Product Details

• Actors: Marguerite Chapman, Douglas Kennedy, James Griffith, Ivan Triesault
• Directors: Edgar G. Ulmer
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: September 5, 2000
• Run Time: 57 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0792846680
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252,879 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Amazing Transparent Man is part of MGM's campy Midnite Movies series, but it's actually not half bad. Safecracker Joey Faust gets busted out of prison by mysterious benefactor Major Krenner and his beautiful moll Laura. The trouble with mysterious benefactors, of course, is that they always want something. Krenner is doing some experiments with "fissionable materials" and needs Faust to steal more; the theft should be a piece of cake once the captive Dr. Ulof turns Faust invisible. The plot is faintly silly and you'll have to suspend your disbelief through some incredibly lax lab-safety procedures, but the film is well worth it. It efficiently loads plenty of action into a running time of under an hour, and it's a nice film noir with a cold war spin. There's plenty of dirty dealing and double-crossing and some entertaining tough-guy dialogue. ("You know what one of these bullets will do? It'll rip out your spine and roll it up like a ball of string.") Fire it up and keep one hand on your valuables. (Video edition includes original theatrical trailer.) --Ali Davis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed this film -- here's why, August 31, 2008

By 

Patrick W. Crabtree "The Old Grottomaster" (Lucasville, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Amazing Transparent Man (DVD)

This 1960 black-and-white film is sort of a The Invisible Man rip-off, but I'm okay on that criticism in that the two stories aren't all that similar. "The Invisible Man" is clearly the superior film of the pair but this one still has its good points.

The tale here is that an infamous safe-cracker ("Joey Faust," played by Douglas Kennedy) is sprung from prison to become the minion of a criminal mastermind ("Major Paul Krenner," played by James Griffith) who has established an atomic laboratory in a large farmhouse located out in the boondocks. Why does he need an atomic lab? To produce an army of invisible zombies which he plans to sell to the Army!

The lab's venerable old scientist is "Dr. Peter Ulof" (Ivan Triesault), a man working under duress because Krenner holds his young daughter hostage in the lab's closet. Krenner has two other shills, neither of which are all that loyal to him: "Laura Matson" (Marguerite Chapman) and "Julian" (Boyd 'Red' Morgan, who plays the farm watchman, armed with a Winchester .30-30). No one else, including the main cop, is all that significant in the film.

After Faust initially reaches the farm, driven there by Laura in a very cool 1959 Buick convertible, he comes to terms with Krenner after a bit of arguing. Krenner threatens to have him tossed back into the pokey if he doesn't cooperate with his (mad) plan.

Faust takes the tour upstairs with Krenner where Dr. Ulof is introduced along with his new invisibility ray which he demonstrates on a Guinea pig mainly to garner Faust's confidence. Faust is impressed but he sees the device as infinitely more useful in robbing banks while Krenner insists on his stealing atomic material from a government vault. This material is purportedly much more effective, albeit it's also a notably more volatile substance than what Ulof is currently using. The side effects are additionally anticipated to be very hazardous, a fact which is shrewdly withheld from Faust.

Faust goes along with the initial plan, stealing the atomic material right from under the noses of two astonished guards. But after that he sets his own agenda and attempts to draw in his sympathetic peers to help him overcome Krenner.

I can go no further than that without revealing the direction and the ending of the film so I'll stop there.

I thought that the special effects (by Roger George and Howard A. Anderson), the sets, the scenery, the camera work, and the story were all pretty darned impressive, all better than what one typically experiences in this genre of films. The actors weren't too hokey and the action stayed pretty brisk. This was also a nostalgic, Drive-in movie-type film from my own teen years so that plus is a somewhat personal one and a more subjective point.

The biggest shortcoming of this movie for me is that it only runs for 57 minutes, but that was pretty typical for these B-horror and sci-fi flicks. Also, the DVD packaging on this one conveys that the Transparent Man can walk right through walls, which he can't.

This film was produced by Miller Consolidated Pictures (MCP) and was directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Jack Lewis wrote the original screenplay. The aspect ratio is 1.75:1, essentially full-frame. It's more of a science-fiction entry than a horror film but I guess you could include it under either title.

In summary, I would definitely recommend this budget film for avid fans of the genre(s).

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Amazing Transparent Man, May 7, 2010

By 

J. Smith "Birth of a great man" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Amazing Transparent Man (1960) [Enhanced] (DVD)

Great Film. I loved the "special effects".

For an older film, this looks great!

Thanks for the fast shipping!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars AMAZING TRANSPARENT BUDGET!!!, June 6, 2009

By 

Richard J. Oravitz - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Amazing Transparent Man (DVD)

For a movie that was probably made for next to nothing this is really a pretty good crime/sci-fi programmer. Director Edgar Ulmer is famous for making good looking low budget films and this is one of his best.
Douglas Kennedy is bank robbing safe cracker Joey Faust sprung from prison by James Griffith(usually a bad guy in b-Westerns and tv shows of the period)to steal radioactive isotopes. Of course to do this Faust has to become transparent and is subjected to radioactive bombardment himself...talk about Faust selling his soul!
Corny, insane, implausible. Yet it somehow works! The acting is top-notch for this kind of stuff and the direction is sure-handed. It's under an hour and ends in a big explosion!
The ALPHA dvd is very good offering a clear picture at a bargin price. Marguerite (FLIGHT TO MARS) Chapman, Red Morgan (he's in Ulmer's BEYOND THE TIME BARRIER, probably shot around the same time) and Ivan Triesault(the mad scientist here) co-star.
Wonderful, whacky fun, a bit sleezy and well made!