The Amazing Transparent Man

After being helped to break out of prison, Joey Faust (Douglas Kennedy) is taken to a rural location, where he is introduced to the man responsible for his release. Faust's new benefactor is a criminal mastermind, named Maj. Paul Krenner (James Griffith).

Krenner has big plans for Faust, involving radiation, invisibility, and world domination. Of course, there's a mad scientist doddering about the premises, waxing melodramatic at every opportunity!

Fairly predictable, with the requisite double cross, THE AMAZING TRANSPARENT MAN is just fun enough to offset its silliness. At less than an hour in length, it's also too short to become a total nuisance!

FULL DISCLOSURE: The real reason I watch this movie is due to the fact that it has the beautiful Marguerite Chapman (FLIGHT TO MARS) in its cast. Playing the role of Laura Matson, Ms. Chapman makes me feel glad to be alive! One raised eyebrow from her, and I... Well, never mind! Anyway, the rest is typical 1950's / early 60's sci-fi cheeeze...

Before viewing this 1960 drive-in hit, keep in mind that it is not really a serious attempt at science fiction. Many critics and viewers have panned this movie because they expected some sort of INVISIBLE MAN-style plot with good acting and plenty of special effects. But if it was high-quality cinema they were looking for, then why in the hell did they choose to watch a movie with a title like "THE AMAZING TRANSPARENT MAN"?

Viewers with no expectations, a good sense of humor, and an open mind will probably enjoy this bizarre little sci-fi romp. The whole mad scientist/escaped prisoner/invisible Nazi story is beyond befuddling, but it is so unbelievably far-fetched that you'll be entertained anyway.

THE AMAZING TRANSPARENT MAN does a nice job at not dawdling on boring fake science jargon (a shortcoming that most sci-fi yarns of this era suffer from) and somehow manages to dole out one outrageous scene after another during its unusually short running time. Within the course of 58 minutes, you will witness invisible fist fights, invisible robberies, atomic blasts, jailbreaks, in-your-face anti-nuclear-weaponry overtones, and a whole barrage of people stealing from and/or deceiving one another. Every single character either betrays or holds one another hostage at some point during the picture.

If you're in the mood for something that is so goofy and so off-the-wall that it defies description, then I suggest you run out the VHS cut-out bin nearest you and pick up this movie. Trust me, you'll be glad you did.

A prisoner is freed by people who want him to do a job for them -- he doesn't know what it is, just that he'll be "free", but he finds himself the subject of a weird experiment. He eventually turns "transparent" because of radiation treatments, and the guys who are doing it to him are Nazis out to conquer the world with an invisible army (?!!!?). They want him to use his transparency to rob military bases of plutonium for building their army, but he eventually goes back to his stock and trade -- bank robbery. When his floating bag finally attracts notice, he starts to flash in and out of visibility -- cool scene. Decent photography, tight direction redeem this seeming 5 day quickie.

Extremely compact (57 minutes) yet entertaining story of ruthless safe-cracker (Kennedy), sprung from gaol by a demented former military agent (Griffith) and his cheap-wine associate (Chapman), forced to endure radiation experiments that make him invisible in order to steal guarded uranium deposits so Griffith can build an invisible army to take-over the world. Street-wise Kennedy decides to turn his transparency into an opportunity to pull a bank heist, but things go awry when the invisibility wears off mid-way through the crime.

Griffith is an impeccably dressed, meek-looking but sadistic villain, keeping his associates subservient via various forms of duress, Chapman plays the life-of-crime broad, mistreated by Griffith (there's a great scene in which Griffith slaps her twice the second he calls "the dot on the i") seeing an opportunity to make it big with Kennedy's safe-cracking skills. Kennedy is the cornerstone, delivering an economical performance of a career criminal with no pride or patriotism, only a loyalty to his young daughter from whom he's forcibly estranged.

You won't get much in your special effects on this budget, nevertheless it's not a bad variation on the "invisible man" theme like an "Outer Limits" or "Twilight Zone" episode with real exteriors and a capable and reasonably distinguished cast. Look out for craggy-faced Pat Cranshaw ("Old School") as an inept security guard in an early film role.

Ah, now this one gets a bad rap here, but it's too short to be tedious and too cute to be annoying. At 57 minutes, you've got a nice compact sci-fi film that won't tax your brain too much (unless you try thinking about the plot).

Joey Faust gets busted from the barry hole by a dame, and gets taken to a farmhouse run by a mysterious and shifty ex-army guy who wants to use both Joey's lockpicking skills and a mad scientist's invisible ray gun to create an army of invisible men. That's good stuff right there.

After turning a guinea pig invisible, Joey kind of eventually agrees to go for it, and I liked that the moment he turned invisible he started beating the shifty guy up. Joey's out for an invisible score but he finds one problem - the ray's effects don't last that long. What's a career criminal to do? Find redemption by rescuing the mad scientist's daughter?

Never dull, full of banter and daft effects, punch ups and the mad scientist asking the audience a direct question I was too thick to understand, I really liked this little film. Loved the stock footage nuke blasts too!