Although he looked like a VERY ordinary man, in the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s Paul Douglas was an actor highly in demand--particularly at 20th Century-Fox. He's appeared in lots of big-budget prestige films such as "A Letter to Three Wives", "We're Not Married", "Executive Suite", "The Solid Gold Cadillac" and "Clash By Night". In addition, he was a very frequent guest star on television. In light of this, I have no idea why he would ever agree to star in a silly film like "Gamma People". When I tell you the plot, you'll understand what I mean.

Two reporters are traveling through Europe by train. One is an American (Douglas) and the other is a Brit (Leslie Phillips). However, in a hard to believe twist, the train car they are on (and no one else) become uncoupled from the train and drifts into a tiny fictional communist country. Once there, they are initially arrested but they soon let them go--for fear of an international incident. And, while they are waiting to get out of this country that seem stuck in the 19th century, the authorities give them the run of the country--but they also are careful NOT to let them learn about the 'Gamma People'. What, exactly, are Gamma People? Well, it seems these evil commies are using gamma rays in order to turn the people into obedient little pawns of the State! In a way, this combines two B-movie genres--sci-fi and Red Scare films. Can Douglas and Phillips learn the truth AND manage to make it out of this dictatorship alive?

In addition to being an odd plot, this film is odd because of its tone. Often it's played for laughs--yet other times it's deadly serious. This is often a bit jarring and I really think the comedic elements should have been excised--or at least toned down quite a bit. I think the paranoid deadly serious stuff was a lot more entertaining and in keeping with the story idea.

All in all, this is a film you watch less for the film's quality and more because of its historical value. It certainly is an odd little curio from the 1950s! Not great but enjoyable...if that makes any sense. Plus, I learned an invaluable lesson. If I am ever stuck in a repressive country, I should do what Douglas does--loudly complain and start sluggin' folks!

THE GAMMA PEOPLE is a weird and unsuccessful science fiction B-movie of the mid 1950s, shot in the UK substituting for Eastern Europe. It was directed by John Gilling, a man with a respectable career whose highs include the excellent double bill he made for Hammer Studios, THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES and THE REPTILE. Sadly, it's one of his lesser works, a film which all over the place tonally and which is more laughable than anything else. A couple of characters board a train and head into an Iron Curtain country, where they discover a mad plot to mutate children with radiation. Said children aren't remotely scary and British viewers had to wait until VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED until the story subject was done properly. Paul Douglas is way too old and bloated to be the hero, although Leslie Phillips does the comedy well (of course) and Eva Bartok is very fine.

Most of the reviews for The Gamma People (1956) on the web state tat this is a science fiction film or a science fiction-horror film -- it's not! What it is actually is a good Pulp Adventure film with science fiction elements and a strong Doc Savage influence (the pulp character). Watching the film, it was easy to imagine that Doc Savage is away at his Fortress of Solitude, while Monk (Paul Douglas) and Ham (Leslie Phillips) are on a train together in Europe when they end up in the small nation of Gudavia, where strange things are happening... The production values are good and it was filmed mostly on location in Austria. Irwin Allen co-produced the film.