Experimento en Alcatraz

At one hour running time, this couldn't even be considered a "B" movie. I suppose it defines the term programmer. Whatever it is, and however much it cost to produce, I think it's a winner. The legendary director, Eddie Cahn, manages to take an unknown cast and a dime store plot and turn it into a tight little mystery. Cahn, like Bill "One Shot" Beaudine and others were masters at using pocket change to turn out two reelers that are somehow able to capture the viewers attention. The plot, such as it is, involves the Army using radioactive isotopes on convicts from Alcatraz to help find a cure for a mysterious blood disease. (I wonder what the ACLU would have to say about that today). The experiment backfires and the hero begins to smell a rat. With the help of his nurse, his investigation leads to a criminal conspiracy involving the head rat - or the head guinea pig. But enough about that. Ignore the story and the unknown and mostly untalented cast. Enjoy the mystery, the pace, and the trip back to the land of double breasted pinstripe suits, Studebakers, and cliches. I voted 8/10

An intriguing crime story with radiation as the plot's pivotal element. A group of Alcatraz convicts volunteer to be guinea pigs in an experiment seeking to find a cure for a blood disease (apparently related to leukemia). The convicts led by Robert Shayne (the old Superman TV show's Inspector Henderson) are only interested in gaining their freedom. The unexpected effect the radiation has on one prisoner subject leads a doctor and a nurse into a dangerous investigation which is their only hope to salvage their now damaged careers. The current negative attitude towards radiation adds an ironic counterpoint to the protagonists' noble desire to cure said blood disease, which incidentally has infected the nurse's brother. Good atmosphere and a taut narrative make this B picture worth watching.

... and in a good way! The direction is rather wooden, but the acting surprised me with pretty good and authentic performances from an almost anonymous cast.

The story has to do with some prisoners from Alcatraz volunteering for a medical experiment that involves receiving large doses of radiation. If the volunteers survive, then they are promised their freedom. Question unanswered - yeah, but what good does it do to radiate these guys since they don't have the blood disease for which this treatment is a cure? Well, don't expect every loophole to be closed in these old programmers.

Then unexpected tragedy as a pair of scissors slips out of the apron of one of the military nurses who is making rounds in the ward and on to the bed of convict Barry Morgan who seizes the scissors and stabs convict Eddie Ganz through the heart, killing him. Morgan and Ganz were friends, and Morgan does not remember doing what he did. Well, a deal is a deal and Morgan is set free along with the other convicts. But since the radiation is the culprit in the killing the experiment is terminated immediately. Also, the careers of the doctor whose idea this was (John Howard as Dr. Ross Williams) and the nurse who dropped the scissors (Joan Dixon as Lt. Joan McKenna) are over. McKenna has a brother with the fatal blood disease and was hoping the experiment would be a first step toward a cure.

So Dr. Williams and Lt. Joan McKenna decide to do some investigating into Ganz' and Morgan's friendship and see if they can find out if this was truly the fault of the experiment, or was it something else? This leads them into mob filled night spots, Italian restaurants where the waiter is insulted if you don't finish the calimari, an old dark house, and to a convict who is just nutty about post cards.

This film picks up a trick from other B noirs/crime dramas/mysteries of the time. If your plot is thin and has some holes, just keep moving from scene to scene and fill your film with interesting off-beat characters. Even if you do have the doctor doing silly things like continually ducking into a phone booth to ask "Have they scheduled the destruction of the isotope yet??" like he is checking on the execution of a death row inmate.

This one is an original and not a bad way to spend an hour. I'd recommend it.

Experiment Alcatraz (1950)

** (out of 4)

John Howard plays one of a group of scientists who gather some criminals off of Alcatraz and offer them their freedom if they'll take part in an atomic experiment. Before this is carried off one of the men murders another but a nurse ends up taking the fall for it. Howard and the nurse end up teaming up to try and find out what really happened and why. I can't say this "B" film is a good one but it's certainly weird enough to warrant at least one viewing. I'm really not sure what the point of this film was and I can't say that I fully understood the story but director Cahn at least keeps the thing moving and it clocks in at a short 57-minutes. The actual story is far-fetched but I thought it was rather funny at how serious everyone was taking it. Howard is pretty good in his role as is Robert Shayne in his supporting part. The one scene that will always stick out in my mind is the most laughable fight I've seen in perhaps any movie. The convicts are working when a couple slow motion punches are thrown, which eventually leads to one man getting shot. Now, I'm really not sure if the filmmakers used an outtake or what but I'm trying to figure out why the sequence was shown in a slow motion. The actual camera speed wasn't slowed but the actor are just playing it out in slow motion. After the film I actually went back to watch this sequence a couple times and this thing alone almost makes me recommend the film.

EXPERIMENT ALCATRAZ (1950) is another in a very long line of ultra-cheap curios from the prodigiously prolific Edward L. Cahn, one of the undisputed "Kings of the Bs." Produced independently and picked up for theatrical distribution by RKO before eventually evaporating into the ethers of obscurity, this murky little gem ranks as one of Cahn's more interesting films.

Dr. Ross Williams (John Howard) and his crack team of army physicians are certain that by blasting "radioactive isotopes" into human guinea pigs, medical science will find a cure for a rare blood disease. A group of five Alcatraz lifers are given the opportunity to gain their freedom if they're willing to subject themselves to this hazardous and radical medical experiment. The hardened cons, led by the grizzled Barry Morgan (Robert Shayne, perennial good guy Inspector Henderson on TV's Superman) are quick to play ball without any illusions of altruism; their only interest is getting out of the can and this is clearly the only shot they're ever likely to get. But something goes horribly, weirdly wrong and Morgan winds up murdering one of the other cons in the aftermath of the experiment, throwing Dr. Williams' theory and, for that matter, entire medical career into jeopardy. The resulting mystery surrounding the peculiar events taking place at Alcatraz forms the basis for the remainder of this quirky drama.

While perhaps not as sharply drawn as other notable low budget noirs from the late 40s and early 50s, EXPERIMENT ALCATRAZ nevertheless earns its stripes through the sheer weirdness of its far-fetched story and the unexpected detours it takes along the way. At fifty-seven minutes, it can hardly be faulted for overstaying its welcome.

Edward L. Cahn had an incredible career in Hollywood, directing countless low budget features over a thirty-year period, including such classics as MAIN STREET AFTER DARK (1945), THE GAS HOUSE KIDS IN Hollywood (1947), DESTINATION MURDER (1950), CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN (1955), GIRLS IN PRISON (1956), SHAKE RATTLE & ROCK (1956), VOODOO WOMAN (1957), MOTORCYCLE GANG (1957), INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN (1957), IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE (1958), RIOT IN JUVENILE PRISON (1959), GUNS, GIRLS & GANGSTERS (1959) and CAGE OF EVIL (1960).