The Amazing Transparent Man (1960)

Director:

Edgar G. Ulmer

Writer:

Jack Lewis (original screenplay)

Release Date:

July 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Invisible and Deadly!

Plot:

A crazed scientist invents an invisibility formula. He plans to use the formula to create an army of invisible zombies.

Plot Keywords:

Invisibility | Scientist | Safecracker | Invisibility Ray | Atomic Weapons

Cast

Marguerite Chapman	...	Laura
Douglas Kennedy	...	Faust
James Griffith	...	Krenner
Ivan Triesault	...	Dr. Ulof
Boyd 'Red' Morgan	...	Julian (as Red Morgan)
Carmel Daniel	...	Maria
Edward Erwin	...	Drake
Jonathan Ledford	...	Smith
Norman Smith	...	Security Guard
Patrick Cranshaw	...	Security Guard
Kevin Kelly	...	Woman
Dennis Adams	...	State Police
Stacy Morgan	...	State Police

Also Known As:

Search for a Shadow (USA) (original script title)

Runtime:

57 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Not Rated (DVD rating) | Australia:M (TV rating) | USA:Unrated (2005 DVD release) | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Berkshires, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Miller Consolidated Pictures (MCP)

Trivia:

This was shot back-to-back with Beyond the Time Barrier (1960). The combined shooting schedule was only two weeks. They became Edgar G. Ulmer's last American films.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Drake uses binoculars to view what is left of ground zero for the lab explosion, the perspective of what he is seeing through the binoculars changes four times (one of the views is from ground up at a man in a fallout suit), all of which are technically impossible from his vantage point.

Quotes:

State Police officer: Imagine what our counter intelligence could accomplish if they were able to become invisible whenever necessary.
Dr. Peter Ulof: The Central Intelligence Agency has already discussed the possibilities with me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in AIP: Fast and Furious (1985) (V)

Solid action sci-fi

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.