The Invisible Boy

This little picture has its moments of pulp poetry. There are not one, but two intelligent machines. One is a supercomputer that's been biding its time for decades, waiting for an opportunity that arrives one day in the form of a lonely little boy. He is invisible in the sense that the grown-ups pay no attention to him, condescend to him, or talk over his head--they just don't understand! When he becomes literally invisible later, it's just a way of literalizing what the movie has already been saying.

Anyway, the computer hypnotizes the boy and gives him instructions about putting together a robot that's lying disassembled in a workroom. It's all part of the evil plan to use boy and robot in a plot to take over the world via satellite.

The best moment comes when the insidious computer, invented by the boy's father, flashes all his lights and promises that they can explore the universe together. "Dad--" the boy starts to complain. "Just be quiet, son," says Dad, "and look at all the pretty lights." Man spellbound by his own invention, even unto his own destruction, and taking his future generations with him . . . .

Why is it that sci-fi movies from the 50s have such hokey names? This movie is not so much about the boy (who does, in fact, become invisible), but more an early Terminator-style computer-take-over-the-world plot.

Interesting precursor to "Colossus, the Forbin Project". A child behaves outlandishly after sleep learning seemingly impossible knowledge. He applies his technique first to beating his scientist father at chess in 6 moves and then rebuilding Robby the Robot (of "Forbidden Planet" fame). Any child would enjoy the adventures of this rather naughty boy. Adults not too jaded by current "action movies" should enjoy it too.

The Invisible Boy (1957)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

After beating his scientist father at a game a chess, ten-year-old Timmy (Richard Eyer) gets to rebuild Robby the Robot and soon the two of them are going up against an evil computer that has plans on controlling the world.

Obviously the main goal of THE INVISIBLE BOY was to get Robby the Robot back into a picture after he was a huge success in FORBIDDEN PLANET but sadly the end result is pretty much a disaster from the word go. There's no doubt that the decade offered much worse sci-fi movies but you have to say that this here can go down as one of the most dispapointing and especially when you consider that a major company was behind it. There are countless things wrong with this picture including the screenplay, the performances and the overall tone of the thing leads to some pretty bad and rather embarrassing scenes.

I think the biggest problem is the screenplay. I'm going to say that the "plan" by the computer is a pretty good one and when you think about it, the plans at least makes sense. The problem is that the screenplay is so uneven that it's hard to take anything going on very serious. I say this because the overall tone of the movie is that as a children's film and this here leads to some "comedy" moments that are just downright bad at times. Even worse is that we're treated to some really bad scenes that I think are meant for humor but they just come across embarrassing. One such scene is when mommy and daddy are about to mess around and the boy, who has been hiding in the room, starts giggling. What follows is just weird to say the least. The "serious" nature of the film never really comes into play so the rather good idea about the computer taking over the world is just wasted.

The performances really aren't anything to brag about either and that includes Eyer as the young boy. He's certainly not horrible but at the same time he really doesn't keep you entertained. Phillip Abbott is pretty bland as the father but it's Diane Brewster who comes off the worse but I'm going to guess her poorly written character has something to do with this. Even the special effects in the film are pretty bland and especially those dealing with the boy turning invisible. As far as Robby the Robot goes, he's entertaining but basically just gets lost in the background of this rather bad film.

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.