The Atomic Kid

Robert Strauss was a remarkably memorable character actor. Although he looked physically threatening, he actually played comic roles more frequently than villains (and if he played a convict or a hood, it was usually for comic affect). His great breakout part was in STALAG 17, when he was the Betty Grable loving P.O.W. "Animal", who had a memorable (and ultimately sad) moment dancing while drunk with Harvey Lembeck in a "blond wig". But after STALAG 17 there was no comparable role to build on. His next film with Billy Wilder would be as the lecherous building superintendent in THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH. But it was ultimately easy and hard to cast him. Easy in supporting bit parts, but hard to find roles he really deserved.

I consider THE ATOMIC KID the nearest Strauss got to a true leading part. It was made one year after STALAG 17, so his name recognition was still high. And he was teamed with another sure fire box office draw (though slightly faded in 1954), Mickey Rooney. Rooney as a leading draw peaked in the 1940s in his series with Lewis Stone about the Hardy Family. But he was always a capable and entertaining performer, and he and Strauss work well together as a team.

THE ATOMIC KID could easily have been an Abbott and Costello property. The two leads are looking for uranium in the desert, and they have car problems. They find a deserted house, and Rooney stays in it while Strauss goes trying to get help for their car. Rooney finds the larder of the house well stocked with provisions, and makes himself a peanut butter sandwich or two while he waits. Then hell breaks loose - the house is a faked house (though if faked why does it have furniture and food in it) and is at ground zero for an atomic blast site. It is hit, but Rooney survives.

He becomes a national sensation - the first known human being to survive an atomic blast at it's metric center, untouched. Why? Was it the diet of peanut butter sandwiches? One can see Lou Costello in such a role (although he might have insisted the sandwich be a pastrami sandwich), and Strauss replaced by Abbott. Like Bud, Robert always sees the big picture - the money to be made in marketing the celebrity of his friend the survivor. And he soon has all sorts of contracts being signed by Mickey (as Bud would have had Lou sign them) for endorsements - like peanut butter brands. Between this and the constant testing by the government, Rooney has time for little else - although he soon is romancing his nurse, Elaine Davis. However, soon the FBI (Hal March) is aware of another interested party: the Russians have sent an agent to try to discover Rooney's immunity secret.

As a shot at the marketing of modern celebrity in America (think now of Paris Hilton, Marilu Rettin, or George Foreman), THE ATOMIC KID is on target as much as it's contemporary Judy Holiday film, IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU. As a piece of amusing whimsy, it does proud for both Rooney and Strauss (who, despite his crass greed, does show his loyal friendship to Rooney when the latter is endangered). But it is the business of cold war paranoia in the film's background that is fascinating.

I reviewed, some time ago, a contemporary English comedy called YOU KNOW WHAT SAILORS ARE. It too dealt with the fear of nuclear annihilation in the 1950s, and how the public wished it away. There it was "demolished" when Akim Tamiroff and a friendly scientist concocted a scheme to convince the Russians that a make-shift gizmo (that really did not do anything) could demolish nuclear missiles upon take off. Here it is the survival of Rooney, apparently by eating peanut butter. Peanut butter would not be served as well again as a diet treat or power source until Jim Henson's Muppet, "the Great Mumford" would invent his magic catch phrase "a la peanut butter sandwiches" on Sesame Street. Would that something as tasty and satisfying as peanut butter could protect us all from nuclear destruction. It probably could not. Even, in the end, the scientists studying Rooney are not able to say why he survived.

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!

'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.

During the 1950s, there were a ton of films done about horrible monsters unleashed by dreaded nuclear radiation. The Japanese had their Godzilla-type films and here in the States we had giant bugs and Blix Waterberry! What or who is Blix Waterberry? He's a guy played by Mickey Rooney who just happened to survive a blast near ground zero!! And, unlike these nuclear horror films, this is a comedy about nuclear radiation!

When the film begins, Blix (Rooney) and his friend Stan (Robert Strauss) are lost for several days in the desert while prospecting for uranium. Their spirits rise considerably when they find a lone house in the middle of no where and they assume their problems are over...though they are only about to get much worse. The house turns out to be filled with dummies and the two guys think it's some sort of model house for a new community...little do they know it was built for a nuclear test to examine the effects of the blast on the building! And, to make it MUCH worse, the bomb will soon be detonated. Fortunately for Stan, he leaves the place in a car he finds and is just out of harm's way when the explosion occurs. As for Blix, he takes the brunt of it...and the military folks are AMAZED to find him alive and apparently well...though thoroughly soaked in radioactivity. What's next? Will he grow into a giant menace to society? Will he grow extra limbs? Will he be called to Japan to take on Rodan?! No...he'll have commie spies after him as well as Stan!

I agree with one reviewer who said this easily could have been an Abbott & Costello or Martin & Lewis film. It's entertaining and fun...not the type thing that will change your life but you will have a nice time seeing it despite it being anything but subtle!

This film is a Mickey Rooney production and the nurse, Audrey, is actually played by Rooney's fourth wife, Elaine.

You have seen several movies where one wanders innocently into testing grounds. Remember "No Time for Sergeants?" Alternatively, "The Power" with George Hamilton?

Well, Blix (Mickey Rooney) comes upon a house where the occupants are real dummies. Not realizing the significance, he proceeds to consume a peanut butter sandwich. The unthinkable happens. But what is this? Blix is still alive and now takes on a glowing complexion. A quasi-love interest appears in the hospital with (Elaine Davis). Then come the FBI and spies. Eventually, there is déjà vu.

There must be something here as it is a story by Blake Edwards.