Edward L. Cahn (1899-1963) was an extremely prolific B movie director who cranked out 128 films from 1931-1962 (that’s an average of 4 films a year). He began by making several OUR GANG / LITTLE RASCALS comedies for MGM before moving on to B movie features in the 1940s. He covered the basic B movie genres (Western, Crime/Noir, War, Horror) with the occasional comedy or low rent musical thrown in for good measure. Between 1955 and 1962 he made the 10 Horror/Sci-FI movies (that’s out of 49 total movies during that 7 year period) on which his reputation today primarily rests. Cahn delivered more bang for the buck due to his skills as a film editor which made his movies interesting to watch and at an average of 70 minutes, they rarely wore out their welcome.
CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN (1955) was the first of two pictures that Cahn made for legendary low budget producer Sam Katzman known throughout Hollywood as “Jungle Sam” because of his many backlot settings. Radioactivity and atomic energy were everywhere in the mid 1950s so Katzman, ever the trend follower, decided to make a picture that would incorporate it into one of the major staples of B movie filmmaking, the crime picture. This makes ATOM BRAIN the first and possibly the only Sci-Fi/Noir movie ever made. It works thanks to an improbable script played straight and low-key performances with no hint of tongue-in-cheek. Director Cahn moves things along at his usual brisk pace (69 min.) and creates some interesting visuals along the way.
The cast is led by B movie veteran and sci-fi specialist Richard Denning who had just come from CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. He gives his usual solid, if somewhat detached, performance as the hero who tries to solve a series of “impossible” killings committed by dead men with incredible strength. The only other familiar face belongs to S. John Launer (one of my wife’s favorite actors) who is best remembered for portraying a judge on several episodes of PERRY MASON. The rest of the cast consists of B movie contract players who wound up doing most of their work in 1950s and 60s television. The one exception is Russian born actor Gregory Gay who plays the German scientist. He began acting in movies in the 1930s and continued working through 1979.
An ex-patriate mobster, illegally back in the U.S. and a German scientist create a group of atomic powered cadavers to carry out the gangster’s obsessive quest for revenge against those responsible for his deportation. An intrepid police doctor, his boss, and his cohorts work to stop them before they kill the remaining witnesses, take over the city and…perhaps…the world (there’s lots of stock footage of disasters that occur on land, sea, and in the air). The doctor must also protect his wife and young daughter after the mobster decides to go after him. Needless to say, without giving too much away, everything works out. After all, this is the 1950s and a B movie to boot so good always triumphs over evil in the last 10 minutes. This low budget nonsense is actually great fun.
The Capsule Critic 