''The Gamma People'' is a 1956 British-American

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interste ...

, produced by John Gossage, directed by

John Gilling John Gilling (29 May 1912 – 22 November 1984) was an English film director and screenwriter, born in London. He was known for his horror movies, especially those he made for Hammer Films, for whom he directed '' The Shadow of the Cat'' (1961) ...

, that stars

Paul Douglas Paul Howard Douglas (March 26, 1892 – September 24, 1976) was an American politician and Georgist economist. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois for eighteen years, from 1949 to 1967. During his Senate ...

, Eva Bartok, and

Leslie Phillips Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor, director, producer and author. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. ...

. The film was distributed by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mult ...

and evolved from a script treatment originally written in the early 1950s by

Robert Aldrich Robert Burgess Aldrich (August 9, 1918 – December 5, 1983) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His notable credits include '' Vera Cruz'' (1954), ''Kiss Me Deadly'' (1955), ''The Big Knife'' (1955), '' Autumn L ...

. ''The Gamma People'' was released theatrically in the U.S. as a

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with the 1956 British science fiction film ''

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

''.

Plot

A railroad passenger car carrying a reporter and his photographer mysteriously breaks away from its locomotive, accidentally ending up on a remote sidetrack in Gudavia, an isolated Ruritanian-style, one-village dictatorship. The newsmen discover a mad scientist using

gamma ray A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically s ...

s to turn the country's youth into either geniuses or subhumans.

Cast

as Mike Wilson * Eva Bartok as Paula Wendt *

as Howard Meade *

Walter Rilla Walter Rilla (22 August 1894 – 21 November 1980) was a German film actor of Jewish descent. Siegbert Salomon Prawer, ''Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933'', Berghahn Books (2007), pg. 213 He app ...

as Boronski * Philip Leaver as Koerner * Martin Miller as Lochner *

Michael Caridia Michael Caridia (born 2 August 1941) is a British former child actor. His prominent roles include Sir Reginald, an obnoxious boy, in the Norman Wisdom vehicle ''Up in the World'' and Hugo Wendt in the 1956 horror-comedy ''The Gamma People''. In ...

as Hugo Wendt *

Pauline Drewett Pauline may refer to: Religion *An adjective referring to St Paul the Apostle or a follower of his doctrines *An adjective referring to St Paul of Thebes, also called St Paul the First Hermit *An adjective referring to the Paulines, various reli ...

as Hedda Lochner *

Jocelyn Lane Jocelyn "Jackie" Lane (born 16 May 1937) is a former actress and model of the 1950s and 1960s. She was married to Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Early life Lane was born as Jocelyn Olga Bolton in Vienna, Austria in 1937. She is the y ...

as Anna * Olaf Pooley as Bikstein *

Rosalie Crutchley Rosalie Sylvia Crutchley (4 January 1920 – 28 July 1997) was a British actress. Trained at the Royal Academy of Music, Crutchley was perhaps best known for her television performances, but had a long and successful career in theatre and films, ...

as Frau Bikstein *

Leonard Sachs Leonard Meyer Sachs (26 September 1909 – 15 June 1990) was a South African-born British actor. Life and career Sachs was born in the town of Roodepoort, in the then Transvaal Colony, present day South Africa. He was Jewish. He emigrated to ...

as Telegraph Clerk *

Paul Hardtmuth Paul Hardtmuth (2 July 18885 January 1962) was a British actor. He made his film debut in Germany in 1917, and appeared in and co-wrote the film ''Um der Liebe Willen'' in 1920. He was born in 1888 in Berlin, and died on 5 January 1962 in Hamps ...

as Hans *

Cyril Chamberlain Cyril Chamberlain (8 March 1909 – 5 December 1974) was an English film and television actor. He appeared in a number of the early ''Carry On'', ''Doctor'' and '' St. Trinian's'' films. Chamberlain was born on 8 March 1909 in London and died ...

as Graf

Production

In June 1951,

Irving Allen Irving Allen (born Irving Applebaum, November 24, 1905 – December 17, 1987) was a theatrical and cinematic producer and director. He received an Academy Award in 1948 for producing the short movie '' Climbing the Matterhorn''. In the early 1 ...

announced he would make ''The Gamma People'' in Austria with

Brian Donlevy Waldo Brian Donlevy (February 9, 1901 – April 6, 1972) was an American actor, noted for playing dangerous tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best-known films are ''Beau Geste'' (193 ...

and

Virginia Grey Virginia Grey (March 22, 1917 – July 31, 2004) was an American actress who appeared in over 100 films and a number of radio and television shows from the 1930s to the early 1980s. Biography Grey was born on March 22, 1917, in Edendale, Calif ...

. It was based on a screenplay by Oliver Crawford and a story by Louis Pollock. Allen said the script was about German scientific experiments during the war which caused cells to mutate. He said he had finance from the United States and Austria. Allen did a location trip to Austria in July. In December 1951 Allen announced he had formed Warwick Productions with Albert Broccoli, but that he still intended to make ''The Gamma People'' with

Dick Powell Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility, and successfully transformed into ...

was slated to star. The film would not be made for another three years. Paul Douglas was cast in the lead and Warwick wanted

Trevor Howard Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith (29 September 1913 – 7 January 1988) was an English stage, film, and television actor. After varied work in the theatre, he achieved star status with his role in the film ''Brief Encounter'' (1945), followed by ''T ...

to co-star. Filming took place in Austria in July 1955.

Patricia Medina Patricia Paz Maria Medina (19 July 1919 – 28 April 2012) was a British actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films '' Phantom of the Rue Morgue'' (1954) and '' Mr. Arkadin'' (1955). Early life Medina was the daughter of Lau ...

was meant to co-star, but then was called in for another commitment, on a

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. Ear ...

film. Eva Bartók took her place. Writer Louis Pollock would be blacklisted for five years, having been confused for Los Angeles clothier, Louis Pollack, who refused to give testimony to the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

References

External links

* * * * *
Review of film
at Variety {{DEFAULTSORT:Gamma People 1956 films British science fiction films Columbia Pictures films Films directed by John Gilling Films set in Europe 1950s science fiction films Films shot at MGM-British Studios 1950s English-language films American science fiction films American black-and-white films British black-and-white films 1950s American films 1950s British films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links