The Invisible Boy

Such a strange film. One that doesn't really know which gimmick to run with: the super computer, the borrowed and infamous Robby the robot, invisibility, or space travel. It's a schizophrenic jumble of the time's sci-fi staples, with absurdly weak links. Still, I can't say it was ever dull.

One thing that struck me about this picture, was the dry humor involving the Scientist father. He reacts almost casually to his son's sudden intelligence boost and invisibility. It comes off like a satire of the Cleaver-type family, and was a welcome surprise.

Give this one a chance if you catch it on Turner Classic Movies one night. But I wouldn't recommend seeking it out for purchase.

The Stoneman Institute of Mathematics under the military is developing a Supercomputer. The military is launching a secret satellite. Timmie Merinoe is an average ten year old. His father tries to improve his intelligence by bring him to the Supercomputer. Timmie improves to such an extent that he is able to reassemble Robbie the Robot which arrived from over 300 years in the future. Robbi helps turn him invisible. Meanwhile, the Supercomputer intends to take over the world using the military satellite.

There is a lot of nonchalant going on in this movie. None of the adults seem affected by a time-traveling robot especially the father. He treats the invisibility like an inconvenient prank. At times, it's laughable. This was probably strictly directed at kids. Reasoning is rudimentary and so is the acting. This is nowhere near the classic Forbidden Planet. There is a limited connection to the iconic movie which is more than simply reusing Robbie the Robot. It's cool to see this for a fan of Forbidden Planet but it's a weak movie on its own.

At every turn the extraordinary is dismissed with casual abandon. I think a formula was used to determine the dialog in this film, especially where interaction between the boy and his parents are concerned. What would a normal person be to expected to say in a given situation, use an opposite response. I focus on dialog because dialog is what I have the most trouble with in this film. The few times I have seen this I have wondered at what seems to be totally disconnected reactions to strikingly bizarre situations, and I have come to the conclusion that it was done on purpose. I have no insight into the minds of writers or directors, but considering the weak story, something needed to be done to make a potentially really boring plot engender at least a little interest. Even at the risk of making a silly movie. Another possibility is that everyone came to work loaded every day. I don't know how to rate it. I will need a time machine to go into the past and become invisible so that I can sit in on the planning of this one.

As others have said, this movie is definitely weird. If you're in the right mood, that's great. Otherwise you might just find it ridiculous and unrealistic.

Although I can't deny that "Forbidden Planet" is a superior film when it comes to acting, set design, visual effects, a more consistent tone & clearer message - I think I kinda enjoyed it's low-budget follow-up, "The Invisible Boy"...more. For one thing, I prefer this brand of humour - the spoofing of 50's sitcom families, the parents' deadpan reaction/nonchalant acceptance of amazing events such as their son's invisibility, etc - much funnier than the booze-seeking shenanigans of the Cook, whose eye-rollingly lame scenes pass for comedy relief on "Forbidden Planet".

The bizarre shifts in tone and plot absurdities/illogic in "The Invisible Boy", can be seen as weaknesses, but at least they make the movie less predictable. One can argue that "Forbidden Planet"'s script ties everything up *too* neatly, that there is too much foreshadowing, and the clues a bit too obvious, as to the origin of the monster. I figured out what was going on there, long before the climax (and I didn't need a brain-boost!) "The Invisible Boy" had more surprises.

Another point in this film's favour - Robby The Robot gets to show more personality, express a wider range of emotions (I'm not kidding!), and is even more lovable than in the first film. It probably helps that Robby didn't have to compete with any great actors like Walter Pidgeon here. But I do think he has more screen time and more opportunities to shine in "The Invisible Boy". He tugs on the ol' heartstrings and really steals the show.

This film loses a few points for it's irritatingly-voiced child star, and some plot holes/contrivances that strain credibility (such as the scientist deducing the Evil SuperComputer's master plan out of...nowhere) Of course, I had to dock "Forbidden Planet" as well, for different reasons (predictability and rampant 50's chauvinism)...so, somehow, they end up with the same rating. Keep in mind my how-much-was-I-entertained rating is more like 7/10 for both...this is my harsh-brutal-analysis rating. 5/10 implies they're only average movies, but they're really above-average entries in the sci-fi genre.

I feel compelled to add my two pennyworth, as the shade of this movie has been with me for most of my life. One of the most terrifying things I ever saw on TV, and I think I was only four, so this was back in 1959, was a clip from The Invisible Boy. I had no idea what a robot was, and so my introduction to the concept was this most impressive creation, 'Robby'. They must have been very generous with the footage, because I saw the whole kite sequence and the aftermath. I must have been watching through my fingers for most of the time, because when the kid is talking to Robby, he is on the top of a stepladder, and for a long time, I didn't even realise that the robot had a proper body, I thought it was just a great big glass head. Also, I thought that the chap announcing the clip had said Robin the Robot, and, I thought, hey, that's my name, so there was a scary identification thing happening there, too. I only remember that this sequence played on my mind - big giant glass head and a small boy - I was plagued by the notion that Robby the Robot might, one day, come lurching into our house, with his big old twirling pirate-earring antennae.

Flash forward to January 2006. I had never seen a single section of this film since that nightmarish trailer on our little old wooden television set. Now I have it in my grasp, after finding it on DVD. I cut straight to the scene that scared me so much. It's astonishing how clearly it has registered on my memory. I even remember some of the dialogue.

Having now watched this movie all the way through, I can only concur with several of the other reviews, and there is little that I can add. It certainly is a pretty uneven movie, and it looks like several different writers and directors worked on different sequences without ever liaising, although I don't believe this to be the case.

One of the other reviewers referred to this, I think, as a child's nightmare, and that's a very apt description. The film's unevenness of mood adds to its bad-dream quality.

The sequences that contain intentional humour are quite well-devised, but seem to belong to a little film of their own. The cast of competent nobodies deal with their lines pretty well, whether they know what the heck is going on or not.

Robby has quite a lot to do, and, under the evil influence of the super-computer (this is part of the standard published synopsis, so I'm not giving anything away), gets to be menacing, which he's really rather good at, although his credibility wavers at one point, when he actually pops up from behind a bush in the garden. That has to be seen to be believed.

I'm so glad I laid this ghost after 46 years, especially as the film is one of the strangest things I've enjoyed in many a long day.

It's not really a good, or well-crafted film, but it's weird enough to merit my recommendation, especially as it has big, scary old Robby the Robot!