Timeslip (1955)

There are some cool ideas in this atomic-powered British B-movie. A guy with a bullet wound is found alive in the Thames river. A feisty American reporter (Gene Nelson) recognizes him as a well-known nuclear scientist. First problem: it turns out that he’s an exact double of that scientist, who seems healthy, albeit with some curious bandages on his face. Second problem: the wounded man mostly babbles incoherent statements AND anytime anyone tries to photograph him there’s always a strange, distorting light around him in the picture. The plot thickens when the reporter’s girlfriend (Faith Domergue) figures out that the wounded man isn’t answering the police’s questions when they ask them. No, he’s answering their NEXT question, from the future. Seven seconds in the future, to be exact. It’s a nice little mystery set up here. Too bad the director is Ken Hughes, who previously yawned his way through the 1954 film, Heat Wave (an adaptation of his own novel) and continues that style here. It’s a film paced like a dripping faucet. It also reaches for bad comic relief just when we need it least. He comes alive for the climax, which is pretty good, but not enough. The American title is The Atomic Man.