When I used to see "The Atomic Captive" as a kid, growing up in the early/middle 1960s, its tone was always a bit more dour and no-nonsense than a lot of the surrounding episodes of Adventures of Superman. The whole story, of an Eastern Bloc expatriate scientist, doomed by his exposure to atomic radiation in the course of his work, was a lot more attention grabbing than stories of lumbering robots and eccentric scientists, telepathic burros etc. And the earnestness of all of the performances here recalls those years before the cynicism about the Cold War (caused by the Vietnam War) overtook any serious broaching of the subject. One outstanding aspect of this episode is the presence of Raikin Ben-Ari (1897-1968) as Dr. Ladislav, the doomed scientist -- Ben-Ari was the co-founder of the Moscow Habima Theatre, a Hebrew-language institution, in the immediate wake of the Russian Revolution, and later brought the play The Dybbuk to the United States -- Ben-Ari remained in the US, and became a noted drama teacher on the both coasts, eventually gravitating toward California, where his students included Marlon Brando and Lucille Ball, among other notables. He was far better known in theater than film circles, and his screen appearances were very infrequent.
5 Reviews
A Goofy Spy Story, Complete With Atom Bomb Blast!
ccthemovieman-11 February 2007
Anyone who is my age and older remembers all the atomic bomb scares of the 1950s. This episode goes right along with it, showing a scientist, "Dr. Latislov" (Ben Ari), who had been contaminated and isolated out in the desert. He's a Russian genius who helped invent these nuclear bombs. Two Soviet spies - pretty lame guys, as most crooks were on this show over the years - try to kidnap him, blackmailing him by holding his two sisters back in Russia - but Superman intervenes.
Jimmy and Lois, of course, get wind of the story and go down to interview the scientist themselves. Even though the guy is contaminated, and there is a sign to that effect, Lois and Jimmy just barge in! Also, there are no security people around! Oh, well, none of these stories had any credibility, so you just go along for the ride. Anyway, they try to get the scientist to go with, and get contaminated, of course. The Geiger Counter proves that. "Golly, Miss Lane, I guess we're done for," says Jimmy.
Most of this episode is dull, which is unusual bit it picks up steam the last eight minutes when Jimmy, Lois and the scientist are all driving right in the direction of where an atomic bomb is going to go off in a few minutes! Also, there is a famous Russian spy: Agent X-29 hot on the heels. The spy is about as Russian as I am. What happens? I can't say, but I was shocked that the bomb went off!! But........
I have to say this is one of the most unbelievable finishes I've ever seen!
Jimmy and Lois, of course, get wind of the story and go down to interview the scientist themselves. Even though the guy is contaminated, and there is a sign to that effect, Lois and Jimmy just barge in! Also, there are no security people around! Oh, well, none of these stories had any credibility, so you just go along for the ride. Anyway, they try to get the scientist to go with, and get contaminated, of course. The Geiger Counter proves that. "Golly, Miss Lane, I guess we're done for," says Jimmy.
Most of this episode is dull, which is unusual bit it picks up steam the last eight minutes when Jimmy, Lois and the scientist are all driving right in the direction of where an atomic bomb is going to go off in a few minutes! Also, there is a famous Russian spy: Agent X-29 hot on the heels. The spy is about as Russian as I am. What happens? I can't say, but I was shocked that the bomb went off!! But........
I have to say this is one of the most unbelievable finishes I've ever seen!
A Story of Atomic Consequences
Hitchcoc14 February 2015
A scientist who has been a significant force in the nuclear industry, lives alone in a house in the desert, contaminated by radiation, waiting to die. He is from an unnamed country and a couple of men come to grab him and take him back to this country. Their motives are selfish in that they want to use his nuclear expertise to assist their government. They threaten him by mentioning his two sisters who are still back there. There is to be a bomb test in the desert and the Planet staff has been waiting for seventeen days with no luck. Lois and Jimmy go off half-cocked to see the professor and get themselves contaminated. Meanwhile, the head of the spy organization is after the professor. Everyone finds themselves in the desert as the bomb is about to explode. It's that same bomb footage we've all seen a hundred times. Everything depends on a whistle. Once again, the laws of science are sort of stretched to their utmost limits. But, hey, this is Superman!
Maybe a little too dumb, but maybe so dumb it's good?
sssuperman-dot-com12 September 2015
Even by the standards of the series, this episode almost made my head explode from the sheer stupidity, especially as exhibited by poor Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, who only seem to get more and more hopelessly moronic in later seasons. But even worse than that was the ending - how Superman resolves everything will make you laugh with the sheer idiocy. Maybe that's the strongest point of the episode: it DID make me laugh with how stupid it was, and maybe that's honestly a good thing. It's still dimly disappointing considering this episode actually had a pretty interesting set-up with the spy angle and all that. I can almost imagine how this episode could've been so much more if it had been done in the vein of the black and white eps, i.e. at least TRYING to make sense even if it doesn't always succeed and not just putting in utterly nonsensical things to resolve things or get the plot going. On the other hand, what can I say? Even if it was lessened by the knowledge that it could've been much better than it was, at the end of the day, I did get enjoyment out of it. And a LITTLE of the goodness of what this episode "could've been" shows through...not much, but a little, and that's certainly better than nothing!
Overall, I do sort of recommend it because even though it's kind of horrible, it's horrible in a good way.
Overall, I do sort of recommend it because even though it's kind of horrible, it's horrible in a good way.
It's the '50s!
maggiemeowow25 February 2024
Reviewers are forgetting that when this episode originally aired, school children were hiding under their desks during air-raid drills. This episode may defy logic and science, but Superman saved the day and that's all that mattered. As one of those baby boomers who lived through those scary times, we just enjoyed thinking that we would be protected. Ben Ari who played Dr. Latislov was a giant in the theater. It was funny to me as a kid that he couldn't manage a whistle when he needed it most. Everyone watching was whistling their heads off. The Adventures of Superman required a suspension of belief and the young viewers knew that and didn't care. We just loved the show.
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