Odd Little B-Movie (clocks in at less than an hour) from Low-Budget Wunderkind Edward Cahn. There are Enough Bizarre Scenes and the Combination of Post Nuclear Radiation Experiments on Convicts & Gangsters is a Guilty Treat.Not Enough Time or Money to Make the Thing Much More than it is, and that is an Entertaining, Good Looking Programmer that was Actually Quite Early on the Wave of Paranoia About the Bomb's After Effects. It Tries to Spin the Concern Into a Helper of Mankind and that Radiation and the Nuclear Age Could Be a Good Thing. In Reality the Jury was Out and Truth be Told They didn't have a Clue.The Scene that is at the Nucleus, a Murder, Post Radiation Treatment, Makes Robert Shayne Look Like a Bug-Eyed Maniacal Monster and is an Artistic Touch that is Quite Scary. There are Some (Mad) Lab Sets with Goggled Patients, and Some Gangster Activity with a Twist or Two.Overall, Definitely Worth a Watch for its Quirky Plot and the Director's Command of Low-Budgets with an Eye for Sets and Set-Ups.

Flipped to TCM by accident & the opening intrigued me so I recorded it to watch later in evening. Starts w/idea in 50's nobody would believe i.e. that U.S. military would offer 6 extreme-risk felons full parole if they'd be part of an experiment that would most likely kill them. (Today of course, most would accept the idea of a US agency not only risking peoples' lives to achieve some goal & letting five extremely dangerous prisoners go free to cover up some terrible error in the program.As an RN with 30+ yrs. experience I absolutely believed the Where the nurse had to take the fall for the experiment's deadly outcome. (That still happens all the time in even modern times.) I also chuckled when that poor little nurse & hero doctor go to beg the administrator & when they arrive the nurse cheerfully goes off to make coffee while the two doctors confer about how to gave the program. There were some interesting editing oopsies i.e. fights & stunts were filmed from bad angles so one could see how obviously punches were pulled & actors sort of 'fell on command'. The end of the movie's a full page of a magazine or paper proclaiming the main character a hero. If you stop the movie on the frame showing this page you find the same paragraphs repeat throughout the article. Whoever wrote that page didn't read the script, because the first paragraph reads "…following the dramatic turn of events culminating in the murder of a scientist and inventor of a sensational new therapy."The next paragraph readers "Convicts of the state prison had volunteered to take the tests which might mean death to them." That portion of the article alternates repeatedly (starting on top of the next column) with "...was so intent on the success of his experiments that he volunteered to take the tests himself. Death will no doubt delay the progress of the experiments."Of course, in 1950 other than the editors no one had the ability to stop & view a single Frame at a time nor watch a scene in slow- motion to critique it, but that doesn't let them off the hook for failure to catch errors.Despite these minor glitches, this still remains a watchable movie Which starts with an implausible idea & manages to convert it into some rather good plot twists and (in 1950 at least), a surprising ending where the hero's killed (I found myself expecting the hero- doctor had expected to find the bad guy/convict there & prevented being killed) a (fairly) minor character comes to the (experiment's) rescue & risks his own life to save the day.

EXPERIMENT ALCATRAZ (1950) is another in a very long line of ultra-cheap curios from the prodigiously prolific Edward L. Cahn, one of the undisputed "Kings of the Bs." Produced independently and picked up for theatrical distribution by RKO before eventually evaporating into the ethers of obscurity, this murky little gem ranks as one of Cahn's more interesting films.Dr. Ross Williams (John Howard) and his crack team of army physicians are certain that by blasting "radioactive isotopes" into human guinea pigs, medical science will find a cure for a rare blood disease. A group of five Alcatraz lifers are given the opportunity to gain their freedom if they're willing to subject themselves to this hazardous and radical medical experiment. The hardened cons, led by the grizzled Barry Morgan (Robert Shayne, perennial good guy Inspector Henderson on TV's Superman) are quick to play ball without any illusions of altruism; their only interest is getting out of the can and this is clearly the only shot they're ever likely to get. But something goes horribly, weirdly wrong and Morgan winds up murdering one of the other cons in the aftermath of the experiment, throwing Dr. Williams' theory and, for that matter, entire medical career into jeopardy. The resulting mystery surrounding the peculiar events taking place at Alcatraz forms the basis for the remainder of this quirky drama.While perhaps not as sharply drawn as other notable low budget noirs from the late 40s and early 50s, EXPERIMENT ALCATRAZ nevertheless earns its stripes through the sheer weirdness of its far-fetched story and the unexpected detours it takes along the way. At fifty-seven minutes, it can hardly be faulted for overstaying its welcome.Edward L. Cahn had an incredible career in Hollywood, directing countless low budget features over a thirty-year period, including such classics as MAIN STREET AFTER DARK (1945), THE GAS HOUSE KIDS IN Hollywood (1947), DESTINATION MURDER (1950), CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN (1955), GIRLS IN PRISON (1956), SHAKE RATTLE & ROCK (1956), VOODOO WOMAN (1957), MOTORCYCLE GANG (1957), INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN (1957), IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE (1958), RIOT IN JUVENILE PRISON (1959), GUNS, GIRLS & GANGSTERS (1959) and CAGE OF EVIL (1960).

At one hour running time, this couldn't even be considered a "B" movie. I suppose it defines the term programmer. Whatever it is, and however much it cost to produce, I think it's a winner. The legendary director, Eddie Cahn, manages to take an unknown cast and a dime store plot and turn it into a tight little mystery. Cahn, like Bill "One Shot" Beaudine and others were masters at using pocket change to turn out two reelers that are somehow able to capture the viewers attention. The plot, such as it is, involves the Army using radioactive isotopes on convicts from Alcatraz to help find a cure for a mysterious blood disease. (I wonder what the ACLU would have to say about that today). The experiment backfires and the hero begins to smell a rat. With the help of his nurse, his investigation leads to a criminal conspiracy involving the head rat - or the head guinea pig. But enough about that. Ignore the story and the unknown and mostly untalented cast. Enjoy the mystery, the pace, and the trip back to the land of double breasted pinstripe suits, Studebakers, and cliches. I voted 8/10