Ken Hughes directed five feature films and two short films in 1955, and this is one of the features. It is a superior B picture with the female B star, Faith Domergue, she of the big soulful brown eyes. The story and screenplay are by Charles Eric Maine, and he has written a good yarn. Some of the ideas for the technical background are mentioned in passing, and they concern a scientist named Stephen Rayner who works for the Atomic Energy authorities. He has learned how to achieve the alchemical transmutation of elements in order to produce tungsten in the laboratory from cheap materials. This threatens the interests of the United Tungsten Corporation of Argentina, which controls two thirds of the world's tungsten supply, so they have another scientist's face transformed by plastic surgery to replace Rayner, and the film starts with Rayner being shot one night and falling into the Thames. He miraculously survives but is in a coma for some time while everyone is trying to figure out what happened. After he is identified, the police are puzzled because his employers say he is at work in his lab. Something strange has also happened to him because he has undergone a slight forward time-shift of 7.5 seconds due to exposure to radiation, so he answers questions put to him before they are asked. When the police and others finally figure out why his interviews don't make any sense, because the answer to each question is really to one that will be asked next, they then begin to piece together his story. The film is very intriguing and entertaining, despite being low budget. The hints of escaped corrupt Nazis in Argentina who will kill anyone who gets in their way were well understood in 1955, only ten years after the War. The film's original release title was TIMESLIP, and it is under that title that the DVD is now once again available. As another reviewer says, this is not really a sci fi film but is an industrial espionage thriller with some intriguing sci fi background elements which are significantly under-developed. Both the timeslip angle and the tungsten angle could have been much better developed and turned into a much stronger film. As it is, the film is rather mediocre.

What a concept...he slipped in time!!While The Atomic Man is not purely 50's sci-fi, as mentioned in other reviews, it does provide enough interesting plot twists and thrills to keep you guessing until the end. Definitely worth a watch for fans of the genre. I am proud to have this little seen gem in my collection. Nice story, creepy atmosphere, good acting and a great score make this one worthwhile!!Also recommended for fans of little seen 50's type sci-fi are Mutiny in Outer Space, Satellite in the Sky, On the Threshold of Space, The Magnetic Monster and Riders to the Stars.

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.

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.