Terror filled Mondays.

Today’s entry in terror filled Mondays is notable for some of the people in the cast.

This movie featured one of the first screen roles of a very young Patty Duke. It also had a future Catwoman in the female lead in the person of Lee Meriwether. Finally rounding out the cast were Robert Lansing who was a fixture on TV throughout the 60’s and 70’s (you may remember the square face and the bushy eyebrows) and Robert Strauss certainly one of film and TV’s most memorable character actors.

Brilliant but irresponsible scientist Tony Nelson develops an amplifier that allows any object to achieve a 4th dimensional state. While in this state that object can pass freely through any other object. Currently unemployed after burning down a college lab, Tony seeks out his brother Scott, a researcher working on a material called Cargonite that is so dense as to be impenetrable, with his experiment. Scott is underpaid and under appreciated at his job but doesn’t have the drive to challenge his employer for greater recognition. When his girlfriend falls for Tony an enraged Scott steals Tony’s experiment and starts playing with it eventually sending himself into a 4th dimensional state.

The 4D Man is one of those quieter movies of the 50’s in that a lot of the drama happens on a personal level framed against the dynamic of a sibling relationship. The other interesting thing about the film is it’s link to the horror/sci-fi classic The Blob. Finally as part of its unique trifecta is the fact the movie was filmed by a minister!

...turning out quality 35mm inspirational short subjects from the makeshift Valley Forge Studios. Its leader was a minister named Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr., an idealistic and charismatic man committed to spreading his beliefs via film, and his dedicated religious moviemakers had persevered through all kinds of deprivations.