue, Richard Long, Kathleen Hughes, Marshall Thompson, Jack Kelly, William Reynolds, and David Janssen. The film was released as a double feature with Revenge of the Creature.

<i>Baby Face Nelson</i> (film) 1957 film by Don Siegel

Baby Face Nelson is a 1957 film noir crime film based on the real-life 1930s gangster, directed by Don Siegel, co-written by Daniel Mainwaring—who also wrote the screenplay for Siegel's 1956 sci-fi thriller Invasion of the Body Snatchers—and starring Mickey Rooney, Carolyn Jones, Cedric Hardwicke, Leo Gordon as Dillinger, Anthony Caruso, Jack Elam, John Hoyt and Elisha Cook Jr.

<i>Wicked as They Come</i> 1956 British film

Wicked as They Come is a 1956 British film noir directed by Ken Hughes and starring Arlene Dahl, Philip Carey and Herbert Marshall.

<i>Portrait of Alison</i> 1956 British film

Portrait of Alison is a 1956 British atmospheric crime film directed by Guy Green. It was based on a BBC television series Portrait of Alison which aired the same year.

<i>The Long Haul</i> (1957 film) 1957 British drama film directed by Ken Hughes

The Long Haul is a 1957 British drama film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Victor Mature, Patrick Allen and Diana Dors.

<i>Wide Boy</i> (film) 1952 British film

Wide Boy is a 1952 British crime film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Susan Shaw, Sydney Tafler and Ronald Howard.

<i>Little Red Monkey</i> 1955 British film

Little Red Monkey, released in the United States as Case of the Red Monkey, is a 1955 British crime film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Richard Conte, Rona Anderson and Russell Napier. Detectives from Scotland Yard investigate a series of murders of leading nuclear scientists, and are intrigued by strange reports received about the crimes. The film was based on a BBC Television series of the same name, written by Eric Maschwitz and produced by Bill Lyon-Shaw, which ran for six 30-minute episodes in 1953.

Tony Owen was an American agent and producer, who was married to Donna Reed.

References

  1. TIMESLIP Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 22, Iss. 252, (Jan 1, 1955): 170.
  2. "BBC Programme Index".
  3. Vagg, Stephen (14 November 2020). "Ken Hughes Forgotten Auteur". Filmink.
  4. Of Local Origin New York Times 27 Jan 1955: 17.
  5. Thomas M. Pryor (20 January 1955). "Metro Will Film Graziano Story: Studio Buys Biography of Middleweight Ex-Champion Who Turned to Acting;". New York Times. p. 35.
  6. Gene Nelson Goes to England to Enact American Reporter Hopper, Hedda. Chicago Daily Tribune 25 Jan 1955: a6.
  7. "Hollywood Production Pulse". Variety. 16 February 1955. p. 15.
  8. Criminals at Large By ANTHONY BOUCHER. New York Times 2 June 1957: 250.
  9. THE BOOK REPORT Kirsch, Robert R. Los Angeles Times 4 June 1957: B5.
  10. "The Atomic Man". TV Guide.
  11. "The Atomic Man (1955) – Ken Hughes | Review". AllMovie.

Bibliography