Crime Street presents The Amazing Transparent Man (1960)

Director - Edgar G. Ulmer
 

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Plot
Commentary
Cast and Production Credits

The Plot

It all starts with a close-up of a siren and a prison break. Escapee Joey Faust is picked up by a woman, and they're on the road to see Major Kremer, the mastermind of escape. The Major needs Faust's criminal skills to steal some X-13 radioactive fuel. His captive German scientist needs it to create a race of invisible super soldiers. Once Faust is invisible, though, he holds the power and then it all goes horribly, atomically wrong.

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Commentary

On the Cheap

Is it a crime movie or a science fiction movie? Alameda TV tossed a coin and decided The Amazing Transparent Man belongs on Crime Street. And it really is more of a hard-boiled slice of pulp fiction with a sci-fi plot element thrown in for fun.

One of the last films directed by Edgar G. Ulmer (his last in America), The Amazing Transparent Man is admittedly not one his finest efforts. Shot in Texas in conjunction with Beyond the Time Barrier, it was low budget even by Ulmer's low standards.

Still Trying

Even at this late date in his life and career, Ulmer still gives it a try. He does not have much to work with in terms of set-design, but here and there can be seen walls and ceilings at strange angles, and actors viewed by a still expressionistic eye. Outside he has more freedom to explore the stark Texas landscape. Whenever possible he keeps the camera moving.

The opening prison break and manhunt promise more than the next scenes deliver, and that inconsistency is something the movie is consistent on. An interesting moment is followed by the mundane. And though never the most gifted director of actors, Ulmer manages to pull a near constant hysterical tension out of his group of B-players.

Invisible Budget = Invisible Man

No monster is easier to film than an invisible man. No make-up money to spend - no problem. A few objects moving around on some fishing line and there are your special effects.

Separated At Birth

Douglas Kennedy (Joey Faust) had one of those movie/TV careers. He worked in Hollywood from 1940 until 1968, and yet the most you could say about him was how much he looked like Fred MacMurray. His films consisted of mainly B-movies. His television work included appearances on Bonanza, The Lone Ranger, and The Outer Limits. In the 1950s he starred as Steve Donovan Western Marshall.

What to Watch For

• A guinea pig strapped to a human-size operating table.
• A Texas you'd never want to visit.

Strange Quote to Listen For

"Keep your eye on the guinea pig."

-- Ed Schneider - Alameda TV

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Cast

Production Credits

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The Invisible in Literature and Film

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