Plot

A military officer survives a nuclear blast, only to begin to uncontrollably grow into an increasingly unstable giant.

Lt. Col. Glenn Manning is inadvertently exposed to a plutonium bomb blast at Camp Desert Rock. Though burned over 90% of his body, he survives, and begins to grow in size. As he grows, his heart and circulatory system fail to keep pace with his growth, and he is gradually losing his mind as a result of reduced blood supply to his brain. He reaches 50 feet tall before his growth is stopped. By this time he has become insane. He escapes and wreaks havoc upon Las Vegas before he is finally stopped.—Teresa E. Tutt <tuttt@rpi.edu>

During the test of a new weapon, a plutonium bomb, a plane crashes in the test area. Colonel Glen Manning fearing that someone may still be alive runs to the plane, but before he gets to the pilot, the bomb explodes and burns him over 90% of his body. He is then brought to the base hospital, but is not expected to survive the night. The next morning, Manning not only is still alive, but the burned tissue is completely healed. When his fiancée Carol Forrest arrives to visit she finds out that he as been moved as well as the physicians that have been working on him, Dr. Paul Coulter and Major Eric Lindstrom, M.D.. Through some checking on her own, Carol soon finds out where they are keeping Glen and is horrified to find out that the radiation has affected his cells and caused him to grow uncontrollably. The doctors search find a cure, but before they can administer it to him, he goes mad, escapes and begins terrorizing Las Vegas. They they corner him, but after they inject him with the formula to stop his growth, Manning picks up the needle and spears Major Lindstrom, killing him instantly. He then picks up Carol and makes off with her taking to Hoover Dam.—Brian Washington <Sargebri@att.net>

We open in the desert of Nevada on a lonely stretch of highway; a convoy of military vehicles passes. The narrator tells us, "The time is 2:45 a.m., two hours and fifteen minutes before time zero. At time zero a new type of atomic explosion, a plutonium bomb, will be detonated at Desert Rock, Nevada. These soldiers are to experience the Plutonium Explosion under simulated combat conditions." Credits roll.

Over a loudspeaker the troops are warned that in thirty seconds the explosion will happen. The countdown is started, but when zero is announced there is no explosion. The bombsite control officer (William Hughes) explains that there has been a malfunction and they must not leave their position and keep their dark glasses on. Col. Glenn Manning (Glenn Langan), on the phone with control, tells the soldiers around him they will need to wait. Manning, again on the phone, reports a civilian plane in the area and it seems to be in trouble. It crashes and Manning, against orders, runs out to render assistance. The bomb explodes, Manning covers his face, and we see the nuclear explosion.

At the base hospital, Manning is brought into surgery; a nurse brings in an additional unit of blood. A team of doctors and nurses are working on a very charred Manning. The nurse is ordered to get another unit of blood and she is stopped by Mannings fiancé, Carol Forrest (Cathy Downs) as she returns to surgery. She asks, "How is he?" The nurse shakes her head, no, and rushes back to surgery. A newspaperman arrives and talks to Carol. He is a little insensitive in his questions, but he does provide her more information than the military, as he witnessed the test. She tells him they were to be married in Las Vegas that evening.

In surgery one of the doctors comments that with third degree burns on almost 100 percent of his body it is amazing Manning is still alive. The other doctor is convinced he will die of shock or infection before morning. After surgery is completed and Manning is bandaged, we see the face of his primary doctor, Dr. Paul Lindstrom (William Hudson). Manning is moved to a recovery floor as Carol watches. Carol asks Lindstrom, "Will he be alright, doctor?" He responds, "Are you Carol?" She nods, yes. He continues, "Your name is the only word he spoke." His is not very reassuring. Manning is now in a room, with an oxygen tent and a whole blood drip. The nurse, Miss Wilson (June Jocelyn) gets him settled. The next morning, Nurse Wilson checks on Manning, notices something shocking and races from the room. Drs. Lindstrom and Coulter (Larry Thor) come quickly. Lindstrom asks for scissors and removes the bandages on Manning's head and neck. To all assembled, shock; for Manning's skin has regenerated. There isn't even a scar. Carol walks in, sees her fiancé, and asks, "He's going to be all right, isn't he?"

Lindstrom, Dr./Major Eric Coulter, and some scientists meet with Richard Kingman (Russ Bender). He brings some film of the explosion, but despite his expertise in nuclear matters is unable to explain Col. Mannings remarkable recovery.

Carol is waiting at a nearby hotel. She is awakened early in the morning by a security officer, Lt. Cline (Stanley Lachman), who informs her she will not be able to visit Manning in the hospital. He tells her it is for security reasons, but he is not at liberty to provide any details. The next morning Carol shows up at the hospital anyway, goes to Manning's room, but finds it empty. She asks an orderly where Col. Manning is and is told, "I'm sorry Miss, I've never heard of Col. Manning." She stops at the reception desk and inquires about her fiancé. The receptionist (Diana Darrin) paws through some files and then denies any knowledge of Manning. Carol knows she's lying and examines her notes when she's called away from her desk. She sees that both Dr. Lindstrom and Maj. Coulter are located at the Nevada Rehabilitation &Research Center in Summit, Nevada. She drives there. The guard (Harry Raybould) tells her that it is a restricted government facility and that there are no patients housed inside. She pleads and the guard tells her he'll phone the Sgt. Inside. He lets her pass with instructions to see the Sgt. In the main entrance. She enters and starts to look around when she hears a page for Dr. Lindstrom. Now she knows she's in the right place. The Desk Sgt. (Jimmy Cross) tells her there's no Col. Manning at the site. She pretends to leave, then heads down a hall until she finds Manning's room by following his doctors. When they leave she enters his darkened room. She turns on the lights, sees him, screams and faints.

Dr. Lindstrom explains that security was established around Manning. Coulter tells her that he is growing from eight to ten feet a day. At present he is eighteen feet tall. She is told he has a metabolic misbalance and they are working on a cure. Manning stirs from his coma and has flashbacks of his earlier life with Carol and his deployment to combat in Korea. There is a vivid memory of the death of Sgt. Lee Carter (Scott Peters) saving the then Lt. Manning from a North Korean soldier. His final flashback is replaying the nuclear accident. He wakes with a start. He's confused, in unfamiliar surroundings, and can't understand the cramped room and tiny furniture. After noticing his bald head, he screams in shock.

Col. Hallock (James Seay) tells Dr. Lindstrom arrangements for larger quarters are being made--a tent from Florida. Carol is summoned to see Manning and warned not to excite him. He's now over twenty-two feet tall. She talks to a very morose and depressed man. He asks her, "What sin could a man commit in a single lifetime to bring this upon himself?"

A meat truck delivery driver (Frank Jenks) pulls up to the same guard shack Carol visited a few days before. He asks the same guard about why the Army contracted out a meat delivery. When the guard, exasperated at the questions, finally tells him it is for their "giant" the driver is convinced he is pulling his leg and proceeds.

A Las Vegas newscaster, H. Wells (Keith Hetherington) reads a news report about Col. Manning. He asks, "Is he alive or dead?" Doctors Lindstrom and Coulter are working in the lab. Coulter reports, "Nothing yet." Carol and Manning are on the grounds. She sits on the fender of her car, he on the ground. He's wearing an expandable sarong. They discuss their situation, Carol voices her optimism, but Manning is pessimistic about his chances for a cure. He is starting to experience chest pains. When Dr. Lindstrom asks Carol if he has any other relatives, she informs him, "There's no one, he's all alone except for me." Lindstrom tries to persuade her to leave for her own good. Manning returns to his new quarters, a circus tent in front of the hospital. It is sparsely furnished with a mattress and a few regular sized chairs. A Sgt. brings him his dinner, a whole roasted turkey. He hands him a newspaper with a headline, "Man Lives Through Plutonium Blast." Manning finds this funny and his laughter triggers a coughing jag and more chest pains.

Lindstrom explains to Carol why a cure is remote. He tells her Glenn's heart is not growing proportionally to the rest of his body. The reduced blood supply will eventually cause insanity and then death. How soon? In a matter of days. Lindstrom and Coulter meet and compare results of their experiments, but there is no progress at all. Carol is awakened in the middle of the night by Glenn's coughing. She goes to see him, but he is especially rude to her. He tells her to leave.

The next morning Lindstrom tell Coulter that Manning is missing. He is not on the grounds. Coulter is excited and he tells Lindstrom he has the answer to both stopping his growth and reversing his size. The Bone Marrow is the answer. Lindstrom expresses his disbelief, but Coulter shows him the elephant and camel they were using in their research. They have been reduced in size to house cats. "Inject sulfa-hydrol into the bone marrow to stop his growing, then stimulate the pituitary gland to reduce his size." Col. Hallock reports no luck in finding Col. Manning. Lindstrom asks for a helicopter to locate him.

They search in two helicopters, Lindstrom and Carol in one, and Coulter, Hallock and the pilot in the other. Neither finds anything and they return to the hospital. Hallock and Lindstrom meet in Hallock's office. Lindstrom suggests the civil authorities be notified to assist in the search. Then Col. Hallock asks Lindstrom point blank, "Do you consider Manning dangerous?" He doesn't get a satisfactory answer and makes it clear that if Manning is dangerous they will use lethal force. Just then Carol walks in an objects.

Manning is spotted by a couple of drunks, including Henry (Hank Patterson) who disbelieving his own eyes swears off the bottle. Manning is sitting in the middle of the road. He stands up and walks away. Lindstrom makes one final plea for Carol to leave. He tells her Manning probably won't even recognize her. The next morning Hallock briefs his troops on the search strategy. On the helicopter, Lindstrom is flying accompanied by Carol and Coulter, who has very large syringe to treat Manning. They are searching along with planes and ground troops. Manning is spotted by the plane. He reports Manning is just outside the resort section of Las Vegas. He strolls along the Strip. He frightens a woman in the parking lot at the Dunes Hotel/Casino. His next stop is the Riviera, where he has drawn quite a crowd of spectators. He peeps at a woman in a bath tub (Jean Moorhead), breaks out her window then walks off. Next on his stroll is the Imperial Palace. He pulls the crown decoration off the roof, but puts it back then continues his stroll to the Silver Slipper. There he destroys a giant rotating high heel shoe marquee. Next it is over to the Tropicana where the police open fire with their rifles. He pulls up a palm tree and hurls it at the crowd. At the Sands he picks up a car and throws it, then smashes the sign. The police fire again. He breaks up the Pioneer Club cowboy sign and throws the pieces at the police. Manning leaves the city and walks towards Boulder Dam to the east. Lindstrom flys the helicopter close to Manning. He swats at the craft. They land and prepare to give Manning his injection. They talk to him over a megaphone, but it is apparent he doesn't understand. His mind has gone. Lindstrom and Coulter grab the syringe and drive the needle into Manning's ankle. Manning reaches down, pulls out the syringe, then spotting his tormentor, Major Coulter, spears him with the syringe. He reaches down and picks up Carol and walks to Boulder Dam. Lindstrom and Carol plead with Manning to put her down. When he finally complies he is hit with volley after volley of gunfire and a bazooka blast. Manning falls off the top of the dam into the water below. We close with a shot of all the needle valves on Hoover Dam opened and tons of water falling into the Colorado River below.