After the use of the atomic bomb during World War II and the subsequent development of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, movies began to reflect American’s growing fear of nuclear annihilation. Largely forgotten despite earning Sydney Boehm an Oscar nomination for Best Writing (Story and Screenplay), The Atomic City  was one of the only Hollywood films to openly suggest that drastic measures were needed to protect the country from the communist threat.

Dr. Frank Addison (Gene Barry), his wife Martha (Lydia Clarke) and young son Tommy (Lee Aaker) live a quiet life in Los Alamos, New Mexico, where Frank works as a nuclear physicist, doing top-secret work at a local plant. Since everyone at the plant doesn’t want what their working on to fall into the wrong hands, everyone lives in the same pre-fabricated suburb and is always very closely watched.

Atomic CityOn a school field trip to Santa Fe to visit the Fiesta Day carnival, Tommy turns up missing. Foreign spies have kidnapped Tommy in a bid to force his father to divulge technical secrets. Frank doesn’t know who to trust. The FBI is on the case, but their first priority is the country’s national security, getting Tommy home safely is at the bottom of the list. In a race against time, Frank is forced to make some tough choices. All the while, his wife, not particularly concerned with government secrets, just wants her son back.

In the late forties and into the fifties, Hollywood did what it could to sell the public on the atomic weapons program. While The Atomic City begins with a co-worker involved in a lab accident, the action happens off screen and despite his obvious sadness, Frank is certain his co-worker will return to work in two or three weeks.  More troubling, is the story’s assertion that every scientist is treated as a potential traitor. No one is to be trusted; people thought to be normal friends and neighbors are actually federal agents.

Gene Barry is very effective as a principled scientist in crisis; Lee Aaker is believable and cute as Tommy and Nancy Gates makes a memorable impression as his teacher. While The Atomic City is politically dated, the strong acting and camerawork make this a suspenseful yarn worth checking out.

Presented in the 1.37:1 aspect ratio, Olive Films 1080p presentation is pretty good. Though some minor print damage is in evidence, detail is surprisingly strong. DNR doesn’t appear to be a factor and edge enhancement is a no-show. Contrast is solid and the whole thing has a film-like appearance.

The audio is presented via a DTS-HD 1.0 Mono track. Simplistic in its delivery, the track provides a little more depth than you might expect. Nicely balanced, I heard a hiss on a couple of occasions, but it was minimal. Dialogue is clean and clear.

No subtitles are included.

No special features are available.