Robert J. Maxwell A gang of Soviet hoods kidnap the young son of a nuclear physicist with the intention of blackmailing the father into handing over the nuclear farm. They do not succeed.There is some nice location shooting at a reasonably well-preserved Indian community. Aside from that, the film's virtues are negligible. The direction by Jerry Hopper is clumsy and overstated, the performances routine, the musical score out of the suspense-movie library.It isn't that the movie is insulting or offensive in any way. It's just that there's not much of substance there. Even the title, "Atomic City," is misleading. The city is Los Alamos, which was not much of a city, and it happens to be where the scientist, Gene Barry, and his indistinctive family live. The nuclear secrets are hardly touched upon, serving mostly as the engine behind the thriller plot. The MacGuffin could just as easily have been money or the world's largest diamond, except that the Soviet Union was the generic enemy during this period -- Korea being in full bloom at the time.Gene Barry seems fatigued throughout. Millburn Stone as the FBI's chief mahoff is clipped and definitive. Bert Fried as one of the goons rolls around being bad. He does have a good scene, in which he sits in a dark Indian kiva with the kidnapped boy and chats with him, not unkindly. The various FBI agents and all of the women are only blurry characters.One can see the influence, though, of the docudramas of the late 1940s and early 1950s. These were generally narrated by the stentorian Reed Hadley. Here, there is no narration but the movie does illustrate the care taken by the FBI in keeping its secrets carefully hidden. There is also a curious scene in which a Soviet agent is being interrogated. He knows where the boy is hidden but refuses to tell. Gene Barry wants to beat the guy up until he squeals but the FBI prevent him, telling him that physical punishment of a prisoner is forbidden by the rules. It sounds rather quaint in today's interrogation climate.I was kind of looking forward to seeing this. The plot synopsis was attractive. But, alas, there isn't anything that lifts this generic film out of its cradle of mediocrity.

Space_Mafune The young son of nuclear physicist Dr. Frank Addison (Gene Barry) is kidnapped by enemy agents. They offer up his life and well-being in trade for the H-bomb secret knowledge Dr. Addison possesses of America's atomic program.This cold war paranoia thriller is in some ways ahead of its time as many such themed films would get made in the years to come. While it has its moments, maintaining an high level of suspense with regards to the continued safety of Dr. Addison's son Tommy (well played by Lee Aaker) and creating an exciting climax at the end, this disappoints in that it never delves into the negative possibilities associated with the H-bomb secrets falling into enemy hands, an exploration of which I feel would have given this the bite it lacks. Also the villains remain much too colorless and forgettable aside from a chilling sequence where they try and lure the child Tommy out of a cave hideaway. All in all though, it's better than I expected thanks in no small part to a good cast and tight-paced direction.

bkoganbing The Atomic City refers to the community of Los Alamos in New Mexico where nuclear scientists live and work. It's a self contained private community with right security as tight as when it began during World War II. But on a school trip, Lee Aaker son of atomic scientist Gene Barry, is kidnapped and held for ransom for the secret of the newly developed hydrogen bomb.This film was made in 1952 at the time when Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's case was on appeal and front page headlines. So it was a timely film back during the McCarthy era.It's a tightly edited little noir thriller. I recommend it highly as an antique of bygone days.What was amusing to me is the way the FBI is portrayed. In this day and age I'm not sure too many people really care other than for political posturing as to how terrorists are treated. Back then though the FBI had this all American image. They don't do things like torture prisoners. When Leonard Strong one of the kidnappers is nabbed, he laughingly flings the Bill of Rights and the FBI's code of conduct in their faces and won't divulge anything. Then Milburn Stone, the FBI agent takes a break and father Gene Barry goes in with the prisoner alone. Needless to say, Strong coughs up what they need but quick.J.Edgar Hoover was most concerned about the image of his bureau and his agents, so the third degree for the FBI couldn't be shown. Kind of laughable today.

jim riecken (youroldpaljim) In this cold war thriller, Gene Barry plays Frank Addison, an atomic scientist at Los Almos (aka The Atomic City) whose son Tommy is kidnapped by communist agents. The kidnappers demand from Addison that he hand over atomic secrets in exchange for Tommy's safe return. This very effective cold war era espionage thriller used turn up often on late night television in late sixties and early seventies. I missed it then, but got a chance to see it very recently when I found a video copy tucked away in a remote corner of my favorite video store. I found THE ATOMIC CITY to be a tense, exciting thriller of the type they made so well back in the late forties and early fifties. The film moves at a quick pace, most of the cast is good, the black and white photography excellent, and very good use of real locations. One interesting thing I discovered while watching this film is how Los Almos was actually a self contained city, hence the title. The scientists who worked at Los Almos lived in houses inside the secure confines of Los Almos. Los Almos even had its own schools. It is interesting that Tommy is kidnapped when he leaves the secure isolated confines of "The Atomic City" when goes on a school trip.