Pulpy, wildly overwrought, but entertaining co-feature from Columbia has a pre-"Ben Casey" Vince Edwards starring as a convict who breaks out of San Quentin with a container he thinks is "a pound of 100% snow", but instead of heroin it's actually radioactive Cobalt 60 and any exposure could decimate Los Angeles. Not a compact thriller (even at 75 minutes!),this suspense film is full of behind-the-wheel montages and bits of generic police business. Edwards smolders like a reckless mad-dog stud, yet when he's required to disguise himself as a businessman with glasses, he's adept and convincing at this transition. The other actors in the cast aren't as versatile, and the mechanical writing and directing certainly doesn't liven them up (they're all stock figures, though Vince's girlfriend does get in a few funny wisecracks down at the police station). Photographed by Lucien Ballard, the movie has a great, gritty look full of L.A.'s neighborhoods and back streets, and the tension does manage to build successfully even though just about everything in the picture is second-rate. **1/2 from ****

As an escaped Criminal runs around L.A., unknowingly driving towards his death, he is unaware that stolen material he took from prison isn't actually heroin but a nuclear time bomb that would create a germ warfare that would create utter turmoil. Vince Edwards is the troubled escapee who is first seen driving a stolen ambulance down a country road with a fellow escapee who is on the verge of dying himself. Within moments, he is indeed deceased, and Edwards is unaware as to why. But the "why" happens to be in the container he believes to be heroine which he intends to use as his nest egg which is really a radioactive substance. Edwards precedes to become weaker, and unfortunately, his demise could also mean the deaths of millions.

While this theme has been utilized in several film noir and various other science fiction films over the years, the way this is presented is very chilling because I love the way the structure is developed. Geiger counters reveal the presence of radioactive material everywhere they go, and that sound becomes increasingly creepy. This is part of the first of America's New Wave view of the modern world, and mixing it in with a film Noir and science fiction theme makes it all the more intriguing. Excellent photography and superb location footage go hand-in-hand with all of the other nail biting plot elements that leads to a suspenseful and potentially stunning conclusion, with the description of how its victims could die more than simply just horrifying.

Detectives John Archer and Lyle Talbot have an escaped prisoner to track down in Los Angeles. Vince Edwards and another man have escaped from San Quentin in an ambulance. The other man was killed and Edwards in said ambulance has found a canister that he can't get open. Edwards thinks it's heroin and he's going to score heavily with traveling money to leave the area.

It ain't heroin, it's radioactive cobalt 60 used on volunteers among the San Quentin inmates. Open the canister and it could be death for thousands. This is a manhunt like no other.

Edwards before he was the dedicated Ben Casey played a variety of tough guy parts. But radiation poisoning just ain't in the criminal handbook.

This B film is a strictly no frills operation and moves at a good pace. I think you'll like it.