The Atomic Kid

What better way to start a movie and grab your audience's attention than with a nuclear blast? THE ATOMIC KID does just that, arriving in movie theatres and drive-ins at the height of cold war fever and Joe McCarthy looking for communists everywhere. How many card carrying members' names did 'Tail-gunner Joe' have inside that well worn briefcase? Anyway, Mickey Rooney stars as Blix Waterberry, the man who survives an atomic explosion at Ground Zero, located in a remote area of Nevada. Above ground testing of atomic and hydrogen bombs were standard operating procedure during the 1950's as long as the detonations were far removed from any populated areas. Still, the sight of military personnel gazing at the blast wearing 'protective' eye goggles in a fully exposed trench just a few miles away is quite hard to forget. A full fifteen seconds after the mushroom cloud ominously rises, the "All Clear" is sounded and the soldiers move briskly toward the bomb site.

Mickey Rooney as 'Blix' emerges as the human remnant of the test house designed to prove what would happen to a prefab structure against a nuclear explosion. Blix is really none the worse for wear, a bit singed from head to foot and wisps of smoke swirling from his hair. The only immediate side effect is a speech abnormality causing him to speak like audio tape on fast forward. Thankfully, this is temporary. He is also holding on to a peanut butter sandwich which is still intact, just a bit on the toasted side.

The plot then gravitates to 'Blix' undergoing a battery of tests by the military and scientists. The love interest is filled by comely Elaine Davis (then wife #4 to Mickey Rooney) who portrays a nurse at the hospital where 'Blix' is being held for observation. Miss Davis' (aka Elaine Devry) most memorable on screen moments occur with a series of appealing smirks directed at Blix. She does light up the screen when it's lights down low for some pitch and woo in the parlor with THE ATOMIC KID. Or maybe it's because Blix becomes phosphorescent, as he's all hot and bothered after a smooch from his after hours nurse. Miss Davis would parlay those sexy smirks as well as her hour-glass figure into a lucrative motion picture and television career.

Robert Strauss is ideal as 'Stan Cooper', burly best friend to Blix and always with an eye to get rich quick. This is where cold war spy antics become involved as an unnamed foreign country (presumably the Soviet Union) tries to get to Blix through Stan offering him instant wealth for instant pictures of THE ATOMIC KID. Strauss is hilarious as the unknowing dupe to Peter Brocco, the spy in the gray flannel suit.

The Saturday matinée atmosphere gives itself away throughout this flick. One can easily imagine this as a perfect vehicle for Abbott & Costello or, perhaps, Martin & Lewis. Jerry could easily play it over the top as the radio-active kid and Dino would play it straight when not crooning his velvet voice toward Elaine Davis.

With a competent supporting cast including Hal March as an FBI agent and Whit Bissell as Dr. Edgar Panghorn, THE ATOMIC KID is the brainchild of none other than Blake Edwards. Directed by Leslie H. Martinson in his first foray behind the camera, (he would later helm vehicles as diverse as P.T. 109 and BATMAN with Adam West) THE ATOMIC KID is worth a peak just before you 'Duck and Cover.'

This movie would come on tv a lot during school holidays in the 1960's. i saw it countless times and i still think it is one of the funniest movies i have ever seen. brilliant comedy. well written and acted. definitely fun from start to finish.

'Blix' Waterberry (Mickey Rooney) and Stan Cooper (Robert Strauss), a couple of uranium prospectors lost in the Nevada desert, wander into an experimental house at ground zero of an atom bomb test. Despite hiding in the closet, Blix is exposed to the full force of the nuclear blast but miraculously survives, emerging radioactive and manifesting odd abilities. Made in the early years of the cold war, this was one of the first 'atomic comedies' and a typical example of a Hollywood 'radiation can do anything' plot-line. Blix is 'hot' enough to glow in the dark and fog film but even the scientists don't seem worried that he might sterilise (or induce cancer in) anyone he stands near. The 'living chain-reaction' wears a Geiger-counter wrist-watch that clicks when his 'neutrons' become temporarily exited (by kissing a pretty girl for example), his proximity causes slot-machines to 'jackpot', and his arms function as radio antenna. All of this nonsense is played strictly for laughs in Blake Edward's simplistic screenplay but even to contemporary audiences the premise must have seemed a bit ridiculous ("...far-fetched and forced" according to Variety's Dec 8, 1954 review). Rooney mugs it up in a typical 'lovable sucker' role, rough-voiced Strauss is fine as his conniving buddy/manager and Elaine Devry (one of serial-groom Rooney's many brides) is pretty as Blix's nurse-love-interest Audrey (another cookie-cutter role). The first half of the film, up until Blix 'escapes' from the hospital, is moderately amusing but the casino scenes with Audrey are just silly and there is a tacked-on 'espionage' sub-plot so Strauss has something to do when producer Rooney is not on screen. Clearly writer Edwards ran out of ideas as the down-hill slide of the story ends abruptly and inexplicably, setting up one last predictable gag. Silly but topical at the time of release, now just silly.

This is an enjoyable little programmer from the early 1950s. Mickey Rooney (the #1 box office draw in the late 1930s and early 1940s) was no longer an A list star, and was hardly a "kid" at 34. The breezy plot, with it's sci-fi/comedy blend, along with Rooney and Strauss having an abundance of charisma, make this a great waste of time. If you enjoy the Bowery Boys, Francis The Talking Mule (Rooney actually starred in the final 'Francis' film) and The Ma & Pa Kettle series, this should be right up your alley! Rooney and Strauss have a great chemistry, and they clearly could have thrived as a defacto comedy team in a few more pictures. You may have a hard time locating this film, but for a few dollars, it's well worth it!

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Mickey Rooney and Robert Strauss star in a comedy. A peanut butter sandwich seemingly preserves the life of a poor guy at ground zero during a nuclear test.

This is an unlikely choice of subject matter for light comedy, without the acerbic attitude of a daring movie like Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove".

Director Leslie Martinson is associated with directing for television, but his movie "Fathom" is not just entertaining but one of the crucial early starring features that helped put Raquel Welch on the cinema map forever.

"The Atomic Kid" was based on a story written by Blake Edwards, and produced by Rooney, whose leading lady was played by his wife Elaine Devry.