Timeslip (1955 film)

Timeslip
Timeslip
	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
Cinematography	A. 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)
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Timeslip (U.S. title The Atomic Man) 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 [1953].^[1]

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

Gene Nelson as Mike Delaney
Faith Domergue as Jill Robowski
Peter Arne as Dr. Stephen Rayner/Jarvis
Joseph Tomelty as Detective Inspector Cleary
Donald Gray as Robert Maitland
Vic Perry as Emmanuel Vasquo
Paul Hardtmuth as Dr. Bressler
Martin Wyldeck as Dr. Preston
Leonard Williams as Detective Sergeant Haines
Charles Hawtrey as office boy

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,^[2] 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.^[3]

The film was partially funded by its UK distributor Anglo-Amalgamated.^[4] It was a production of Todon Productions, the American company, although they are not credited.^[5] Star Gene Nelson had been in two musicals, So This Is Paris and Oklahoma!, and this was his first serious dramatic lead.^[6] He was reportedly cast after Tony Owen of Todon saw Nelson on an episode of Studio One.^[7]

Filming started in England on 4 February 1955. It was shot at Merton Park Studios.^[8]

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".^[9] The Los Angeles Times called it "near perfect entertainment for the radioactive age."^[10]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Quite a creditable addition to the British school of 'scientific' thrillers. As in his recent The Brain Machine [1956], Ken Hughes' direction is brisk and assured, although he has not here been very well served by the script; the scenes of light relief in particular are somewhat tame. Tension is well sustained in the first half of the film, but later there are rather an overwhelming number of revelations and interest flags as a result of a too sudden onrush of events. Timeslip scores over some of its predecessors, though, in its handling of minor characters, notably in the hospital sequences. Gene Nelson gives a good-humoured performance as the reporter, and Faith Domergue partners him quite competently."^[11]

TV Guide called it a "dumb movie with an interesting premise."^[12]

AllMovie 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."^[13]

References

^ "Timeslip". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
^ "Time Slip". BBC Programme Index. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
^ "BBC Programme Index".
^ Vagg, Stephen (14 November 2020). "Ken Hughes Forgotten Auteur". Filmink.
^ Of Local Origin New York Times 27 Jan 1955: 17.
^ 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.
^ Gene Nelson Goes to England to Enact American Reporter Hopper, Hedda. Chicago Daily Tribune 25 Jan 1955: a6.
^ "Hollywood Production Pulse". Variety. 16 February 1955. p. 15.
^ Criminals at Large By ANTHONY BOUCHER. New York Times 2 June 1957: 250.
^ THE BOOK REPORT Kirsch, Robert R. Los Angeles Times 4 June 1957: B5.
^ "Timeslip". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 22 (252): 170. 1 January 1955 – via ProQuest.
^ "The Atomic Man". TV Guide.
^ "The Atomic Man (1955) – Ken Hughes | Review". AllMovie.

Bibliography

Warren, Bill. Keep Watching the Skies: American Science Fiction Films of the Fifties, 21st Century Edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009 (First Edition 1982). ISBN 0-89950-032-3.