The Atomic Kid

Plot

While uranium prospector "Blix" Waterberry is in the desert, he wanders into an active atomic bomb test site and is accidentally exposed to radiation from a direct overhead blast. He miraculously survives, becoming radioactive, and in the process gaining special powers. He is then recruited by the FBI to help break up a spy ring.

Production

The film's screenplay is based on a story by Blake Edwards.

Rooney's character "Blix" Waterberry wanders into an atomic test site, and, as one reviewer describes, "Mannequins are depicted sitting around the dinner table in front of their plastic meal, awaiting the predetermined bomb drop ... Rooney remains with the mannequin family and discovers at the last minute that an atomic bomb will be detonated over his head. In a deliberately humorous scene, Rooney frantically tries to find a place to hide from the approaching explosion, only to close his eyes and stick his fingers in his ears as the bomb goes off."

Nurse Audrey Nelson (Elaine Devry), who marries "Blix" at the end, is the only female character in the film's opening credits and promotional posters, where she is billed as "Elaine Davis". At the time The Atomic Kid was being filmed, Devry/Davis was married to Mickey Rooney in real life.

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