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The Magnetic Monster is one of the most intellectually stimulating and suspenseful science fiction films of the 1950s -- high praise, indeed, for a release that was really the failed pilot for a proposed television series. Producer Ivan Tors and actor/co-producer Richard Carlson had originally conceived of The Magnetic Monster as the pilot for a series to have been called "The A-Men," which would have dealt with agents from the Office of Scientific Investigation, going out on different cases each week involving scientific mysteries. It didn't work as a series -- the idea was probably too cerebral for the television networks of the early '50s -- and first-run syndication was too new an idea and a field in which to pursue it. Instead, The Magnetic Monster became a feature film released by United Artists, and one of the best science fiction films of its decade. It's very much a hybrid work, resembling, on the one hand, Dragnet and other crime shows of the period, and also the kind of technology-based thrillers that Ivan Tors did manage to get on the air in 1954-1955 on "Science Fiction Theater," but with a bigger production budget and a longer running time in which to tell its story. Part of the secret behind the movie's success is the low-key approach to the suspense taken by screenwriter/director Curt Siodmak (in only his second directorial assignment). The main influence on the pacing of the first half of the movie is clearly Dragnet, with its emphasis on process and procedure over characterization, and the presence of a narrator (which recedes in importance as the film unfolds). The second half delivers the expected goods in terms of visual thrills, mostly in the scenes at the Canadian cyclotron -- this was where Tors and Siodmak's genius came into play. Instead of creating this section of the movie from scratch, which would have looked lousy or busted their budget, Tors licensed footage from Karl Hartl's 1934 German science fiction-thriller Gold, and integrated it into The Magnetic Monster. The scenes fit together beautifully and gave The Magnetic Monster a very expensive looking, visually striking finale for very little money. The overall film was (and still is) spellbinding, filling the needs of mystery, suspense, and science fiction audiences without leaving any of them feeling cheated. Tors and Carlson later collaborated on Riders to the Stars and were partners in the production company, A-Films, through which The Magnetic Monster was made.