4D Man

Plot

James Congdon plays Tony Nelson, a brilliant but foolhardy young scientist who is experimenting with matter and its relationship to time and space. Using a specially designed amplifier, he thinks he has found a way of releasing matter from the time and space that it occupies, thus allowing its atoms to freely intermingle with any surrounding matter without losing its integrity. After accidentally destroying the lab where he is working, he goes to his older brother Scott (Robert Lansing) for help. Scott is even more brilliant than Tony, but is his opposite in every other way: very orthodox, highly respected in his field, and also horribly overworked in his job and responsibilities. The two also have a fiercely competitive relationship that becomes more strained when Tony develops an attraction to Linda Davis (Lee Meriwether), Scott's fiancée. In testing Tony's equipment, Scott gets the experiment to work, passing one object through another, and achieves much more; his own hand accidentally passes through one of the test objects, gets caught, and then released. When he tries to repeat the experiment for Tony, he again passes his hand through the test object, and then discovers that the amplifier isn't functioning properly; the power to move into 4D is now being channeled through his own brain. He can pass through any solid object at will, and the previously staid, stolid scientist is uncharacteristically exultant at this success, though it seems to nullify the project he has spent years working on, the development of a supposedly impenetrable substance. Possessing this power causes Scott's basest desires to emerge for the first time; he starts out by going on a robbery spree, passing through locked bank vaults and stealing the financial reward that has been denied him in his job. The truly dire consequences of his new-found powers emerge the next morning, however, when Scott awakens to discover that he looks and feels at least 15 years older; apparently, using his new ability to move into 4D drains his life force. Worse yet, he discovers that he can replenish his life energy, but only by passing himself through people; this contact restores him, but accelerates their aging so that they shrivel up and die in seconds. Scott is riven by the struggle between his basic decency and his desire to survive, coupled with his now unbridled lust and greed, and the body count keeps rising as he rampages through the city. The police are unable to stop him, and Tony, feeling more responsibility than he's ever displayed before, prepares to turn the 4D amplifier on himself so that he can battle his brother. It is Linda, however, who takes the ultimate risk, luring Scott back to normal one last time. The story is exciting (albeit a bit grim) and played in a lively fashion, and the careful use of Ralph Carmichael's jazz-based score to accent the action also helps set 4D Man apart from other science fiction films of the era. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Review

4D Man was the second feature film made by producer Jack H. Harris and director Irvin S. Yeaworth, who had previously given us The Blob. In many respects, it's a better made and more exciting film than The Blob, though not remotely as important or influential as a pop culture artifact. 4D Man is a fine little sci-fi genre film with horror elements, but it doesn't offer anything as tantalizing as The Blob's unexpected genre-bending elements of teen exploitation and rock & roll. The movie was actually written with Steve McQueen in mind as the star; when he signed the contract to star in The Blob in 1957, the actor had agreed to do a second film for Harris, and the producer had hoped to use him in 4D Man. But by 1959, McQueen's career was on its way and he was out of Harris' reach; and it is difficult to say, watching the movie, whether McQueen would have been better suited to the role of Scott, the serious but stricken scientist, or Tony, the rebel genius. In any case, Harris got Robert Lansing, then an up-and-coming New York actor, to play Scott; James Congdon to portray Tony; and Lee Meriwether, who was just starting an acting career after a stint as Miss America, to play Linda. The other talent, mostly New York-based, included Robert Strauss, Edgar Stehli, and a young Patty Duke. Also aboard are some of the same actors from the Hedgerow Theater company in Pennsylvania who had worked in The Blob, including George Karas and John Benson, and the Hedgerow company's legendary founder, Jasper Deeter (in a bigger role than he had in The Blob). The movie plays like an updated version of a vampire tale, Scott's killing of people by the draining of their life force being the science-fiction equivalent of drinking their blood, though he doesn't create others like himself in the process. Additionally, the central conflict between the two brothers is both believable and well-played -- audiences could resonate to this movie beyond its shocks and thrills -- and Meriwether looks good enough to be convincing as a source of contention between them, though her acting skills were still limited. The special effects are surprisingly well-done given the low budget that the producers had to work with -- Bart Sloane, who had done a good job on The Blob for very little money, does a superb job here of making Lansing's passages through walls, plate-glass windows, vault doors, nuclear shielding, and people all look convincing, and Dean Newman's makeup work, on Lansing and his victims, is first-rate; it's almost an "in" joke that Newman also plays Brian Schwartz, the first of Lansing's victims, thus applying to himself the makeup depicting his character's sudden, rapid aging to death. The movie has held up very well in its genre across more than 40 years, if not quite so well as The Blob, and is well-worth a fresh look. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Cast

• Robert Lansing - Scott Nelson
• Lee Meriwether - Linda Davis
• James Congdon - Tony Nelson
• Robert Strauss - Roy Parker

Chic James - girl in bar; Elbert Smith - Captain Rogers; George Karas - Sergeant Todaman; Jasper Deeter - Mr. Welles; John Benson - Reporter; Dean Newman - Dr. Brian Schwartz; Patty Duke - Marjorie Sutherland; Robert H. Harris - Man in Nightclub; Guy Raymond - Fred; Edgar Stehli - Dr. Carson

Credit

Bill Jersey - Art Director, Irvin Shortess Yeaworth, Jr. - Director, William B. Murphy - Editor, Ralph Carmichael - Composer (Music Score), Jean Yeaworth - Musical Direction/Supervision, Ralph Carmichael - Musical Direction/Supervision, Dean Newman - Makeup, Thomas E. Spalding - Camera Operator, Ted Pahle - Cinematographer, Jack H. Harris - Producer, Irvin Shortess Yeaworth, Jr. - Producer, Don W. Schmitt - Set Designer, Barton Sloane - Special Effects, Carl Auel - Sound/Sound Designer, Robert Spies - Sound/Sound Designer, Theodore Simonson - Screenwriter, Cy Chermak - Screenwriter

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