Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961)

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

***SPOILERS*** What's seems like a combination of the movies "Indistructable Man" and "The Beast of Yucca Flat" the movie "The Most Dangerous Man Alive" has convicted murderer Eddie Candell, Ron Randell,escape from his trip to the San Quentin gas chamber when his ride, an armored car, taking him there overturns and he makes his way into the Nevada Desert. It just happened that a nuclear test is being conducted there and Candell runs or walks right into it! Surviving the nuclear blast Candell is somehow turned into a man of steel where his cells turn into iron and in a way makes the guy indestructible. We soon find out that Candell was innocent of the murder he was convicted of but framed by fellow mobster Andy Damon, Anthony Caruso and Randell's two timing girlfriend Linda Marlow, Debra Paget. Knowning that he hasn't long to live with his steel body eventually turning to rust Candell is now determined to make the two pay for what they did to him! Even if he has to destroy the entire state of California to do it!We get to see Candell slowly go murderously insane as he realizes he'll never be normal or human again. Candell takes out his frustrations on his fellow mobsters who set him up and sold him down the river. While doing that he get his girlfriend, not Linda who sold him out, the revenging beautiful Carla Angelo, Elaine Stewart, to help him find a cure for his illness, turning to steel, by getting in touch with Dr. Meeks, Tuder Owen, the man responsible for the nuclear blast that deformed him! It's his attempt to bring in alive mobster Andy Damon that sets off Candell's timetable in Damon and his hoods, whoever were still left after Candell offed them, doing everything to destroy him before he gets to them.***SPOLIERS*** It's the California National Guard together with the LAPD lead by Captain Davis played by, this was a drop down in rank for him, the legendary Eternal Colonel Morris Ankrum that finally put an end to Candell's wild rampage. But before he was pulverized by artillery small and heavy arms fire as well as blasted by some half dozen flame throwers Crandell finally redeemed and exonerated himself from the murder that he was falsely accused and convicted of. But by doing that he must have killed more then a dozen men on his way for him to archive that.

Mainly notable as prolific director Dwan's swan-song (and his tenth film for producer Benedict Bogeaus), this also happened to be his sole genre foray. Plot-wise, it recalls the recently-viewed 4D MAN (1959) and, even more so, Edgar G. Ulmer's similarly cheapskate hybrid of noir and sci-fi/horror THE AMAZING TRANSPARENT MAN (1960); interestingly, then, its having a man pursue those who framed him after undergoing an unwitting metamorphosis looks back to THE MONSTER AND THE GIRL (1941; also watched as part of the ongoing Halloween Horror challenge) while the device of an electrical booby-trap was seen too in HOUSE OF MYSTERY (1961; ditto). It is well-served by a good cast: Ron Randell (the cop on the trail of THE SHE-CREATURE [1956]) has the title role; Anthony Caruso (from PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE [1954] – see review above) is his double-crossing nemesis; Morris Ankrum (I just saw him in BEGINNING OF THE END [1957]) is, typically, a figure of authority; and we get two lovely leading ladies in Debra Paget and Elaine Stewart, as femme fatale and good-girl type respectively. The film, of course, tackles the predominant concern of the era – nuclear paranoia – as escaped death-row convict Randell turns up on a test site but miraculously survives a blast, only to have his flesh slowly evolve into a literally steely exterior…which then comes in handy on his relentless payback mission, when he proves impervious to most kinds of weapons his enemies (and the pursuing Military and Police) can throw at him! Ultimately, he expires after being torched alive by a couple of flame-throwers: Stewart (who accompanies him most of the way as does a tied-up Paget) has to be forcibly removed from his side; poignantly, just prior to the final onslaught, his body temperature – by this point, icy cold – had begun to decrease (suggesting that, in the clash between human and machine that his shell had become, the former could still have taken the upper hand eventually)! Unfortunately, the ultra low-budget works against the film (in the copy I acquired, the exteriors are way too dark): I do not usually condone remakes (as many here know full well) but, watching this, I could not help feeling how effective the alterations in Randell's body (virtually inexistent here, though we do get to see a couple of mutant animals and plants) would have been depicted were this made 20 years later; ditto, his demise would have turned into something much more elaborate than mere sprayed cinders on a patch of land! Despite some lapses in continuity (when the supposedly police-guarded Stewart is seemingly effortlessly abducted by Caruso and his thugs), I would definitely contend that MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE is still vastly preferable to Shinya Tsukamoto's insufferably grungy TETSUO (1989-92) movies.

The Most Dangerous Man Alive is a good sci-fi/gangster picture and I've seen this a couple of times.Gangster Eddie Candell becomes indestructible after being caught up in an atomic bomb test that should have killed him. He now has steel in him which makes him very strong too. Police now want him dead more than ever as he is even more dangerous but a scientist wants him alive as he is a unique specimen and wants to do tests on him. He has two women on the go and he kidnaps one of these. Police eventually catch up with him though and he is killed by flame throwers at the end and turns into a pile of ash.This movie has echoes of The Indestructible Man and the 1950's already had men exposed to radiation shrinking and turning into giants. Typical of the Atomic Age is this.The cast includes Ron Randell, Debra Paget (The Haunted Palace), sci-fi regular Morris Ankrum (Invaders From Mars, Giant From the Unknown), Elaine Stewart and Tuder Owen.The Most Dangerous Man Alive is quite an obscure movie and my copy is from the Sci-Fi Channel, which a mate taped for me as I don't have this. A treat.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

The Most Dangerous Man Alive caught my interest, because it was based on an original story (co-written) by horror film alumnist (& Australian native) Michael Pate; better known for his work as an actor in The Strange Door, Curse of the Undead and Tower of London(1962).Slow moving at first, Most Dangerous Man picks up steam and is a better than average blend of hoodlums, fast cars, loose women & sci-fi. Australian born actor Ron Randell is believable as a radioactive freak of nature who is bent on re-establishing relationships with his women & setting the record straight with his one time gangster "friends". The tough guy treatment of women in Dangerous Man Alive and Randell's "romance" with Debra Paget goes beyond the typical 1950's screaming "scared" teenagers. However any potential shown is eventually thwarted by a low budget. I don't care. Most Dangerous Man Alive is nostalgic fun, boasts some mean looking thugs like Anthony Caruso & is reminiscent of films like The Indestructible Man & Man-Made Monster, but packs its own punch as a solid B picture of the 1960's. It's rarely telecast & is well worth a look or two!